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

Danilo 8/10

You really couldn’t ask for a better first impression than Danilo’s on Saturday. He came on for an injured Mattia de Sciglio and scored the match’s opening goal less than a minute later. He didn’t really have much of an impact after that, but that one action was probably enough to make Juve fans feel a little bit better about him replacing Joao Cancelo. We’ll probably get a better look at what he offers after the international break, but for now, his performance in this match should ease the minds of some Juve fans.

Emre Can 6/10

Emre Can came on as a sub for Sami Khedira after the first hour of the match and didn’t really

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offer much of anything for Juve. It was his first action of the year for Juventus, so he can be excused for still needing to get his footing this year, but he’ll need to do more in future appearances if he wants to carve out a role in a crowded midfield.

Paulo Dybala 6/10

I didn’t really understand this substitution for Juventus. Gonzalo Higuain had played very well for most of the game and Paulo Dybala hasn’t really looked like a difference maker in quite some time.  He only played for around 20 minutes in this match, but in that time he didn’t really dispel the notion that he can’t make an impact for Juve anymore. He’ll be given chances throughout the year to prove he deserves to start because of his level of talent, but this wasn’t the type of performance he needed to pass Higuain as a starter.

Manager: Maurizio Sarri 9/10

For somebody who hasn’t even been on the sideline for the first two matches of his Juventus career, Maurizio Sarri has already had a pretty big impact at Juve. Under Massimiliano Allegri, Juventus would have sat back and protected their lead once Danilo scored the opener. That would have been a massive issue for Juventus in this match as they’d have been a horrible position once the defense broke down and Napoli started scoring. Instead, Juve’s attack flowed freely for most of the first hour of the match and gave Juventus plenty of cushion once the defense started to let them down. The defensive struggles should go away as de Ligt and Danilo build chemistry with the rest of the defense and once the defense can relied upon for a full 90 minutes, this attack will make Juventus a tough out for just about anybody in the world.

Not having Sarri has been tough for Juventus these first couple of matches as they haven’t been able to make adjustments throughout the match like their opponents have. Once Sarri is back we should see the best version of Juve we have seen in a few years.