Juventus player ratings vs Lokomotiv Moscow: Paulo Dybala rescues Juventus from embarrassment

Gonzalo Higuain 6.5/10

Gonzalo Higuain got an extended run as an early substitute in this match, but he wasn’t able to make a difference after his introduction. His lack of impact coupled with Dybala’s incredible second half means that Higuain will need to do something big to get back in the race against Dybala for the starting striker position next to Ronaldo. With the way Dybala is playing, he may need to make

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it happen soon or he could be headed to the bench for good.

Adrien Rabiot 7/10

Adrien Rabiot would have made much more sense as a starter in this match than Blaise Matuidi and it showed once he was introduced. He was much more creative than Matuidi and helped the attack create some options against a compact Lokomotiv defense. This performance wasn’t enough for Rabiot to supplant Matuidi, but it should at least make Sarri consider him when Juve plays teams who are going to play defensively focused matches.

Federico Bernardeschi: Inc.

Federico Bernardeschi was only on the field for 13 minutes and Juventus protecting a lead for the entirety of that time. He probably should have started this match instead of Rodrigo Bentancur, but was instead given a short, unnecessary cameo appearance. I’m really not sure what’s going on with Aaron Ramsey right now, so we could be seeing a lot more of Bernardeschi in the near future.

Manager: Maurizio Sarri 6/10

I had quite a few issues with Sarri’s management in this match. I don’t understand the decision to start Rodrigo Bentancur behind the strikers at all. It’s not a role he’s suited for and he would have been much better off starting in Khedira’s spot if he was going to be started. Instead, Bernardeschi should have been playing behind the strikers from the start of the match. I also think that Adrien Rabiot would have been a better fit for Juve’s needs in the match than Matuidi. Juve needed to bolster their attack instead of playing a defensive midfielder.

I also think it’s ridiculous that Ronaldo is still taking Juve’s free kicks after over a year of repeatedly shooting into the wall. Miralem Pjanic is a flat-out better option to take any close free kicks and Juve should absolutely be using him in close matches. I also think that the reason Bonucci looked so slow in this match is because he has been mismanaged throughout the year. Juve has refused to rest him even though they have played quite a few inferior opponents. Now they are paying the price for it and they need to rest him against Lecce. Overall, this was a poor day from Juve that was saved by Dybala. At least they got the win.