After a three-week block where Juventus racked up seven out of a possible nine points against their final (on paper) difficult stretch of the season, surely Juventus wouldn’t trip up on a trap game against a team that had been officially relegated earlier in the week.
Right?
RIGHT?!!?
It was one of those games we’ve seen in 2026 where Juventus did everything right except score more goals than their opponent. At least they didn’t lose, but a 1-1 draw against Hellas Verona, who will be playing in Serie
B next year is not going to cut it in a race like this. One elementary error gave Verona a shocking lead against the run of play, Juve dominated the flow of the game, but only hit the target with seven out of 29 shots, and of those only a free kick by Dusan Vlahovic could get past Verona’s Lorenzo Montipò. Admittedly, Montipò made multiple saves, including two in the span of about 40 seconds, that were of a quality approaching the absurd, but to not be able to break through for three points against such lowly opposition is a massive missed opportunity.
Now, with three games left in the season, Juve are all of one point ahead of Roma, who jumped Como into 5th place after thoroughly destroying Fiorentina on Monday. They still control their own destiny, but the margin for error is now zero as they head into next week’s match against Lecce.
How did the players who hit the field do in this disapoointing contest? Let’s take a closer look.
MICHELE DI GREGORIO – 5. After doing so much to redeem himself over the last few weeks when Mattia Perin was injured, getting beat at his near post with a relatively tame shot was certainly a regression. He clearly assumed Kieron Bowie was going to go to the far post and overcommitted, leaving him unable to adjust to keep the ball out. It should be said that he never should’ve had to face that shot to begin with, but it’s equally true that he really should have saved it.
PIERRE KALULU – 6.5. Made a pair of tackles and as many key passes, including a peach of a ball that Bremer just missed flicking into the goal. Strong defensively and offensively as usual.
BREMER – 5. It’s incredible, because he was playing so well, and did play well after, but his catastrophic error in leaving a simple pass two yards short of Kalulu to allow Verona to open the scoring cancels pretty much everything else out. He hit the crossbar with an elegant flicked header in the 26th minute and had five interceptions, but his brain fart was the difference between one point and three.
LLOYD KELLY – 6. Completed 91 percent of his passes, including nine of 11 long balls, and made a pair of tackles to go along with three shots, one of which was on target, albeit tame.
WESTON McKENNIE – 6. A typical day for Wes, making a pair of key passes and providing huge value with his versatility, starting as the right wing-back before kicking into the double pivot after Luciano Spalletti changed formation at halftime.
MANUEL LOCATELLI – 6. Touched the ball an incredible 136 times, and made a pair of key passes. Played a key part in keeping Verona under siege for most of the match.
ANDREA CAMBIASO – 6.5. The fact that we kinda saw vintage Cambiaso in this match is largely lost in the shuffle of this game’s narrative, but he had on of his best matches in a while. Dude had five key passes—including at least two that would’ve been assists but for the insane efforts of Montipò—and completed 96.4 percent overall. He also had a tackle and two interceptions and made no errors defensively. Where’s this been since November of 2024?
FRANCISCO CONCEIÇÃO – 7. It’s unbelievable that he didn’t score today. Of Juve’s seven shots on target, he had three of them, and all were denied by Montipò with saves that ranged from really good to how-on-God’s-green-earth-did-he-just-do-that? He tied for the team lead in dribbles and made four key passes as well. Should’ve had a more tangible reward for his efforts.
KENAN YILDIZ – 5.5. He’s clearly still not 100 percent with that knee. He was the co-leader in dribbles (3) and made two key passes, but that extra oomph seemed to be missing. He’s gutting it out for the team, but hasn’t been able to make an output yet.
JONATHAN DAVID – 4.5. Another game where he just looked a little lost. He only attempted 16 passes all game, which is insane especially considering he was moved into the No. 10 role at half. Didn’t hit the target with either of his two shots either.
SUBS
DUSAN VLAHOVIC – 7. Came on at halftime and gave the team a serious shot in the arm with his free kick goal. Everything just looked more dangerous with him up front as opposed to David.
FABIO MIRETTI – 5. An interesting choice for the next man off the bench, Miretti didn’t really settle and was a non-factor bar a late shot that was right at Montipò.
JÉRÉMIE BOGA – 6. Could’ve won the game at the back post late on but had his shot blocked at point-blank range. Put in a key pass too.
TEUN KOOPMEINERS – NR. He was…there. Physically present. Nothing else to say really.
EDON ZHEGROVA – NR. Desperately unlucky to be denied a late winner by Montipò’s one-handed parry onto the post. Looked shifty and was credited with two dribbles in just 11 minutes of game time.
MANAGER ANALYSIS
There’s precious little Luciano Spalletti can do about a game like this except hope that his subs start taking better shots than the starters they replaced. Vlahovic was certainly the right call, but Miretti and Koopmeiners both seemed slightly suspect, and his final three subs came a bit too late for my liking. His formation change was a good idea, and in theory having Vlahovic play off of a deeper David should work like gangbusters, but David’s form right now just isn’t up to snuff.
Apart from telling his offensive players to get good when it comes to hitting the target, there’s really only one tangible thing that Spalletti can do in the final three games to try to improve the attack, and that’s putting Vlahovic in the starting lineup. Now, whether that’s doable given Vlahovic’s physical condition is still up in the air, but playing the full second half on Sunday was a good sign. He brought a different dynamic to the front line, and especially seems more capable than David of moving defenses out of alignment with his movement. If he’s healthy enough, he’s a must-start in the final three games. If not, then frankly the false nine with Boga at the top might be a better option than starting David at this point.
LOOKING AHEAD
Three games remain: away to Lecce, home to Fiorentina, and away to Torino. Juve will be favored in all three, but they also each present challenges. Lecce are fighting to avoid the final spot in the drop zone, although their win on Friday coupled with Cremonese’s Monday defeat has given them some breathing room. Fiorentina are clear of the relegation fight at this point, but you know that they’d love to ruin Juve’s day, and the Derby is the Derby.
The margins are razor-thin right now. The possibility exists that AC Milan, who are rapidly flatlining, continue their slide enough to make two spots in the top four available instead of just the one, but that shouldn’t be counted upon. Juve control their destiny. Win three games, go to the Champions League.
Win the games, boys.
