Juventus player ratings vs Napoli: Costa, Higuain, and Koulibaly save Juve

CM: Blaise Matuidi 7/10

Blaise Matuidi was much more influential in this match than the opener against Parma. He made a few nice passes over the course of the match, including the one that sprung Douglas Costa loose to assist Ronaldo’s goal. He even nearly scored, absolutely blasting a shot in the second half, but Alex Meret was up to the challenge. His defensive effort is a given at this point, so it is a big plus when he can make an impact on the other end like he did in this match.

CM: Sami Khedira 6.5/10

Sami Khedira was once again surprisingly competent for Juventus in this match. I still don’t understand why Juve continues to start him, especially against real competition in Napoli, but he didn’t end up hurting and even nearly managed to score twice. He wasted a perfect pass from Gonzalo Higuain that should have been Juve’s 3rd goal, but he also nearly scored an absolute beauty in the first half that was only kept out by the crossbar. Khedira has played well enough to not hurt Juventus, but hopefully we won’t be seeing him again any time soon.

CM: Miralem Pjanic 6.5/10

Miralem Pjanic wasn’t nearly as impactful in this match as he was against Parma, but that was due in large part to where Juventus found their success. For the most part, Juve’s successful attacks started out wide, which rendered Pjanic more of a supporting player in this match. He still distributed the ball very well in the match and kept Juventus in possession for most of the match. This match wasn’t the next step we were hoping for after last week, but it was at least an overall positive for Juve.