At first glance, Cristiano Ronaldo is the only player to be saved in this Juventus which was eliminated by Lyon in the Champions League. With his two goals, he floated in a team without inspiration and without a real playing identity. If the Italian club said “arrivederci” to his coach – replaced by the legend Andrea Pirlo to whom we wish good luck – , everything will not get better anytime soon. At least as long as CR7 is the tree that hides the forest.
By spending 100 million euros two years ago to secure the services of the Portuguese (at 33!), Juventus bet on a phenomenal player (top scorer in the history of the Champions League), but forgot that a team is not a sum of individuals, even the best of all. What struck during the 180 minutes of OL-Juventus (in February and August) was the lack of collective power, normally in the DNA of Italian teams. On Friday, the Turinese tactics came down to looking for CR7, giving the ball to CR7, getting free kicks for CR7. Pjanic and Betancur were ghostly. Out of charity, we will not discuss Higuain’s performance. Of the 16 shots attempted by the Italian club, 10 were the work of Cristiano Ronaldo. Instead of freeing his partners, he cannibalizes them.
Where are the second knives?
Even in the time of Michel Platini (1982-1987), Zinédine Zidane (1996-2001) or Andrea Pirlo (2011-2015), Juventus was balanced with sharp “second knives”: Tardelli, Boniek, Rossi; Zambrotta, Davids, Del Piero; Bonucci, Pogba, Morata. In this Juventus, nothing similar. The leaders, certain to hold their nugget – admittedly fivefold Ballon d’Or – forgot to create a team. As for the game plan, it is almost unnatural. Since the advent of FC Barcelona under Guardiola, ball possession and domination have become the alpha and omega of football. Ciao the Catenaccio, which has yet proved its worth. Consequence: we saw for 90 minutes – as for Napoli eliminated by FC Barcelona the next day – a stereotypical game, based on bypassing or playing back. Not enough to surprise the opponent.
Not to mention the absence of an Italian sauce base to bind the team. Five years ago, the defense of Juventus was that of the Italian team (Buffon, Barzagli, Chiellini, Bonucci). Friday night, against Lyon, there were only two players from Squadra Azzurra (two Italians at all) on the lawn. A loss of identity which explains this enormous underperformance (which Lyon was able to exploit perfectly). But should we be surprised? When they changed stadium, Juventus left the Stadio delle Alpi for Juventus Stadium (now Allianz Stadium). Football is also a symbolic story …
