Juventus player ratings vs Empoli: Ronaldo saves Juve from embarrassment

Juventus came dangerously close to another disappointing result when they travelled to Empoli on Saturday.

This definitely wasn’t the kind of performance Juve was hoping for after drawing Genoa in their last Serie A game. They put on a lackluster performance in the first half and would have paid the price for it if Cristiano Ronaldo didn’t save the day.

The first half saw Juventus dominate possession, but they were never able to take advantage of that possession and Empoli gave them some issues on the counterattack because of it. Eventually one of those counterattacks turned into a lead for Empoli as Francesco Caputo pounced on a loose ball to score his 4th goal of the season. The match went into halftime with Juve in danger of dropping points in their second straight league match.

Luckily for Juventus, their big summer signing was able to turn things around in the second half. Just 9 minutes after halftime Paulo Dybala was able to draw a borderline penalty call that created an opportunity where there really wouldn’t have been one. Ronaldo stepped up to take the penalty and calmly slotted it home as he has done more than 100 other times throughout his career.

Then in the 70th minute, Ronaldo reminded the world why his price tag was so high even at 33 years old. Empoli made the mistake of giving him a little bit of space outside the box and he absolutely made them pay. He blasted a ball into the goal from a tough angle and put the defending champs ahead for the first time in the match. Juve would hold onto the lead from there, giving them their 9th win in 10 league matches.

GK: Wojciech Szczesny 6.5/10

I think at this point in the season we know what we’re getting out of Szczesny every match. He rarely gets called into action because Juve generally dominates possession. He doesn’t make mistakes but seldom makes memorable saves. This match was more of the same as he surrendered a goal that was very well placed and would’ve been tough for anybody to stop. He also made an unremarkable save on Empoli’s other shot on goal. Overall, it was another slow day for Szczesny.