Juventus player ratings vs Fiorentina: Bentancur impresses again, Ronaldo streak continues

CM: Rodrigo Bentancur 8.5/10

Rodrigo Bentancur has made me feel like an idiot for a few weeks now and that certainly didn’t change in this match. Back in October I wrote about the players Juve should target during the winter transfer window and in that article I was adamant that they needed somebody to complete a midfield trio with Miralem Pjanic and Blaise Matuidi. Since then Bentancur has made adding another starting caliber midfielder look completely unnecessary. He has passed well, been an absolute defensive nuisance, and now he’s even scoring goals. The setup and finish on his goal against Fiorentina were absolutely perfect. He was a little bit shaky to start the match, but quickly got his feet under him and thrived in Pjanic’s absence. He has easily been Juve’s most improved player this season and their biggest surprise. I just hope that Allegri keeps him as a regular starter once the midfield is healthy. He looks like he has the potential to be a star at Juve for years to come as long as he keeps getting regular minutes.

CM: Blaise Matuidi 7.5/10

It seems that Blaise Matuidi drew the short straw between the midfielders needing a day off. Pjanic’s day off left Matuidi and Bentancur needing to take up extra defensive duties, but they more than lived up to the task. Matuidi made 3 tackles and 2 interceptions in the match, which was a slight uptick from his usual defensive contribution. He didn’t pick up any of the attacking slack in Pjanic’s absence, but he didn’t really end up needing to. It was another workmanlike performance from Matuidi that made it very difficult for Fiorentina to attack through the middle of the field. We know what we’re getting from Matuidi at this point and that consistency is key for Juve’s banged up midfield.