On Saturday night, Juventus travelled to the island of Sardinia for a meeting against Cagliari. The hosts shocked the Bianconeri with an early opener courtesy of their captain Joao Pedro. Nevertheless, the visitors were adamant on returning to Turin with all three points. They found the equalizer through Matthijs de Ligt before the halftime whistle, and Dusan Vlahovic snatched the winner in the second period. So here are our player ratings for the Serie A round 32 encounter between Cagliari and Juventus.
Cagliari (3-5-2)
Alessio Cragno – 5.5
The Italy international made some routine saves to deny the likes of Vlahovic and Dybala. But truth to be told, it wasn’t his best outing. He was wrong footed by de Ligt’s header and couldn’t keep Vlahovic’s shot out.
Andrea Carboni – 6
The center back had a decent outing, helping Walter Mazzarri’s side in maintaining composure at the back, but the Old Lady’s pressure was eventually overwhelming.
Matteo Lovato – 6
The Verona youth product was in charge in keeping Vlahovic at bay, and did well to limit the Serbian’s threat for the majority of the match. Unfortunately for him, the striker managed to escape him on a couple of occasions at the end of the match, which resulted in the winner.
Giorgio Altare – 5.5
The young defender helped Lovato in dealing with Vlahovic, but couldn’t intercept Dybala’s through which led to the Juve’s second goal.
Raoul Bellanova – 6
The Juventus transfer target took the opportunity to showcase his skills against his suitors, and was one of the hosts’ most dangerous players. Caused trouble on the right wing and managed to slip past his marker on some occasions. But couldn’t block Cuadrado’s cross which led to the equalizer.
Alessandro Deiola – 5.5
The Italian worked hard in the middle of the park and did some of the dirty work, but rarely made himself noticed.
Razvan Marin – 6.5
The Romanian was the anchor behind the Isolani plays. Stole the ball from Dybala before launching a swift counter attack and providing the assist for Joao Pedro. It was an impressive performance overall, but loses points for allowing Cuadrado to slip past ahead of the Bianconeri’s equalizer.
Charalambos Lykogiannis – 5
The Greek provided little going forward, and his challenge on Cuadrado earned him a yellow card.
Dalbert – 5.5
The former Inter and Fiorentina wingback acted as a box-to-box midfielder. He tried to support the strikers in attack, but mostly lacked the end-product.
Joao Pedro – 7
A fabulous performance from the Cagliari talisman who shocked Juventus with an early opener by displaying his clinical finishing touch. Unfortunately from the the new Azzurri player, his teammates provided him with little service afterwards, but he still dropped back to distribute balls and help his side in creating something.
Leonardo Pavoletti – 5.5
The former Napoli center forward fought hard against the Bianconeri defenses and tried to utilize his strength to set up his teammates, but reminiscently to Joao Pedro, he lacked the required service.
Cagliari Substitutes
Marko Rog – 5.5
The Croatian added some energy to the middle of the park but not much in terms of creativity.
Gaston Pereiro – 6
The Uruguayan was much more involved than Pavoletti and threatened Szczesny with some long-range shooting.
Keita Baldé – N/A
Adam Obert – N/A
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Juventus (3-5-2)
Wojciech Szczesny – 5.5
For the second weekend in a row, the former Roma custodian was left with almost nothing to do but picking up the ball from the back of his net. But he can hardly be blamed for Joao Pedro’s exquisite finish.
Danilo – 6
The Brazilian acted as a part of the back-three, which meant that he didn’t burst forward on too many occasions. But earned a close-range freekick on one of his rare runs towards the opposition’s box.
Matthijs de Ligt – 6.5
The Dutchman could have arguably done better to close the space on Joao Pedro ahead of the opening goal. However, he did well otherwise, and redeemed himself by nodding home the equalizer for Juventus at a crucial timing.
Giorgio Chiellini – 5.5
The Juventus captain failed to track Marin’s run that led to Cagliari’s goal. Scored one himself in the second half by was denied by an offside call. Surged forward more than usual, but his passing was “hit and miss”.
Juan Cuadrado – 7
Once again, the Colombian proved to be the Old Lady’s savior at her darkest of hours. When Cagliari’s defenses appeared to be tight and solid, he was the one to break through it and provide de Ligt with a sublime assist. Caused problems for the opposition players all match.
Denis Zakaria – 6
A solid if unspectacular display from the Swiss midfielder. Helped Massimiliano Allegri’s men in retrieving the ball, but was less effective than usual on the attacking phase.
Arthur Melo – 6.5
The Brazilian ran his socks off from start to finish and was the main catalyst at the center of the pitch. Although his match lacked a signature moment, it was still a decent outing from the much-maligned midfielder.
Adrien Rabiot – 5.5
The former PSG man offered very little when going forward. He could have had a goal to his name as Pellegrini’s shot struck him, but VAR disallowed it for a marginal handball.
Luca Pellegrini – 6
A generally encouraging display from the Italian wingback who enjoyed a back-and-forth battle against Bellanova. He thought he scored a goal against his former club but was denied by VAR.
Paulo Dybala – 6.5
A mixed bag from the Argentine number 10. Lost the ball in the middle of the park which culminated in Cagliari’s opening goal. He was eager to make it up, but his shots refused to go in. However, he ended up providing the crucial assist as he picked up Vlahovic with a neat pass for the winner. He also played a fabulous through ball for Cuadrado
Dusan Vlahovic – 6.5
Similarly to his attacking partner, the Serbian found difficulties during the match. His touch abandoned him on several occasions and his passing was anything but accurate. But when it mattered the most, the number 7 delivered the winning goal with a powerful low shot.
Juventus Substitutes
Federico Bernardeschi – 6
The Euro 2020 winner worked hard in his second half cameo, especially when Juventus were defending their slim lead in the final minutes.
Moise Kean – N/A
Leonardo Bonucci – N/A