Juventus player ratings vs SPAL: Pjanic keeps Juve rolling
By John Vaccaro
Juventus made things easier on themselves against SPAL than they had in their previous two matches
After needing to come back from 1-0 deficits in their last two, Juve made sure that they were never in danger of falling behind SPAL in this match.
It did take them a little while to open the scoring, but that had more to do with SPAL’s keeper than problems on Juve’s part. Sami Khedira had a header saved from close range late in the first half, but it wouldn’t be long after that Juve took the lead. Khedira made a pass that was a bit behind Pjanic outside the box, but it was no issue for Dybala as he placed it perfectly to finally beat Etrit Berisha. The match would go to halftime with Juve leading 1-0.
The second half was more of the same as Juve bombarded SPAL’s goal and Berisha did everything in his power to keep SPAL in the match. Eventually, Miralem Pjanic would play a pass to set Paulo Dybala loose on the left wing where he found space to send in a cross that Cristiano Ronaldo headed into the back of the net. That would give Juve a 2-0 lead and that would be the final scoreline for the match.
GK: Gianluigi Buffon 6.5/10
It was a pretty easy day for Gianluigi Buffon, but a day where he set another record. He broke Paolo Maldini’s record for most club appearances with 903. He didn’t have much to do in the match, but handled his little action well and distributed the ball nicely when given the chance. He’ll head back to the bench on Tuesday, but with the incredibly bad luck they’ve had with injuries this year, Juve must be pretty thrilled to know that they have Buffon available in case the goalkeeper position is the next one struck by injury.