UEFA Champions League 2016/17 semi-final , Juventus 2 - 1 Monaco (Agg. 4-1): Player Ratings
Juventus earned themselves a spot in the Champions League final in Cardiff with a 2-1 win over Monaco in Turin. A tap in from Mario Mandzukic gave Juventus the lead before a wonderfully struck Dani Alves goal made it 2-0 before half-time, putting the tie to bed.
Juventus continued to put in a disciplined performance after the break but were denied a clean sheet when Kylian Mbappe tapped in from close range to score a consolation goal and for Monaco – becoming the youngest player to score in a Champions League semi-final.
Here we look at the player ratings from the Champions League semi-final:
Juventus:
Gianluigi Buffon – 6/10
The reason for his low rating is that he had very little to do. He also couldn’t do anything about the Mbappe goal which denied the veteran goalkeeper a clean sheet.
Dani Alves – 9/10
The Brazilian put in one of his greatest performances we have seen from a right back in a Champions League semi-final over two legs. His delightful cross was part of Mandzukic’s opening goal and his volley for the second goal was hit perfectly. He proved once again how bad a decision it was from Barcelona when they decided to part ways with the defender.
Andrea Barzagli – 8/10
The 36-year-old showed his experience against young Mbappe as he denied the talented youngster a place in the Champions League final over both of these semi-final legs.
Giorgio Chiellini – 8/10
Chiellini’s incredible clearance on the brink of half-time summed up his Champions League campaign superbly as he once again put everything on the line to deny the opposition a goal. This was another brilliant performance from the Italian.
Leonardo Bonucci – 7/10
Bonucci put in a very good performance as a part of a back three but got himself needlessly booked whilst comfortably ahead in the tie.
Alex Sandro – 7/10
Sandro cancelled out any attacking threat from Silva, who had looked magical throughout the competition, showing how strong his performance was.
Miralem Pjanic – 8/10
The Juventus midfielder put in a wonderful performance in midfield and controlled the game all evening.
Sami Khedira – N/A
The German was substituted very early in the game due to injury.
Mario Mandzukic – 7/10
Mandzukic did well to finish for the opener as he had previously missed an opportunity and saw his header saved before the goal. He was everywhere defensively and in attack, representing Juventus’ fantastic discipline all evening. His performance was impressive but he did show immaturity towards the end as he attempted to wind up Monaco players unnecessarily.
Paulo Dybala – 7/10
The Argentinian once again showed maturity beyond his years in a great performance. He was substituted reasonably early, but his work was done as he once again part of some great link-up play with his Argentinian team-mate Higuain.
Gonzalo Higuain – 8/10
The Argentinian put in a great performance in terms of link-up play but missed a couple of opportunities to get on the scoresheet. Overall it was a very good performance.
Substitutions:
Claudio Marchisio – 7/10
The Italian comfortably replaced Khedira in midfield and put in an extremely solid performance in both defensively and going forward.
Juan Cuadrado – 6
His hesitancy to shoot meant he missed a great opportunity to score Juventus’ third but he still continued to put in great work when replacing Dybala.
Medhi Benatia – N/A
Came on in the 85th minute for Barzagli and had almost nothing to do.
Monaco
Danijel Subasic – 7/10
Made several good stops and put in a great performance. He even tried his best to deny Mandzukic for the first but he couldn’t avoid conceding either goal.
Djibril Sidibe – 6/10
Sidibe put in an average performance but was one of the better performers for Monaco on the night and still showed positivity when many other young right backs might have gone missing
Andrea Raggi – 4/10
He struggled all evening and seemed way out of his depth against the sensational Juventus attacking front line.
Jemerson – 5/10
He showed great pace and defensive abilities to deny Cuadrado a goal but he still found it difficult to deal with Higuain, Dybala and Mandzukic.
Kamil Glik – 5/10
Seemed to stamp on Higuain and earned himself some abuse towards the end of the game for it. As well as that, he struggled throughout, similarly to Raggi and Jemerson, to deal with the Juventus attack in what was a tough night for the Monaco defence.
Benjamin Mendy – 6/10
Benjamin Mendy was one of Monaco’s brightest players. He gave Alves a tough job defensively at times and put in numerous dangerous crosses. However, he did struggle to deal with Alves at times, an example being the first Juventus goal.
Joao Moutinho – 5/10
Moutinho usually dominates the ball and dictates play but it was always going to be difficult for him to do that against a very strong Juventus midfield and thus was the case this evening.
Tiemoue Bakayoko – 5/10
Similarly to the first leg, the midfield bypassed Bakayoko. Fabinho’s arrival gave Monaco and Bakayoko more help in the middle but on a whole, this was a very poor showing from the Frenchman.
Bernardo Silva – 5/10
Bernardo Silva’s name didn’t receive much of a mention all night. He was substituted after putting in in one of his poorest performances in this year’s Champions League.
Radamel Falcao – 4/10
The Colombian was barely involved all night. Chiellini and Barzagli made it a very tough game for him as they allowed him very little time and space throughout.
Kylian Mbappe – 7/10
Mbappe looked extremely lively as usual from the off and offered himself as the best threat Monaco possessed in the game. He finally took his chance with some great movement in the box. It was still a tough evening for him but got himself on the scoresheet once again.
Substitutions
Fabinho – 6/10
Fabinho possibly should have had a starting spot in this return leg as his arrival from the bench, as previously mentioned, gave Monaco a lot more discipline in midfield.
Thomas Lemar – 5/10
Had very little involvement when he came on, unlike Fabinho. He tried his best to be positive but the tie was already over.
Valere Germain – N/A
Played just 12 minutes and had no time to have an impact.