The overall sentiment from Juventus’ opening day at Udinese on Sunday night will be mistrust and frustration, after seeing two goalkeeper accidents throw a two-goal pillow at half-time to make a 2-2 draw.
But for all the negatives that will be removed from that match, there will be a man who feels especially encouraged and happy about his individual performance.
The last few times have not been too kind for Paulo Dybala. The player who arrived at Juventus in 2015 and looked to unlock the wonderful potential within himself has somewhat faded in previous seasons, which often reflects the decrease in intensity that has infected the club since Max Allegers’ departure in 2019.
After suffering a difficult time with injuries, the Argentine ended the 2020/21 campaign with four goals and three assists in 24 Serie A matches when Juventus played its worst season in a decade – simply not the player he can be.
But when Allegri returns to the Bianconeri excavation this semester, it looks like the forward has the fortunes to change. The Juve boss, who took the now 27-year-old to the club from Palermo and saw him thrive the years after his arrival, is back and already gets a song from Dybala.
Paulo Dybala was excellent against Udinese / Alessandro Sabattini / Getty Images
It was clearly during the old lady’s disappointing match day a match on Sunday.
Dybala was immobile, free-flowing, elegantly aggressive and simply talismanic throughout his team’s 2-2 draw when he put on the captain’s bracelet.
After exhibiting on the left wing, it became immediately clear that Allegri had sent him out without any shackles. His movement was elusive and untraceable as he appeared all over the field to put his influence on procedures.
And it did not take long to communicate himself. Within three minutes, he demonstrated his natural intelligence by making a late wave in the box, getting caught on Rodrigo Bentancur’s cut and carelessly spinning the ball into the far corner before rushing off in celebration.
It took Juve just two minutes to open their account for the new Serie A season?
Paulo Dybala with an early declaration of intent! pic.twitter.com/SLkMLhgGhB
– ?? Watch Serie A on BT Sport Football ?? (@btsportfootball) August 22, 2021
It was the end of someone full of confidence – something that has been missing in the Argentine’s game for a while but has visibly returned with the reintroduction of Allegri and the Italian’s confidence in his little wizard.
20 minutes later, his afternoon got even better. By collecting the ball after Juventus’ two colossal midfielders had maintained Udinese’s pressure, Dybala countered the old lady by first watching and then making a sensational cross-pass to Juan Cuadrado, before the Colombian stopped clinically sweeping moves.
It was two moments that summed up his evening. Just as Lionel Messi has been in Barcelona in recent seasons, he was absolutely central to all sides forward and was the architect and orchestra who dictated everything that was beautiful in I Binaconeri’s performance.
While the end result was outrageous, Juventus fans will have been ecstatic and relieved to see the intensity of their side and shoot back. It was a gut-wrenching and driven performance led by the dizzyingly good Dybala – a sign that this season could be the rebirth of the world-class player we all know he can be.
His potential may have seemed to disappear in recent years, but there is no doubt that Allegri returning to the Allianz Stadium could unlock a new dawn in the Argentine’s career.
