Juventus 2-0 SPAL: 5 talking points | Serie A 2019/20
The Turin giants Juventus hosted Societa Polisportiva Ars et Labor (SPAL) in an encounter that saw the hosts continue their unbeaten Serie A run by a margin of 2-0 that keeps them in a strong second position behind Internazionale.
While Inter have won all six games, garnering 18 points with 11 goals conceding only one goal, Juventus, taking away one point from a goaless draw against Fiorentina, are sitting two points behind Inter. SPAL, on the other hand, have only won a match this season, and are currently sitting in the relegation zone.
Maurizio Sarri made the decision to strongly alter his standard 4-3-3 formation and field a narrow 4-1-2-1-2 with Cristiano Ronaldo and Paulo Dybala leading the charge upfront. Aaron Ramsey played as the lone attacking midfielder with Adrien Rabiot, Marko Pjanic, and Sami Khedira playing behind him. In defense, Leonardo Bonucci and Matthjis de Ligt took center positions, with Juan Cuadrado at the right and Blaise Matuidi in left-back. Sarri also picked experienced goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon as the man between the posts.
SPAL's manager Leonardo Semplici fielded his team in his standard 3-5-2 formation. Andrea Petagna and Gabriele Moncini were fielded in striking positions. Behind them, a five-man midfield consisting of Jacopo Sala on the right, Alessandro Murgia, Simeone Missiroli, and Mirkp Valdiflori in the middle, and Arkadiusz Reca on the left wing. In defense, Nenad Tomovic, Francesco Vicari, and Igor Julio were fielded. Etrit Berisha was the man in goal for SPAL.
Two goals from Khedira and Ronaldo were enough to give Juventus three points and maintain their unbeaten streak, while SPAL were unable to score or really threaten the Bianconeri defense.
We take a look at five talking points from the game:
#5 Juventus will easily overpower smaller teams
Teams like Napoli, Inter, AC Milan, and AS Roma will surely give the Bianconeri a tough 90 minutes, but other teams in the Serie A are more likely to get overrun by the powerful Turin giants. This game against SPAL is a perfect example.
Juventus held the ball throughout the entire game - with 68% possession - and had 21 shots at goal with 10 on target. SPAL, on the other hand, managed five shots with only one on target, hardly disturbing an immovable Juventini defense. The Bianconeri also made twice as many passes, with more accuracy, had more corners, and won more aerial duels.
SPAL beat Juventus in only one statistic - tackles. The Turin giants won 14 tackles compared to SPAL's 20. While this helps to portray just how composed and effective the Biancazzuri defense remained throughout the game, they simply were no match for the Juventini.
