The Best XI of Serie A Round 26: Morata Wins It for Juventus

Italian Football, Serie A, Serie A 2020-2021, Top 11

It was another exciting Serie A weekend, offering a great number of intriguing fixtures involving the teams at the top and bottom of the table.

The most anticipated matches of Round 26 saw Juventus strengthen their position in the top four following an impressive 3-1 over Lazio on Saturday night, whereas the league leaders Inter have extended their winning run to seven matches after narrowly edging out Atalanta thanks to Milan Skriniar’s right-footed strike.

Here we take a look at the best statistical XI of Serie A Round 26 in collaboration with the FotMob app.

Goalkeeper – Juan Musso (Udinese)

The 26-year-old Argentine has kept his 8thclean sheet of the season in a game against Sassuolo, which helped Udinese claim their fourth win in the last seven matches.

Overall, Musso had a solid game between the sticks, saving 2 shots, one from inside and one from outside the box, which accumulated a total of 0.6 Post-Shot Expected Goals (PSxG). Additionally, the Argentine completed 15 of his 21 attempted passes in total (71% accuracy), of which 9 were long passes.

FotMob Rating – 8.1

Right-Back / Wing-Back – Nahuel Molina (Udinese)

Udinese’s perfect defensive display against Sassuolo would not have been possible without solid individual performances at the back. Nahuel Molina was a major contributor to his team’s win on Saturday, helping out on defensive and offensive ends of the pitch.

The 22-year-old Argentine assisted Fernando Llorente for his opening goal against Sassuolo, which was his 3rd assist of this Serie A campaign. It was a result of Molina’s impressive passing distribution, as he completed 3 key passes and 3 progressive passes in this game.

FotMob Rating – 7.8

Right Center-Back – Milan Skriniar (Inter)

Inter’s winning run has been further extended following a victory over Atalanta last night, with their right-sided centre-back Milan Skriniar scoring the winning goal.

The Slovenian defender has been a pivotal part of Antonio Conte’s defensive mechanism, contributing massively to Inter’s ten clean sheets in the Serie A this season. It proved to be the case against Atalanta, with Skriniar winning 5 out of 7 ground duels (71% success), succeeding 3 tackle attempts and making 5 ball interceptions.

FotMob Rating – 8.4

Left Center-Back – Alessandro Bastoni (Inter)

Keeping clean sheets without a properly functioning central defensive partnership is often hard to impossible; therefore, Alessandro Bastoni from Inter is our second-best rated centre-back of Round 26.

Against Atalanta, the 21-year-old Italian had an excellent all-round performance, assisting Skriniar for his goal and putting in rock-solid defensive actions at the back. Bastoni won 5 out of 8 ground duels (63% success), made 6 ball interceptions and recovered the ball 7 times, as well as completed an impressive 93% of his passes (56/60).

FotMob Rating – 8.2

Left-Back / Wing-Back – Diogo Dalot (Milan)

We complete our best defenders of Round 26 lineup with another representative of a team from the fashion capital of Italy, but this time, it is the red side of the city. Diogo Dalot of Milan is the best left-back of the weekend, as his goal has helped the Rossoneri beat Hellas Verona on Sunday.

The 21-year-old Portuguese international was an influential figure on the pitch, having 66 touches and completing 26 of his 41 attempted passes (63.4% accuracy). Additionally, Dalot showed good resilience at the back, making 4 interceptions and completing 9 ball recoveries.

FotMob Rating – 8.0

Central Midfielder – Leo Sena (Spezia)

Our first player on the list from a non-winning team is Spezia’s central midfielder Leo Sena. Although Spezia were held to a 1-1 draw against Benevento on Saturday, the 25-year-old Brazilian ran the show in the middle of the park.

Sena neither scored nor assisted, but his overall contribution in possession was more than impressive. The central midfielder had a staggering 114 touches and attempted 86 passes, of which 70 were successful (81% accuracy). More impressively, 16 of those passes entered the final third of the pitch, with 13 of them being progressive passes, while the Brazilian also completed a remarkable 16 of 21 attempted long balls (76% accuracy).

FotMob Rating – 8.2

Central Midfielder – Rodrigo de Paul (Udinese)

Rodrigo de Paul is Udinese’s third player on our list of the best-rated XI of Round 26. The central midfielder collected his 5th assist of the season in a game against Sassuolo, as he successfully set up Roberto Pereyra, who scored Udinese’s second goal of the night.

The 26-year-old Argentine had an overall solid game, completing 33 of his 41 attempted passes (80% accuracy), of which 2 were key passes, and winning an impressive 14 duels in total (ground and aerial).

FotMob Rating – 8.4

Central Attacking Midfielder – Junior Messias (Crotone)

On Saturday, Crotone celebrated only their fourth win of this Serie A season, but what a win it turned out to be. Serse Cosmi’s men put in an impressive performance against Torino, beating their relegation rivals 4-2. Such a statement win would have not been possible without a major impact from Crotone’s creative players, such as Junior Messias.

The 30-year-old central attacking midfielder had a fine game in attack, assisting Crotone’s fourth goal of the game. The Brazilian was also solid in a passing department, completing 81% of his passes (22/27), of which 4 were key passes leading to dangerous actions. Speaking of it, Messias completed 10 shot-creating and 3 goal-creating actions against Torino – the most out of both teams.

FotMob Rating – 8.5

Right-Winger / Wide Forward – Federico Chiesa (Juventus)

Juventus surged to an impressive 3-1 over Lazio on Saturday night, and Federico Chiesa was one of their outstanding performers once again.

The Italian right-winger collected his 6th assist of this Serie A season after playing a delightful through ball to Alvaro Morata, who slotted it into the roof of the net, making it 2-1 to Juve. Chiesa’s influence in the attacking end of the pitch was well noticeable, with the Italian completing 4 shot-creating and 2 goal-creating actions during his 82 minutes on the pitch.

FotMob Rating – 8.0

Left-Winger / Wide Forward – Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli)

Napoli have claimed their second Serie A win in the last three matches against Bologna, and their captain and talisman Lorenzo Insigne was at the forefront of offensive action.

The little Italian scored two of Napoli’s three goals and created another big-goal scoring opportunity. Additionally, Insigne completed 81% of his passes (39/48), of which 2 were key passes, and 4 out of 5 attempted dribbles (80% success).

FotMob rating – 8.9

Striker – Alvaro Morata (Juventus)

With Cristiano Ronaldo starting the game on the bench, Juventus needed someone who could fill the Portuguese striker’s boots, and Alvaro Morata was luckily the man for the Bianconeri on the night.

The Spaniard had an all-round excellent performance against Lazio, scoring two goals and assisting Adrien Rabiot’s equalizer in the 39th minute. Additionally, Morata created one more big-scoring opportunity for his teammates in what was a truly impressive man of the match performance by the 28-year-old.

FotMob Rating – 9.1

Related posts:

  1. The Best XI of Serie A Round 28: Milan Players Dominate the List
  2. The Best XI of Serie A Round 30: Dusan Vlahovic the Beast!
  3. The Best XI of Serie A Round 33: Correa and Reina Win it For Lazio
  4. The Best XI of Serie A Round 34: Ronaldo Salvages Win for Juventus