Fiorentina Match Summary vs Juventus

02/02/20

Sarri’s Juventus came out 3–0 winners against Fiorentina. They dominated the ball with 75% possession with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring two penalties and Matthijs De Ligt scoring from a late corner to see out the game.

Fiorentina put up a good fight in the first half and were able to create good chances despite barely touching the ball. In the second half they were less effective and let their heads drop a little after the first penalty at the end of the first half.

Fiorentina lined up in a 5–3–2 and sat in a mid-block for a majority of the game. They created some decent chances through crosses and counter attacks. Defensively they packed the box when Juventus got high into wide areas. But didn’t press the Juventus defence and even in the midfield tended to sit off and not challenge for the ball or press with intensity. Juventus were able to progress into Fiorentina’s third very easily at times and were allowed to dribble through the lines too easily. Sitting in a 5–3–2 left space in the wide areas of midfield and Juventus were able to use switches of play effectively and create 2v1s against the wing backs.

Fiorentina Player Notes

Bartlomiej Dragowski (22) — mainly went long and Fiorentina lacked physicallity to keep possession after. A few example of nice distributions to the wings. A few solid saves and a very good low reaction one.

Igor Julio (21) — really impressed this game. Big, muscular, strong centre half. Good, patient defending in 1v1 situations even if his body position wasn’t great. Stayed tight to his man and put in well timed tackles when he had to. Didn’t see a ton of the ball but completed short passes with both feet which were pretty smooth even though his technique wasn’t perfect. One good carry into space and nice line breaking pass into midfield. Liked to press out of back line.

Germán Pezzalla (28) — relatively quiet game as the central centre half in the back three. Was beaten too easily in the lead up to the second penalty and was at fault on the conceded penalty. But, before that was fairly solid in the air with good marking, possibly lost concentration in the last minutes for the corner. Didn’t see much of the ball.

Federico Ceccherini (27) — was keen to press out of back line into midfield. Some good defending inside the box and reading of play. Was strong in the air and good physically. Gave away second penalty. Didn’t see much of the ball, and largely played simple passes into his wing back.

Dalbert (26) — Had a busy day defensively and pressed out of the back line well. Put in some dangerous low, driven crosses. Did well to block some crosses but could have been closer to his man at times. Needed to push forward and support attack more at times.

Rachid Ghezzal (27) — hardly involved in possession completing 7 out of 9 passes in 60 minutes. Was positionally disciplined in midfield and pressed the wide areas but lacked intensity with his pressing at times.

Erick Pulgar (26) — Dropped deep into the back line a lot and was usually positioned deeper than the other central midfielders. Covered space well when wide centre halves pressed out and tracked runners well who tried to get into the box or behind the defensive line. Spread play decently well in possession.

Marco Benassi (25) — decent strength and physicality, was well positioned in the block and reacted to play well. Didn’t get involved much, spread play at times but lifted his passes off the ground unnecessarily, one or two decent deliveries and two long shots.

Pol Lirola (22) — good technically, some good forward passing and nice control. Was good at drawing and giving on his wing, would be better suited to playing with a winger he could linkup with and overlap.

Patrick Cutrone (22) — out of possession did very little, neither striker pressed and just sat in front of Juventus’s defence. Received the ball well in tough situations and was strong in the ball, looking after it well. Had very little support and struggled to do much with it. Couldn’t connect properly with crosses and didn’t have enough support on counters and was fed scraps.

Federico Chiesa (22) — the same as Cutrone out of possession. Received on the turn well and wanted to drive at the defence on the counter with good pace and tight control but didn’t have any support or much chance for scoring, won fouls though.

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