Match Coverages
Juventus 1-0 Freiburg: Player Ratings
Published
1 year agoon
Juventus have won the first leg of their tie against Freiburg in the Europa League Round of 16 (1-0). The Bianconeri were superior at the Allianz Stadium and have made a good step for qualification for the next round.
Juventus started the match strongly, maybe even the strongest of the season. They put Freiburg under big pressure, but failed to create a real chance. Then, Di Maria found Adrien Rabiot with a through ball. The Frenchman faced goalkeeper Mark Flekken and tried to put the ball in at the near post. Flekken did just enough to keep it out.
About five minutes later, Ángel Di María won a free-kick near the edge of the box. Juan Cuadrado curled it over the wall, but Flekken was there again to push it away. Just before the final whistle, Cuadrado put Flekken to work again with a shot at the near post after cutting inside, but the Dutchman came to the rescue again.
Not even ten minutes into the second half, Juventus took the lead. Filip Kostić delivered a perfect cross on Di María’s head, who’s bullet header was too powerful for Flekken. It looked like Juventus could only enjoy that lead for a few minutes. The ball fell to Lucas Höler after a free-kick and he found the net after a quick turn. However, VAR ruled it out for an offensive handball in the build-up.
After taking the lead, Juventus changed to a lower gear. Still, Freiburg couldn’t really trouble the Bianconeri. They saw a Grifo free-kick just go over, but weren’t able to create a lot more. Juventus remained alert for offensive counters. For one of those, Federico Chiesa was the end station. The Italian winger’s shot got blocked, and not much later, Chiesa was on the ground injured. He came back on, but there was obviously something wrong with him. A nasty aftertaste from an overall positive night in Turin. Next week, they’ll have to finish the job in Freiburg.
Player Ratings
Wojciech Szczęsny (6); Danilo (7), Bremer (6.5), Alex Sandro (6.5); Cuadrado (6), Miretti (6), Locatelli (6.5), Rabiot (6.5), Kostić (7); Di María (8); Vlahović (5.5).
Substitutes: Fagioli (6.5), Chiesa (6), Bonucci (6), Kean (6).
Jurre van Wanrooij is a writer and lead match analyst for Max Statman. He was born and raised in The Netherlands, where he still lives. He is studying journalism and that’s why he joined Max Statman, so that he could develop his writing. Apart from Juventus, he also support PSV Eindhoven, the club closest to his home. The goal is to give you guys the best information about Juventus in English and be as reliable as possible.
