Juventus Winners and Losers at International Champions Cup

Juventus continued a frustrating preseason campaign as Serie A rivals Inter Milan beat them on penalties after the sides drew 1-1 in normal time.

The Bianconeri had previously lost to Everton and Los Angeles Galaxy on their preseason tour of the United States, and even though results are an afterthought in friendlies, concerns may begin to grow as to whether Juve are ready for the new season.

Walter Mazzarri's Inter, on the other hand, are gradually piecing together a team that looks as if it can be competitive in Italy next season and push for a European place.

Here are the winners and losers for the Old Lady after defeat on penalties in Miami.

Loser: Mirko Vucinic

Mirko Vucinic was handed a golden opportunity to start alongside Carlos Tevez against Inter.

The Montenegrin was handed the chance to prove to Antonio Conte that a more fluid partnership with Carlitos could be the way forward, as opposed to partnering the former Manchester City striker with the stronger forward Fernando Llorente.

Vucinic lacked a cutting edge to his game last season, but the likes of Fabio Quagliarella, Alessandro Matri and Sebastian Giovinco failed to produce on a consistent basis to put pressure on his starting place.

With the high profile captures of Tevez and Llorente, Vucinic will need to produce on a more consistent basis, and failure to do so in friendlies will only push Conte towards starting the pair of new centre-forwards.

Vucinic did at least win the penalty that was converted by Arturo Vidal, rolling Juan Jesus, even if he would have eventually been crowded out by a couple more Nerazzurri defenders.

A missed chance from a delightful Andrea Pirlo free-kick was typical of Vucinic's inability to put away the simple chances though. And that might be the undoing of him as a regular starter next season as goals are going to be what Conte values above everything else from his forwards.

Loser: Gianluigi Buffon

Gianluigi Buffon's place in the starting lineup is not in jeopardy. Nonetheless, there was more evidence last night to suggest that he is not the top stopper in Serie A any more.

That title should be for his opposite number in Miami, Samir Handanovič, who has been outstanding for Inter and Udinese over the last couple of seasons.

Buffon was late to the group for preseason due to his involvement in the Confederations Cup with Italy, but silly errors like those of last night will need to be well out of his system by the time the Serie A kicks off in a few weeks.

Fredy Guarín's shot was a crisp one, but it was right down the barrel as far as Buffon was concerned, which means that it was a horrendous error to not hold the ball—or at least to push the ball well clear of danger.

Ricky Alvarez followed up well and struck the ball into the back of the net to give Inter the lead, much to the disappointment of Buffon.

Winner: Andrea Barzagli

Andrea Barzagli might not have played last night but he will certainly be feeling relaxed about his eventual return to the Juventus team.

Both Martin Cáceres and new signing Angelo Ogbonna have deputised for Juve in the back three over the last few games.

However, neither player has looked assured enough to make a serious claim to displace Barzagli from the starting lineup this season.

Antonio Conte will therefore surely put Barzagli straight back into the line-up then, once he has proven his fitness.

Loser: Arturo Vidal

Arturo Vidal might be a surprise pick to many for one of the losers from last night's game.

The Chilean's performance was largely fine, but his role will need to be tweaked somewhat this season for Juventus to be able to make further inroads into the Champions League.

As I mentioned here, Vidal will be responsible for ensuring that Pirlo's lack of pace and tendency to drift forward will not be exposed by opponents on the counter-attack.

So Vidal needs to shadow the space that Pirlo vacates when he dashes forward, which did not happen often enough last night.

With Pirlo caught out of possession high up the pitch, Inter broke quickly, and Fredy Guarín was set up on the edge of the area—completely unmarked—to smash a shot towards goal, which led to Ricky Alvarez' goal.

Vidal was left chasing shadows as he failed to keep an eye on the Colombian as he joined in with Inter's counter, so this will need to be addressed in the coming days.

Winner: Claudio Marchisio

Claudio Marchisio had an interesting game last night and it pointed out that he is set to enjoy an improved season with the added options in Juve's front line.

Il Principino has enjoyed scheming between the lines of the opposition's defence and midfield and has tended to be at his best when able to exchange passes with Mirko Vucinic—Juve's forward who is most adept on the ball.

With the signing of Carlos Tevez, Marchisio has an extra option to feed the ball into feet and work the opposition over by shifting the ball at pace.

The Argentine returned the favour on plenty of occasions too, setting up Marchisio's close-range effort that ended in the side-netting of the goal.

With Paul Pogba, Andrea Pirlo and Arturo Vidal all capable of getting on the ball and moving cleverly off it, Juve can certainly look to move the ball quicker this season.