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Juventus continued their title defense with a visit to The Stadio Artemio Franchi, home of a struggling Fiorentina side who'd failed to win even a single point till this fixture.
Fresh from a four-goal haul at the EURO 2020 qualifying campaign with Portugal against Lithuania, all eyes were on Cristiano Ronaldo to repeat some of his magic in the league fixture, but he failed to inspire the last season's champions to a victory, as the slow-paced fixture ended in a goalless draw.
Juventus suffered an early blow in the match, as they lost speedster Douglas Costa to a thigh injury, forcing a substitution in the seventh minute of the game, cutting short the birthday boy's contributions to the game.
Maurizio Sarri's men were lucky not to concede not one but couple of goals within the first 20 minutes of the game because of sloppy defending and miscommunication between the defenders and the goalie.
The side looked nothing like the team that defeated arch-rivals Napoli in extra-time last time around, after losing a three goal lead.
So, with the Serie A table toppers dropping points for the first time this season, we chalk out the three reasons as to why Juventus failed to take home the three points from the seemingly easy fixture.
#1 Douglas Costa's early injury threw Sarri's gameplan completely off balance
Though he has not been completely appreciated during his time at the Allianz Stadium, Douglas Costa brings something to Sarri's side that no other player can offer to the former Napoli manager.
His blistering pace and exquisite quick feet make him an asset for the Juventus side. He can carve his way through any defense on the right flank, moving the ball forward in a flash, as seen in his performances last time around.
He was pivotal to all of Juve's three goals against Napoli in the exhilarating fixture, providing two assists and also laying down the ball which eventually Gonzalo Higuain converted against his former club.
He perfectly complements Ronaldo, who tends to move into the center from the opposite flank.
Without him, Sarri had to bring Federico Bernardeschi on the pitch, who, in all honesty, failed to match the Brazilian's energy and flair on the wing and slowed down their game.
With the former Bayern Munich star out they were left with no player who could run at the opposition defense and thus in absence of such key player, Juventus struggled with creating chances in the final third, which eventually made them settle for a draw.
# 2 Juve committed too many defensive errors which forced them to fall back
Juventus had a close shave on two occasions very early into the first half of the game, as Fiorentina forwards Federico Chiesa and Franck Ribéry came tantalizing close to putting their team ahead, capitalizing on the silly errors by the Bianconeri defense.
Though it was the same back four that had also played in the game against Napoli, there seemed to be a disconnect between the players.Matthijs De Ligt and Leonardo Bonucci both played the full two matches in the EURO 2020 qualifiers for their nations and the fatigue from the international duty was apparent.
The fact that despite enjoying more possession, Juve were forced to defend most of the time as the opposition attacking third piled on the pressure firing 18 shots on goal is very concerning.
This forced Sarri top adopt a defensive approach, slowing down the pace of the game and eventually leading to the match end in a stalemate.
#3 Forwards Ronaldo and Higuain failed to link up and covert half-chances
Cristiano Ronaldo and Gonzalo Higuain are both top class finishers. But when two players, especially in attack, start playing the same role, it signals trouble for the team.
Though Karim Benzema also used to play second fiddle to Ronaldo despite being Real Madrid's main striker, he had developed that relationship with the Portuguese over a period of time and actually complemented the latter's style of play.
The same cannot be said for Higuain, who is used to being the main man in attack and as seen in the match had trouble linking up with Ronaldo. Also the players from the midfield and the wing-backs seemed confused as to whom to play the ball to.
Maurizio Sarri has got a very serious task at his hands now. Having declared that he wants to turn Ronaldo into a 40-goal scoring forward, he now needs to get the best of his former favorite player Higuain, or else this might be the end of the Higuain-Ronaldo partnership even before it takes off.
