This article was first published on footballromance.com (a predecessor to this website) in September 2016.
Line-ups
Highly-rated youngster Daniele Rugani came into the Juve back three for his first Serie A appearance of the season, with Leonardo Bonucci rested (although he was named on the bench). Sami Khedira was given the night off, which meant a chance for Hernanes to impress in midfield, while Dani Alves was preferred to Stefan Lichsteiner and record signing Gonzalo Higuain replaced Mario Mandzukic in attack.
Following his team’s 3-0 home success against Atalanta, Cagliari boss Massimo Rastelli stuck with a two-man strikeforce and Joao Pedro in behind, a bold strategy away to the league champions. Fabio Pisacane and Panagiotis Tachtsidis made way for Luca Bittante and Davide Di Gennaro at right-back and in midfield respectively, while Nicolo Barella came in for the injured Mauricio Isla.
Juve’s right-wing attacks
The most prominent feature of the first half was the ease with which Juventus, who showed great intensity from the word go, were able to mount dangerous attacks down the right flank. Pablo Dybala played a key role here, continuously drifting out from a central position to join Alves and Mario Lemina in terrorising Rossoblu left-back Nicola Murru and Barella, the furthest left of their three central midfielders.
Alves had 88 touches in the opening period half (via WhoScored?), by far and away the highest number of any player on the field, while Lemina came in second with 55. The hosts were able to work an overload on numerous occasions and also had success making quick switches of play to the left as their opponents (sluggishly) attempted to adjust.
Higuain movement
Additionally, Higuain was prepared to show for the ball into feet as attacks were built down the right wing and became involved in some neat build-up play, particularly with Alves and Dybala as they looked to come infield. The Argentinian striker’s movement was impressive in general throughout the first 45 minutes; as Dybala scurried in from the touchline, he made a darting run between the two Cagliari central defenders but was denied by Marco Storari, while Rugani’s opener came as a result of him cleverly (and far too easily) losing his marker from a set piece.
Cagliari – outplayed, outrun, outfought
As for the visitors, they may as well have paid at the gate to get in like the rest of those in attendance at the Juventus Stadium. In an attacking sense, there were incredibly brief glimpses of encouragement in the early exchanges; hopeful long balls up to Marco Borriello and Marco Sau gave them next to no chance on the whole, although the latter twice threatened to break in behind with the Juve defence still warming up. Uncharacteristic errors from Gianluigi Buffon, replaced at the interval by Neto after suffering a muscle strain, and Giorgio Chiellini almost led to sights of goal later in the half and, in truth, Cagliari needed all the help they could get.
Rastelli will have been infuriated by the fact that his troops, so obviously inferior in terms of talent, were also outworked by the champions. It appeared as if the visitors had admitted defeat after falling behind to Rugani’s 13th-minute strike and Juve were put under next to no pressure when in possession, Lamina, Dybala, Miralem Pjanic and others weaving their way through the flat Cagliari midfield as if they were training cones. That is perhaps harsh on Davide Di Gennaro, who recognised the need to play closer to his centre-backs as half time approached and was comfortably their most competent player, although Simone Padoin and Barella’s complete lack of involvement rendered his overall contribution fairly redundant.
Higuain and Alves further exposed non-existent tracking to make it 3-0 by half time, which meant the main question ahead of the second period centred around the Sardinians ability to keep the score down.
Midfield change has limited effect
There were initial signs that they had learned a hard lesson, with Alves and Pjanic on the end of crunching tackles in the opening exchanges. Joao Pedro, completely ineffective playing in behind Sau and Borriello in the first half, was replaced by the more defensively-aware Panagiotis Tachtsidis, who had as many touches in 45 minutes (34) as Padoin in 90 and whose positioning helped cut the supply to Alves and Lemina to a certain extent.
But the early improvement proved to be a false dawn, with attempts to press the Juve midfield consistently lacking conviction, which meant Max Allegri’s side, who eased up slightly with the points secured, continued to do as they pleased. Their first-half attacking prowess down the right had caused the whole Cagliari side to shift across after the interval, which now left Alex Sandro to be found in acres of space with sweeping crossfield passes on the left; visiting right-back Luca Bittante was often caught in no-man’s land, forced to rush out to Sandro having been more concerned with what was going on in central areas. However, Sandro’s delivery from promising positions wasn’t what it could have been.
Bittante’s night got slightly less excruciating in the final quarter of the contest after the introduction of an extra midfielder, Gianni Munari, which saw Di Gennaro play ahead of him on the right of a five-man midfield. Yet in the grand scheme of things it mattered very little, as the Serie B champions, who failed to register a single shot on target, were further punished for their lack of application.
A fitting end as Rossoblu midfield switches off
Whereas the Old Lady continued to hound and harry their opponents when the moment called for it – no fewer than four black and white shirts combined to rob Di Gennaro in a move which led to Dybala having a shot deflected wide – Cagliari were slow to react to losing possession. Livewire Lemina was the man most likely to take full advantage and, having already threatened to do so, helped round off the scoring in fitting fashion; Luca Ceppetelli knocked the ball into his own net after the Gabon international had run into the box completely unmarked.
What next?
Juventus are unlikely to pick up three easier points in the league this term, with the likes of Hernanes, Lemina and Rugani proving to be more than able deputies. Allegri will be particularly pleased with the partnership Dybala is forming with compatriot Higuain, who has hit the ground running despite a limited pre-season.
Cagliari were clearly not expected to take anything from their trip to Turin, although Rastelli will have been less than impressed with the nature of his team’s defeat; at no stage did they look up for the challenge of facing the league’s strongest team. It would therefore not be a surprise to see several new faces in the starting XI when they host Sampdoria on Monday night.