Saturday, August 28, 2021 at 10:39 PM• Jeroen van Poppel • Last update: 22:42

Juventus have lost its first game in the post-Cristiano Ronaldo era. Massimiliano Allegri’s team lost hopelessly at home against Empoli, last season’s champion of Serie B: 0-1. Juventus played a weak game, in which they barely created any opportunities. Matthijs de Ligt also played the entire game alongside Leonardo Bonucci in the heart of the defense at Juve, which only has one point after two competition matches.

With the departure of Ronaldo, Federico Chiesa has further grown in his role as an eye-catcher in the attack at Juventus. The left striker showed up several times early in the game, but had some bad luck in the finish. Chiesa first encountered goalkeeper Guglielmo Vicario from within the penalty area in the short corner, who also saved later in the match on a nice long shot from the wing striker.

Except for Chiesa’s whims, Juventus barely managed to create anything. Empoli attacked where possible and was rewarded in the 21st minute. A shot by Nedim Bajrami luckily ended up at the feet of Leonardo Mancuso, who managed to finish it from close range: 0-1. Allegri made an offensive change after the break and brought in extra attackers instead of midfielders with Álvaro Morata and Federico Bernardeschi. Manuel Locatelli, another substitute, came closest to the equalizer, but went just wide after a cross by Dejan Kulusevski.