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Juventus went temporarily top of the table with a 2-0 home victory over SPAL, two points clear of Inter Milan at the summit of the standings, before Inter regained their perch with a 3-1 win over Sampdoria.
SPAL came into the fixture placed bottom of the table, having picked up just one win from their opening five games. And Maurizio Sarri's men sought to put them to the sword by getting all three points ahead of their next fixture against Bayer Leverkusen in the Champions League.
The Bianconeri's victory against SPAL was expected; they didn't disappoint in a game they controlled from start to finish. Here, we look at four players who impressed the most for Sarri's men in the game.
#4 Matthijs de Ligt
Juventus have gotten a lot of stick this season for not having as watertight a defense as we have been used to over the years. And a major reason for that has been the absence of captain Giorgio Chiellini through injury.
In the 35-year-old's absence the Juventus defenders have failed to pull their weight, with new signing Matthijs de Ligt coming in for major criticism.
The Dutch international was signed for a princely sum of €75m during the summer after starring for Ajax, but had initially failed to transfer that form over to the Serie A.
However, in the game against SPAL, Juventus kept just their second clean sheet of the campaign and a lot of it was down to the performance of their 19-year-old defender.
De Ligt won a total of three tackles and made four clearances, while also blocking one shot at goal and completing 88.6% of his attempted passes from the back.
#3 Paulo Dybala
A few years ago, Paulo Dybala was a player on the rise after essaying a starring role in Juventus' run to the final of the 2017 Champions League. The Argentine international scored 22 league goals in the following season, and it was expected that he would build upon that.
However, the arrival of Cristaino Ronaldo in the summer of 2018 reduced Dybala to a bit-part player in the squad. During the course of the recent transfer window, there were serious indications that Dybala was on his way out of Italy, with numerous clubs submitting bids.
As it turned out, none of those came to fruition, and the 25-year-old has been slowly going about his business for Maurizio Sarri.
Against SPAL, Dybala was deployed as the focal point of attack alongside Ronaldo in a 4-3-1-2 formation, and the former Palermo man shone like a million stars.
He had a total of six shots, with SPAL goalkeeper Etrit Berisha doing well to stop him on two occasions. Dybala also provided the assist for Juventus' second goal with an exquisite cross in the 78th minute.
Furthermore, he completed 80% of his passes, played in two key passes and completed three dribbles while also attempting nine crosses out of which two were accurate.
#2 Miralem Pjanic
Maurizio Sarri has always emphasized on a deep-lying playmaker throughout the course of his managerial career, and he has the perfect fit at Juventus in Miralem Pjanic.
The 29-year-old is adept at the possession play cherished by his manager, while his range of passing and vision means he can be deployed in a number of tactical positions on the field.
The Bosnian international had scored the winning goal in the 2-1 victory over Brescia in midweek. And he followed that up with another goal in the game against SPAL, breaking the deadlock with a stunning long-range goal right before half-time.
The goal helped Juventus go into the break in the ascendancy, calming nerves at the Juventus stadium after they had seen their side denied time and again by the impressive Berisha.
Unsurprisingly, Pjanic had the most completed passes of all players who stepped onto the field, playing a total of 114 passes with a staggering 91.2 % accuracy. Going forward, he would be central to the success of Sarriball in Turin.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo missed the midweek defeat of Brescia with an injury, but marked his return to the starting lineup with a goal.
The Portuguese international seemed to have been refreshed with the time spent on the treatment table, as he was in inspired form against SPAL and was one of the standout performers in the game.
He had a total of six shots, with five of those being on target. Having been repeatedly kept out by Berisha in the SPAL goal, Ronaldo was not to be denied in the 78th minute.
He and teammate Paulo Dybala showed excellent understanding in the buildup, and Ronaldo was on hand to head home the delivery by the Argentine with Berisha unable to do anything about it.
The Swiss goalkeeper did well to stop Ronaldo from getting a brace later on in the game, but that took nothing away from what was an excellent performance from the 34-year-old.
