This was much more difficult than Juventus would have liked.
After back to back draws on the road that were both disappointing for very different reasons, Juve got the chance to come home against arguably their weakest opposition of the season. They got a much tougher fight than expected.
Both teams struggled to create real chances early in the match, but in the 20th minute, Juve gave Hellas Verona a gift. Merih Demiral took down a Verona player in the box to give Verona a penalty, but it wouldn’t be the penalty that punished Juve. The penalty went off the post, and the rebound was shot off of the crossbar, but in the ensuing chaos, Miguel Veloso unleashed an incredible volley that beat Gianluigi Buffon from outside the box. That rarely happens and it seemed to wake Juve up as it only took 11 minutes for Aaron Ramsey to equalize the match.
Ronaldo held the ball up well and played it to Ramsey in a ton of space outside the box. Ramsey unleashed a shot that perfectly deflected off of a Verona defender and settled in the corner of the net. They’d head to halftime tied at 1.
The second half didn’t take nearly as long to get going. Juan Cuadrado took the ball down the right wing and into the box, eventually being taken out by a Verona defender to draw a Juve penalty. Ronaldo stepped up to the spot, saw the keeper pick a side, and buried his penalty in the center of the net. That penalty would be the deciding goal as Juve would claim all 3 points with a 2-1 win.
GK: Gianluigi Buffon 7/10
Gianluigi Buffon probably wasn’t expecting to have to work so hard in his first match back at Juventus. It was an impressive match for Buffon though, as he made a few big saves to keep Verona from getting a second goal in the match. As far as the goal he allowed goes, it takes something special to beat Buffon from outside the box and that’s exactly what Veloso’s shot was. We won’t see him take the starting job from Szczesny, but he played well in his first start of the season.