Juventus 1-1 Inter Milan (4-3 on penalties): 5 talking points | International Champions Cup 2019
Juventus played their second pre-season game against Inter Milan in the International Champions Cup 2019. The scoreline read 1-1 at regular time and Juventus won 4-3 on penalties. The first goal of the match was a Matthijs de Ligt own goal, while the second one was scored by Cristiano Ronaldo .
In the first half of the match, Juventus were really struggling to find their feet as Inter were bossing them around. From a corner in the first ten minutes, Stefan Sensi swung the ball in which was put in the back of the net by de Ligt's poor touch. Samir Handanovic, the Inter goalkeeper had little to do throughout the first half as the Old Lady really struggled to break that Inter defense. The first half ended with Inter in front.
In the second half of the match, Juventus looked more in sync but Inter still weren't giving anything away. The Old Lady did equalize through a free-kick taken by Cristiano Ronaldo which was deflected and ended up in the back of the net. Inter Milan did have their chances in the second half but they weren't clinical and Ronaldo also missed a guilt edge opportunity around the 70th minute of the game. The match ended 1-1 at regular time and on penalties, Juventus beat Inter Milan 4-3.
All in all, it was a pretty entertaining match and in this slideshow, we'll take a look at the 5 talking points from the match:
#5 Juventus' midfield looked pretty one dimensional
In the first half, Juventus had a midfield three of Adrien Rabiot, Miralem Pjanic, and Blaise Matuidi but it looked like Juventus were lacking that cutting edge in the middle of the park. Effectively, Pjanic and Rabiot are both deep-lying playmakers who love to sit deep and dictate the play. So, Juventus were lacking that midfield presence on the right-hand side as Matuidi was occupying that left side, while both Pjanic and Rabiot were drifting in towards the center of the park at every opportunity.
We haven't yet seen Aaron Ramsey in the midfield for Juventus yet, so it can be said that they are missing a creative spark. But if today's performance was anything to go by, the Old Lady left a lot to be desired in the middle of the park.