Juventus vs Cagliari – 3 talking points

#2 Juve’s defensive frailties

For so many years now, Chiellini has been at the heart of Juve’s defence. His calmness and discipline is unmatched and Juve missed him sorely on Saturday. Benatia who replaced him did a decent job but there seems to be a problem in Juve’s defensive organization.

Against Cagliari too, Bonucci and co were quite lethargic and gave away the ball easily. On another night against a high-quality opponent, Juve would have been punished hard but they escaped on Saturday. Another problem is the undefined role of Cancelo and Pjanic.

Pjanic is an excellent defensive midfielder with a great eye for danger and he rarely makes an error. But he is very impressive with his passing too, hence he is more of a playmaker these days.

This leaves a lot of space for the opposition forwards to shoot from long range. Cancelo is more of a winger and he is a bit too relaxed on possession sometimes and gives away the ball in dangerous areas near the Juve box. Juventus need to address these concerns soon if they are to win against big teams.