How the comprehensive win over Lecce reflected Juventus' winning mentality
Italian giants Juventus blew away Lecce in a comprehensive 4-0 home victory. The win gave the Bianconeri a seven-point lead over their capital rivals Lazio, who are enjoying a stellar season themselves.
It was a match that ebbed and flowed quite uncharacteristically, given the fact that Juventus usually dispatch teams like Lecce, who are battling relegation, rather quickly. The first half ended goalless, with both teams having chances to score.
Lecce’s chances of victory were however marred early in the first half when their centre-back Fabio Lucioni was given his marching orders after failinf to control a simple pass and bringing down Rodrigo Bentancur when caught in possession.
Juventus are in contention for their ninth-consecutive Serie A title. The Bianconeri’s domestic revival began since the days of Antonio Conte when the eccentric Italian took charge of the Turin club in 2011. His three seasons at the club saw Juventus become Italy’s footballing superpowers. But a lack of success in the Champions League saw him replaced by Massimiliano Allegri, an appointment that initially did not go down well with the fans.
Allegri continued Conte’s good work on the domestic front. But like his predecessor, he could not deliver the much-coveted Champions League to the Old Lady of Turin, losing the 2015 final to Barcelona and the 2017 to record-winners Real Madrid.
Now, under Maurizio Sarri, Juventus are trying to perfect the Sarriball, a uniqie possession-based style of play that has many similarities with other such systems, most notably the tiki-taka.
The Bianconeri have beaten Genoa 1-3 away from home, but it is Ronaldo and co's match against Lecce that warrants special attention. The game against Lecce was a testament to the resilience and passion of both the teams.
Lecce didn't look like an outfit battling relegation, and the final scoreline does not do justice to the hard work put in by them against Juventus. Perhaps Lecce's biggest regret would be that their mistakes and not Juventus' brilliance let them down. It is hard enough to win at the Juventus stadium, but the task becomes much harder still when you shoot yourselves in the foot like Lecce did.
Here are a few inferences from the Juventus-Lecce Serie A game played on the 27th of June.
Inferences from Juventus's 4-0 Serie A win over Lecce:
#1: Juventus were lethal but lacked a clinical touch
Decisive finishing is key to the success of any team. Thankfully, Juventus have an embarrassment of riches in this respect. Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala, Gonzalo Higuain have all been clinical finishers throughout their careers. When the trio cannot get the job done, Federico Bernardeschi and Douglas Costa usually put themselves in the scoresheet.
However, that finishing from Juventus was nowhere to be seen in the first half. Adrien Rabiot’s speculative strike was saved by Lecce keeper Gabriel but other chances were squandered by players who have a better track-record for scoring goals.
It was wonderful to see that once Juventus did find the target, it opened the floodgates. Gonzalo Higuain found the net in what must surely be the best piece of news for Juventus fans, as the Argentinian will now look to quickly claim his spot in the Bianconeri starting eleven.
Juventus were far from clinical in their finishing, but they recovered their touch in the second half. We must also give due credit to Lecce for holding on to a point in Turin until the 53rd minute.
#2: Cristiano Ronaldo hot-and-cold performances may not be an infrequent feature
Cristiano Ronaldo missed a glorious opportunity in the first half when his free header from a Paulo Dybala corner should have beat the Lecce keeper. We are so accustomed to seeing Ronaldo score from such headers that it is surprising when the Portuguese legend fails to convert such opportunities against modest opposition. Ronaldo himself seemed aghast at his miss, collapsing with his head on his hands to express his disappointment.
The five-time Ballon d'Or winner has set such staggering standards that at times it is unfathomable to consider that he is human and is prone to such errors from time to time.
Despite his miss, Ronaldo set Dybala up for the first goal of the game, and there was no looking back from there. Ronaldo then won a penalty which he dispatched clinically past Gabriel in the 62nd minute as Juventus took a stranglehold of the match.
The former Real Madrid legend also played a spectacular backheel pass to Gonzalo Higuain for the Argentine's first goal after recovering from an injury. As age catches up with the 35-year-old Portugal captain, such hot and cold performances may become more frequent.
#3: Juventus rode their luck but got the job done
The hallmark of successful teams does not lie in playing spectacular football in every minute of every game, but in weathering the storm and holding fort when the opponent is in the ascendancy. Juventus displayed this facet of their game against their visitors.
The first good chance of the match fell to Lecce when defender Andrea Rispoli, finding himself in unfamiliar territory in the Juventus penalty-box, blazed his shot high over Wojciech Szczęsny’s goal. But it was a chance, nevertheless, which a forward player may have put away.
Next, Marco Mancosu also had a pop at the Juventus goal, but a deflection off Matthijs De Ligt took the sting out of it. Clearly, the opening chances fell to the team from Apulia but a combination of poor finishing and resolute Juventus defending kept the Bianconeri citadel intact.
Although Juventus eventually won against Lecce by a comfortable margin, they weathered the early storm before taking control of the match. Their lead came from a Lecce error at the back when Yevhen Shakov’s careless pass in the 53rd minute gave the ball to Cristiano Ronaldo of all people, who then laid it off for Paulo Dybala. La Joya’s curled effort gave Juventus a lead they would not relinquish.
The Bianconeri rode their luck, before getting the win they needed to consolidate their position at the top of the Serie A table. This is the hallmark of a champion team.