Juventus failed to win on Saturday for the fourth time in five games. The team of trainer Andrea Pirlo paid a visit to Hellas Verona an abominable match on the mat, which, despite a goal from Cristiano Ronaldo, resulted in a loss of points: 1-1. Juventus remains in third place and is seven points behind leader Internazionale.
In an effort to turn the tide, Pirlo chose to change his system. Juventus started in a 5-3-2 formation, with Matthijs de Ligt as the most central defender. The veterans Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci were injured, Alex Sandro and Merih Demiral played in their place. Even with five defenders, it was extremely difficult at Juventus, which was unable to create any decent chances in the first half. Hellas Verona was threatening with a header at the far post by Davide Faraoni, who saw Wojciech save Szczesny with his fingertips.
Further on in the first half, Kevin Lasagna dribbled threateningly towards De Ligt, who continued to walk backwards and eventually was helped by Szczesny’s intervention. After the break, Juventus managed to open the score almost out of nowhere. Federico Chiesa dribbled threateningly into the penalty area and saw Ronaldo free in the width. The Portuguese didn’t produce a convincing shot, but it turned out to be enough for a goal: 0-1.
The goal did not bring Juventus to play football any better. It continued to run smoothly and got fifteen minutes before time la Vecchia Signora the lid on the nose. Darko Lazovic brought the ball high in front of the goal from the left, after which Antonin Barak won the header duel against Alex Sandro and headed: 1-1. Things could have gotten worse for Juventus after that, but Szczesny managed to knock over a dangerous shot from Lazovic.
??? SUUU! Cristiano with the liberating goal for Juve ???? With his nineteenth CR7 shoots his team at 0-1 with a stiff Hellas Verona ??#ZiggoSport #SerieA #VeronaJuve pic.twitter.com/Jt7guwreyu
– Ziggo Sport Football (@ZS_Voetbal) February 27, 2021