Juventus defeated Cagliari 4-0 in the round of 16 in the Coppa Italia, with goals from Dusan Vlahovic, Francisco Conceicao, Nico Gonzalez and Teun Koopmeiners from a freekick. The Bianconeri will now play Empoli in the quarterfinal on the 6th of February.
Juventus look strong even with a different lineup due to Manuel Locatelli starting at centre back and Weston Mckennie at left back. Mckennie would push up the pitch and swap positions with Teun Koopmeiners similar to what he did with Cambiaso last season.
Juventus where clearly the better side but looked stagnant when Francisco Conceicao wasn’t involved on the left side. This could be because of Mbangula starting on the left and he is still a very raw talent, as well Yildiz would move into his space, and he doesn’t know how to react.
Cagliari attacks were poor, often being counter attacks. These weren’t organised well and left it easy for the defence to read them. And after the second goal, Cagliari committed more players forward which led to easier and more chances for Juventus.
Nico Gonzalez came on for his second appearance back from injury. I would have liked if he played from kick off and which would allow a rest for Conceicao, however he may not be fully match fit yet as Gonzalez did look a little rusty but still managed to get his goal in the 88th minute.
Player Ratings
Michele Di Gregorio – 7.5: Helped us secure a clean sheet even when the defence had weak moments. He made some great saves like the double save at the end of the game.
Nico Savona – 6: Savona wasn’t poor he just seems quite as majority of the build-up was on the left flank. He needs to learn how to get more involved in games like this. Still has very high potential and will be great.
Pierre Kalulu – 6.5: Same as Savona he was very quiet and wasn’t involved much. He had more of a role defensively and offensively which helped the clean sheet.
Manuel Locatelli – 7.5: Locatelli had a strong game once again starting at centre back which he looked very comfortable. Especially as he has moved into a three back during other games. He then moved him into a 6 and dominated the game.
Weston Mckennie – 7.5: Mckennie had a great game at left backs after I doubted how well I would do in the role. He has played a full back role on the right side, but I wasn’t sure if he would do well on the left.
Khepren Thuram – 6.5: Wasn’t poor but went on less attacking runs today then other games. This is because of him playing in the 6 while, Koopmeiners played in the eight the role Thuram normally fills. He has played in the six twice now and is getting better.
Teun Koopmeiners – 7.5: Koopmeiners had a great game and showed why the investment was made by Motta and Giuntoli. He played his attacking role well, swapped into a defensive role with Weston Mckennie. He even scored the best goal of the game and probably the season so far with his free kick.
Samuel Mbangula- 5.5: Mbangula had a lot of the ball and didn’t do much. He got scared when he had a second defender and made bad decisions to attack, instead of simple balls to reset. But he’s still young and will learn from this.
Kenan Yildiz – 7.5: Yildiz assisted Vlahovic for the first goal after staring in the ten and looked strong. He showed his versatility in the build-up in how he can be used in the ten in the future. He was bought off in the 65th minute give him a well-deserved rest.
Francisco Conceicao – 8.5: Conceicao was my man of the match, and it was well deserved. He scored the third goal and created majority of Juventus challenges. He showed once again while he was Juventus best signing.
Dusan Vlahovic – 8: Dusan Vlahovic scored the first goal but could have had two or three. He had one goal disallowed for an offside, after this he missed a few one-on-one chances. But they were all hard and he still had a great game.
