Juve 2-1 Lokomotiv Moscow: Player Ratings

Lokomotiv Moscow played most of the match with the entire team behind the ball. This made for a busy central midfield area where Juve were looking to build most of their attacks. Juventus played wider in the second half, which resulted in more crosses but without many clear-cut scoring opportunities. Luckily though, there was just about enough for another remontada.

Grading Key

– 8 and above: Excellent
– 6: Meets expectations
– Below 5: Pretty bad

Note: Data sourced from whoscored.com

Overall Team Grade: 6

– 1st Half (5): The team struggled to find a way through the opposition defense. A series of mistakes resulted in the concession of a goal that should have been avoided. Juve endured a frustrating half for the most part.

– 2nd Half (7): The goals finally came later on in the second half. Juventus dominated proceedings, although struggled to unlock the Lokomotiv defense. While Sarri’s system was on display, so were its limitations – most notably, the team’s inability to play around a deep block.

The overall grade is a 6 – we did the bare minimum; we struggled, but got the result. 

Player Ratings

– Tek (6.5): Did not have much to do besides blocking a shot just before Lokomotiv scored from the rebound

– Cuadrado (6.5): Sloppy at times, but put in some good crosses and tried hard to create space for his teammates

– Bonucci (5.5): Almost lost Joao Mario early on, then was out of position on the first goal, missed a decent opportunity to score on a header, and misplaced a dangerous pass. Looked low on confidence, but luckily was barely tested in the second half.

– De Ligt (6): Decent performance but could have anticipated better on the Lokomotiv goal

– Sandro (6.5): Good, reliable performance

– Matuidi (6): Energetic performance with typical ball-winning prowess but also a handful of poor moments

– Rabiot (6): Encouraging performance that built upon his rusty display against Bologna

– Pjanic (7): Sharp in his passing in spite of being closely marked

– Bentancur (6.5): Showed off his abilities with a meandering run that covered two-thirds of the pitch in the first half. Assured display with minimal fuss.

– Khedira (5): Not much of note besides a run into the box in the first half that fizzled out

– Higuain (6.5): Good turn and shot outside the box to create something out of nothing and gave Juve an extra attacking threat with his arrival

– Ronaldo (6): Worked hard and continually caused trouble in the first half, but had a subdued second half

– Dybala (8.5): Scored a terrific goal from outside the box and then was in the right place at the right time for his second 

– Bernardeschi (NR)