Juventus player ratings vs Atletico Madrid: Paulo Dybala’s unreal free kick wins Group D
By John Vaccaro
CM: Blaise Matuidi 6.5/10
Blaise Matuidi was surprisingly uninvolved in this match. He wasn’t asked to do much on the defensive end where he excels and didn’t get anything done in the attacking half. A decision about another starter for this match made Matuidi’s skillset redundant and Miralem Pjanic had more of an impact on defense than usual. This wasn’t Matuidi’s most impressive match, but he’ll get another shot to impress over the weekend.
CM: Miralem Pjanic 7/10
Who would have guessed Juve’s winning goal would come from a direct free kick taken by somebody other than Miralem Pjanic? Just as surprisingly, it was actually the defensive end where Pjanic had the most impact. Playing alongside two more defensively oriented midfielders, Pjanic was the one who made things most difficult for Atletico. The major positive to take from this match though, is that Juve might finally be willing to stop giving free kick duties to Ronaldo. That should give Pjanic more chances to shine in the future.
CM: Rodrigo Bentancur 6.5/10
I’m so glad that I don’t have to talk about Sami Khedira right now, but I’m not sure that Rodrigo Bentancur did enough in this match to keep Khedira from reclaiming the job. He was okay going forward, but he wasn’t really needed on the defensive end with Matuidi on the field and Pjanic stepping up on that side. He was still better than anything Khedira offers, so that was at least a positive. Hopefully he gets another chance to show he deserves this job and can actually do enough to hold onto it.