Juventus were left frustrated in their Serie A opener 2021/22 when two Wojciech Szczesny errors let Udinese come back from 2-0 to eventually split the substitutions on Sunday night.
In Bianconeri started positively and took only two minutes to break the deadlock. Rodrigo Bentancur unleashed a swerving effort from the right that the visitors’ keeper did well to tip wide.
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
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The little Argentine then turned the supplier 20 minutes later and put his side away on the counter with a sensational rake ball over the top for Cuadrado to collect. The Colombian took the ball in his path, tipped past his defender and buried the ball in the far corner with a seal to double Juve’s lead.
However, Udinese never lost faith and the deficit was halved just six minutes into the second half. Szczesny was guilty when he clumsily spilled Tolgay Arslan’s strike before tripping the German as he rushed to retrieve the return. Roberto Pereyra stepped up to take the space kick and calmly converted to 2-1.
There would be more drama involving the Juventus goalkeeper with eight minutes left of the match, as his satisfied footwork eventually gave Gerard Deulofeu an open goal to hack his side’s other side.
However, that would not be the last turn in the saga. Max Allegri’s men pushed to get back on the rise and thought they had found a winner in the fourth minute of stoppage time when Cristiano Ronaldo clinically led Federico Chiesa’s cross into the net – just for a VAR check to break Juve’s hearts and do not allow the strike for an offside.
In the end, Allegri had to settle for one point in the first match of his second spelling as I Bianconeri boss, when the match ended at 2-2. Now let’s see how the Juve players rated …
Danilo in action / Alessandro Sabattini / Getty Images
Wojciech Szczesny (GK) – 1/10 – Oh dear. Release everyone with a silly mistake and a criminal mistake in the second half. Oh to be a fly on the wall for Allegri’s briefing after the match in the locker room.Danilo (RB) – 6/10 – A threat in the early stages, although it faded in an offensive sense as time went on. Introduced solvency when it was moved into an anchoring midfield role in the second period.Matthijs de Ligt (CB) – 7/10 – Big, strong and scary. A massive air presence on his part, towers over his resistance to win duels in dangerous circumstances.Leonardo Bonucci (CB) – 7/10 – Calm and composed when you meet runners, to read the game and easily stop the danger, make four interceptions and two clearances.Alex Sandro (LB) – 6/10 – Not too much commitment in the forward areas, but remained stuck on the hind foot to make two tackles.
Rodrigo Bentancur was light in the midfield / Quality Sport Images / Getty Images
Rodrigo Bentancur (CM) – 8/10 – Fought hard in midfield to record six ball recoveries, while adding intensity and drive in advanced areas – especially an increase in the area to help the early opener.
Aaron Ramsey (CM) – 6/10 – Distributed the ball nicely, kept the old lady ticking and injected some calm in the procedure. Was not as effective in defense, however, but often failed to screen the back four with good effect.
Federico Bernardeschi (CM) – 6/10 – Made some good runs – both late darts into the area and early surges beyond the front line – but never found possession where he could really disrupt the opposition. However, Dybala made a spectacular save.
The brain for Juventus’ performance / Quality Sports Images / Getty Images
Juan Cuadrado (RW) – 8/10 – Lively from the beginning. Crucial in the build-up to I Bianconeri’s first, clinical for others, and generally a threatening thorn in Udinese’s right.
Alvaro Morata (ST) – 4/10 – Worked hard and was a willing runner all the time, but just saw the pace and missed that tip. Headed a second half post on the post, but otherwise struggled to get into the game and never seemed to worry about Udinese’s back line. Poor performance.Paulo Dybala (LW) – 9/10 – An orchestrator at the highest level, free roaming around and dictating games. Constantly found space, demonstrated the vision and quality to see and make some really incredible passes and was simply immobile for large parts. Finished without effort putting his side forward and recorded Cuadrado with a superb ball for 2-0 – talismanic.
Cristiano Ronaldo thought he had won the match late / Alessandro Sabattini / Getty Images
Cristiano Ronaldo (ST) – 6/10 – Went brilliantly into death, only to have his goal scrapped for a slight offside. Desperate otur. Giorgio Chiellini (CB) – 6/10
Dejan Kulusevski (ST) – 7/10
Federico Chiesa (RWB) – 7/10
Manuel Locatelli (CM) – N / A
