Juventus player ratings vs Lazio: Juve impresses in 4-3-3
By John Vaccaro
Saturday was a good day to be a Juventus fan.
The Juventus we saw in the home opener barely resembled the one we saw against Chievo. A return to Allianz Stadium and a change to a 4-3-3 both provided a massive boost to the squad. As somebody who has been calling for a formation change for the last year (and applied to Playing for 90 with a piece about why Juve should change) today was everything I could have asked for.
After nearly giving Juve fans a heart attack last week, Juventus had no such issues this week. They controlled the game from start to finish and never looked to be in any danger. They looked more dangerous this week with Pjanic in his deep-lying playmaker role and he was the man that got the party started for Juve.
Federico Bernardeschi sent in a cross the Mario Mandzukic tried to head down into a dangerous position, but it got headed out right into Pjanic’s path. He took full advantage of the opportunity and perfectly connected on a volley to put Juve ahead in the 30th minute.
Juve continued to be the better side from there, but failed to create another clear chance until the 75th minute. Joao Cancelo was set loose on the right side by Douglas Costa and sent a perfect cross through the box. It was tipped by the keeper into the path of Cristiano Ronaldo who got the, um, unorthodox assist when Mandzukic smashed a volley into the back of an open net.
Juventus showed their class in the home opener. Hopefully it will convince Massimiliano Allegri to keep them in the 4-3-3 for big games.
Goalkeeper: Wojciech Szczesny 7/10
Wojciech Szczesny wasn’t much of a factor in Juve’s opener, but he made more of a contribution against Lazio. He saved one shot in the first half that had a chance of finding the bottom corner. He was called into action more against a higher quality opponent for Juve and didn’t make any mistakes. He got his first clean sheet of the season and for now appears to be keeping Mattia Perin from taking his job.