Just like when the two teams met at the Club World Cup back in early July, a relatively common theme emerged as Juventus hunkered down to try and stay in the game against Real Madrid on Wednesday night.
Real Madrid racks up the shot count, Michele Di Gregorio makes a couple of great saves and then the cycle only seems to repeat itself a couple of times throughout the course of the second half.
That was the case in Miami nearly four months ago, and that ended up being the case once again in the Champions
League at the Santiago Bernabéu. Just as we said against Real Madrid over the summer, if it wasn’t for Di Gregorio and some of the monstrous saves he made, a 1-0 loss could have been much, much worse. This time around, though, Juventus at least had a few cracks at making a game of it. But no matter if it was Dusan Vlahovic or Loïs Openda, Juve just couldn’t crack the giant Belgian in the Real Madrid goal and find an equalizer.
It resulted in a second loss in the span of four days for Juventus and a winless streak that has now been stretched out to seven games in all competitions.
It’s the kind of performance that is a bit of something that splits my feelings. Because on one end, Real Madrid had close to 30 shots, had Juventus’ defense extremely stretched at times and had an xG total of close to 3 — which, if you do the quick math, is nearly five times more than what Juventus was able to do.
But, on the other end, Juve had chances to score. Vlahovic’s breakaway in which he outran Éder Militão and was only denied by the leg of Thibaut Courtois will loom large. Same goes for the Openda shot in which Jonathan David put it on a silver platter only for him to take a touch too many and see his shot blocked. Same goes for Pierre Kalulu and the gift-wrapped chance he had thanks to a turnover right on the edge of the Real Madrid penalty area. Hell, even Filip Kostic — yes, him! — forced a big save out of Courtois in the closing minutes that kept Real Madrid in front.
For all of the defending that Juventus had to do — and it sure was a lot! — they had chances to score. And those chances, with a little better finishing, ends Juve’s sudden run of actually not scoring.
It’s those two things. Those two very different yet still very frustrating kinds of things that feel like they sum up the current state of Juventus at this moment.
So, with all of that being said, there’s this piece of information staring us all in the face no matter how you felt about how Juventus actually played against Real Madrid.
This is the simple truth of the matter. Juventus lost again. They haven’t won since Sept. 13. They’ve been shut out in three straight games and have only scored more than a single goal all of once since their back-to-back four-goal outings against Inter Milan and Borussia Dortmund. The scuffle is very much real, very much worrying and very much a thing that could cost Igor Tudor his job in the near future.
With Wednesday night’s loss, they now sit on two points through their first three UCL league phase games. For as much as last season’s Champions League campaign frustrated the living hell out of us all, this one is certainly giving it a run for its money. If the league phase were to end right now, Juventus would be completely out of the competition since they’re sitting in 25th place. You know, the first team out as the other 24 teams go on and keep their European adventures alive.
Is this going to be the game that suddenly allows Juventus to snap out of their current slump? I don’t know. A lot like facing Real Madrid — albeit one in which was quite shorthanded and had to play their best midfielder at right back because of injuries and suspensions — there’s not exactly a lot of confidence coming from my gut because of it. This is a flawed team and there’s probably only so much Tudor can do at this point to try and get things turned around in a major way.
But, again, Juventus should have some regrets after this game. That most definitely should. They could have scored. Hell, probably should have scored with a couple of the chances they had. They just couldn’t, and that is currently one of the biggest issues with this team — they just can’t find the back of the net.
The favorites won on Wednesday night. That’s probably not a surprise knowing how Juventus have been playing over the last month. And if it wasn’t for Di Gregorio, some of those saves would have been goals and the scoreline would have been a lot, lot worse. That’s what makes the fact that a loss that at least had a chance to be a draw with what Juve did after falling behind a little tough to take.
It’s just … yeah, another instance of this team not being to overcome its shortcomings.
RANDOM THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS
- I said it in July and I will say it again: Michele Di Gregorio didn’t deserve any of this.
- I mean, the man saved a shot with his face. He saved a shot with his stomach — and was gasping for air for a few minutes because of it. And that was after he made a huge save a split-second before.
- A couple of those saves were just pure athleticism and reactions. How quickly he got up after the first half of his double save was brilliant. The man deserves all of the plaudits that he will receive.
- I think it’s safe to say the simple mentality that Juve took into their game against Real Madrid was miles ahead of where they were against Como. That is something I was very happy to see.
- Brahim Diaz putting his studs into Khephren Thuram’s ankle on the hour mark is just a yellow, huh? Well color me surprised because I’ve seen that called against a Juventus player plenty of times.
- The fact that Thuram came out right after that was quite the swing, too. Not totally sure if it was planned, but the fact that Juve’s best midfielder was suddenly not on the field seems like an important factor.
- Vlahovic couldn’t convert that chance in the second half — yes, it was a great save, so it’s not like some of his previous efforts that he’s totally fluffed — but he sure did play his tail off against Real Madrid.
- Real Madrid passes in the first half: 376.
- Juventus passes in the first half: 155.
- Real Madrid corner kicks in the first half: 9.
- Juventus corner kicks in the first half: 2.
- I dunno, guys, but I’m still thinking playing Kalulu as a wingback isn’t a good idea if you’re looking to counterattack a team like Real Madrid. The output says it right there — when he had the ball at his feet, he either was turning it over or his cross attempt was just not good enough.
- Would Juve have been worse off defensively if Joao Mario was out there? Sure, but you feel like he would have been better in the counterattacking side of the equation.
- Hell, I sure as hell know Alberto Costa would have done better as an attacking wingback, but he’s currently with Porto and probably wondering what the heck happened to the team he left a few months ago.
- No matter how defensive you play agianst Real Madrid — and doing that in Juve’s situation felt like the right way to go — seeing Kenan Yildiz get just 30 touches in just over 70 minutes and not really test Real Madrid’s defense outside of a couple of times is just not great.
- Although, it was at least a little entertaining to see the back and forth between Yildiz and Arda Güler out on the left wing from time to time. The reasons are obvious, and it just would have been nice to see Yildiz get the better of his countryman a few more times.
- Federico Gatti had himself a game. Like a big game. The man blocked five shots! That’s a lot.
- I honestly though this was going to be a lot worse scoreline-wise. So thank you, Mr. Di Gregorio.
