3️⃣ points as plodding Juve fail to convince in Brescia win | OneFootball

Goals from Paulo Dybala and Juan Cuadrado gave Juventus a 2-0 win over 10-man Brescia on Sunday.

The Bianconeri go back to the top of Serie A, but the result doesn’t tell the full story, with Maurizio Sarri’s side failing to impress against the relegation-battlers.

Here’s what we made of it.

Is this it?

Pressure has been mounting on Maurizio Sarri over the past seven days with several reports from a number of reputable outlets insisting that the Italian tactician could be set for the chop if results at Juventus don’t improve.

Massimiliano Allegri has been mooted for a return and Manchester City’s bombshell barring from the Champions League has increased rumours that a switch to the Bianconeri is in the offing for Pep Guardiola.

It’s not just results that need to improve though.

Sarri was brought to the club to try and implement his all-action style of play but so far ‘Sarriball’ has failed to take off in Turin.

The Old Lady may have won here but yet again they looked slow in possession, too compact in the centre of the pitch and relied heavily on an individual piece of magic to make something happen.

They got that with Paulo Dybala and his glorious free kick, but this definitely isn’t what the mandarins at the Allianz Stadium signed up for.

Downward spiral

Cristiano Ronaldo was given the weekend off by Sarri, allowing the the Portugal international an extended rest ahead of their Champions League clash with Lyon in 10 days time.

With such a wealth of attacking talent on show and hundreds of millions of euros spent on world class stars, you’d have thought that Juve could cope without their record-breaking forward.

That is simply not the case.

Gonzalo Higuain’s form and fitness have plumbed depths so deep he’ll need a buoyancy compensator soon, while Juan Cuadrado – as talented as he is – is, these days much better suited to a deeper role.

And then there’s the midfield.

Without Miralem Pjanić, the reigning champions lack any sort of urgency in possession and can’t get any runners from deep for fear of being exposed on the break.

With a wage bill and budget way ahead of anyone else in Serie A, Juventus are always going to win games like this.

But it really, really should be better .

The heart of everything

We don’t want to completely drown this report in negativity so let’s take a moment to praise Paulo Dybala.

On an otherwise drab afternoon for Juventus, the Argentine No.10 lit up the Piedmont gloom with a fantastic display of technical prowess.

Dybala was at the heartbeat of everything that Juve did well which is remarkable considering that just six months ago the club were desperate to see him leave.

Right now, Ronaldo aside, he’s probably Juve’s most important player and is a player entirely fitting of that storied shirt.