Serie A

Dybala steps up in Ronaldo's absence as Juve brush Brescia aside

The Argentine scored the opening goal at the Allianz Stadium, and is joined in the rankings by two team-mates

 
10:00am on Tuesday 18th February 2020
By
Martin Macdonald
Paulo Dybala
S, AM (C) - Juventus - 26 yrs
MAN OF THE MATCH
90'
8.9
Feb 16, 2020

Cristiano Ronaldo was rested for Juventus' comfortable 2-0 victory against Brescia, but the Italian champions didn't miss the Portuguese, with Paulo Dybala flourishing as Juve's main man.

It took the hosts longer than they would have liked to break the deadlock, but the opening goal eventually came via Dybala, who clipped a gorgeous free-kick into the left corner from the edge of the area, with the goalkeeper rooted to the spot.

Thereafter, he remained Juve's most influential creative force, completing 79/87 passes, 49 of which were sent into the final third. He also completed two dribbles and sent 11 crosses into the area which was the most of any player this week.

Juan Cuadrado
D (R), M (C) - Juventus - 31 yrs
90'
8.5
Feb 16, 2020

Juan Cuadrado also impressed for Juve on Sunday, and scored the second goal which ultimately clinched the three points.

Fifteen minutes from time, the Colombian picked up possession inside the box before exchanging a neat one-two inside the box with Blaise Matuidi, who returned the ball to his team-mate with a lovely flick. When Cuadrado received the ball back, he went on to finish the move with a stabbed finish into the corner.

He and Dybala provided the width for Gonzalo Higuain in the centre, and Cuadrado was also influential creatively, with 43 passes sent into the final third. He also made 10 ball recoveries.

Rodrigo Bentancur
M (C), DM (R) - Juventus - 22 yrs
90'
8.4
Feb 16, 2020

While Dybala and Cuadrado caused problems in the final third, Rodrigo Bentancur controlled things with authority in midfield with Miralem Pjanic on the bench.

As usual, his passing was excellent, as he completed 104/113 balls to team-mates and had 136 touches of the ball. Both of these were the most of any player in this round of Serie A fixtures.

Forty-nine of these passes were sent into the final third, but he was one of the main reasons for Brescia very rarely making any meaningful ventures forward, too, as he made 10 ball recoveries and three interceptions.

Berat Gjimshiti
D (CL) - Atalanta - 26 yrs
MAN OF THE MATCH
90'
8.1
Feb 15, 2020

Atalanta defeated Roma 2-1 in a result which could have huge ramifications in the race for the final Champions League qualifying position.

Berat Gjimshiti was key to the win as he proved his value at both ends of the pitch. To help the visitors equalise, he rose high at the front post to flick on a header to the back post for Jose Luis Palomino to score.

Defensively, he was solid also. He won the majority of his duels (7/12), the majority of his tackles (2/3), and the majority of his aerial duels (3/5), and also made six ball recoveries, three interceptions, and seven clearances.

Sergej Milinković-Savić
M (C) - Lazio - 24 yrs
MAN OF THE MATCH
90'
8.1
Feb 16, 2020

In the biggest game of the weekend, Lazio came back from a goal down to beat Inter 2-1. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic put in a gargantuan performance to claw his side back to eventually win after going a goal behind.

He made not have earned a goal or an assist for the first goal - a penalty scored by Ciro Immobile - but he was vital in getting it won by bravely challenging the Inter keeper in the air.

With 20 minutes to go, a Lazio corner was floated into the area and dropped fortuitously to his feet after a miraculous clearance off the line by Marcelo Brozovic. There was nothing fortunate about what came after, as he cleverly shifted the ball on to his left foot before guiding a strike low into the corner, sending the Stadio Olimpico into raptures.

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

Verona earned a 0-0 draw away at Udinese largely due to the performance of Marco Silvestri (8.1), who made five saves to keep the home side at bay.

ROUND TO FORGET

Sampdoria were demolished 5-1 by Fiorentina, with Nicola Murru (4.3) proving to be fairly hapless at the back. He won just one duel, zero aerial duels, and didn't even attempt a single tackle during his time on the pitch, while he lost possession 12 times. Time on the pitch is a key phrase in that sentence, as he was sent off after two yellow cards in the first half.

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