They’d come to see Cristiano Ronaldo but left talking about little other than Douglas Costa. What should have been a routine outing for Juventus at home against Sassuolo turned out to be anything but, the Reggio Emilia based side giving their all for 90 difficult minutes in Turin. They held the Bianconeri scoreless in the first half, Coach Roberto De Zerbi deserving immense credit for a game plan that looked to do much more than simply frustrate the Serie A champions.
Instead, his Neroverdi side took the game to their hosts, unfortunate not to score on at least one of their eight first half shots while limiting Juve to just six. First to every ball in the opening 45 minutes, statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com show they had won more tackles, more aerial duels and – most surprisingly of all – enjoyed 53.5% possession going into the break.
With about five minutes to go before the second half was due to begin, Max Allegri emerged from the home dressing room. Alone and looking angry, he had clearly torn into his players, who eventually took to the field ready to deliver a level of quality that had been so sorely absent from the opening whistle.
It took less than four minutes to shift the balance of power back in their favour, a calamitous mixup in the Sassuolo defence allowing Ronaldo to tap in the simplest of chances. Quarter of an hour later he would add a well-taken second, supporters rejoicing at seeing their record signing finally getting on the score sheet.
On the pitch, the team continued to pour forwards, Ronaldo, Douglas Costa and Joao Cancelo all coming close to adding to the scoreline. Those in the stands looking on would no doubt have begun to hope for much more when the Champions League gets underway this week, thoughts of trips to the Mestalla and Old Trafford en route to a final in Madrid that could end their 22-year wait for European glory.
Then, in a moment of madness, the narrative changed completely. Khouma Babacar’s header gave Sassuolo a lifeline, and suddenly an ongoing spat between Costa and Federico Di Francesco boiled over. The Brazilian appeared to throw an elbow towards the winger, and was then caught on camera spitting in his face from point-blank range before attempting to headbutt him, a word from the VAR officials alerting the referee who promptly sent off the Juve man.
“Maybe he was irritated at a foul before, but it doesn’t matter, because this absolutely must not happen. The one thing we must avoid doing is falling for provocation,” Allegri told Sky Italia. “We could’ve scored a third goal, but instead we started to play as individuals, we tried to dribble past everyone, this wound up the opposition, who then reacted badly and you get to situations like this one with Douglas Costa.”
Costa later apologised to his club, to Allegri and to Juve fans in a social media post, but surprisingly failed to mention the opponent he had spat at. That will undoubtedly lead to a lengthy ban in the coming days, but the Bianconeri cannot allow that to distract them in the coming weeks as they have big games against Valencia, Napoli and Manchester United on the horizon.
Instead, what they need to do is gather their focus and improve their approach, ensuring there is no repeat of the woeful standard shown in the first half against Sassuolo. They click much better when Miralem Pjanic is in the side, but a lack of midfield cohesion is unquestionably the most pressing issue that Allegri must address.
The defence also needs shoring up, Leonardo Bonucci arguably at fault for goals Juve have conceded in three of their first four games this term. That has long been a hallmark of this side under both Allegri and Antonio Conte but currently they look far more vulnerable, something that could ultimately lead to a complete change in mentality.
With Ronaldo, Costa, Pjanic, Paulo Dybala, Mario Mandzukic, Juan Cuadrado, Federico Bernardeschi and Rodrigo Bentancur, there are no shortage of attacking options available and that is something that now must be unlocked. Trying to shut out elite opponents and keep games tight has seen the Bianconeri come up short in two Champions League finals in the past three years, but now the club clearly boasts the firepower to compete on equal footing with anyone.
Costa’s act was deplorable and deserves heavy punishment, but Ronaldo has now begun scoring and shown that perhaps there is another way. They’ve tried playing with the handbrake on, it’s time to take it off.
