Fiorentina vs. Juventus: Score, Grades and Reaction from Serie A Game
Serie A leaders Juventus played out a dour scoreless draw at Fiorentina on Friday evening at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
The result gives the Bianconeri a provisional four-point lead atop the Italian league table. Second-placed AS Roma can pull within one point of Juve with a victory at home to Sassuolo on Saturday.
Juventus, who had won their last six matches in all competitions, will now turn their attention to the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday, when Atletico Madrid visit for a key Group A showdown.
TOP NEWS
Madrid Fines Players $590K 😲
'Mbappé Out' Petition Gaining Steam 😳
Star-Studded World Cup Ad 🤩
Massimiliano Allegri's side will need at least a point against last season's beaten finalists to be certain of qualification to the knockout stages. Juve, who are currently second in the group, can take top spot with a victory over Atletico by two or more goals, per UEFA.com.
Up next in Serie A, Juventus will host Sampdoria next Sunday. Fiorentina, who remained 15 points behind Juventus with Friday's draw, will play at Cesena the same day.
When Juventus visited Fiorentina last season, the Bianconeri took a 2-0 lead in the second half only to lose 4-2. No such fireworks were in store this time, as the two sides canceled each other out for large stretches in a scrappy affair.
As tactics blogger Michael Cox hinted on Twitter, the match failed to produce much of interest:
The match started with both teams playing at a high pace, but as the first half wore on, the teams combined for more fouls than clear chances.
Juventus' Fernando Llorente headed on target from an Andrea Pirlo corner in the 14th minute, but Fiorentina's Mario Gomez cleared.
".@OfficialAllegri: "You’re not going to get many chances in even games like these. When you do, you need to take them.” #FiorentinaJuve
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) December 5, 2014"
In the 31st minute, Fiorentina's Matias Fernandez curled a free-kick comfortably wide of Gianluigi Buffon's near post. Eight minutes later, Borja Valero volleyed over the Juve goal after the visitors were unable to clear a free-kick.
After the half-time break, Paul Pogba led a Juventus counter in the 49th minute, laying off for Patrice Evra on the left. Evra placed his shot on target in the top corner, but Neto saved to keep the score level.
Leonardo Bonucci tested Neto from distance in the 63rd minute, with the Fiorentina goalkeeper doing well to hold Bonucci's powerful shot. Buffon then made a good save five minutes later, parrying Juan Cuadrado's stinging, long-range effort.
Fiorentina substitute Khouma Babacar hit a deflected shot off target in the 79th minute, as both teams continued to struggle in their efforts to create clear chances.
Each side made a late substitution, but neither could find a way to breach the other's net over a largely uneventful final 10 minutes.
Grades
Reaction
| Neto | 6.9 |
| Gonzalo Rodriguez | 8.2 |
| Jose Basanta | 7.0 |
| Stefan Savic | 6.8 |
| David Pizarro | 7.1 |
| Joaquin | 7.4 |
| Matias Fernandez | 6.8 |
| Borja Valero | 6.9 |
| Marcos Alonso | 7.1 |
| Juan Guillermo Cuadrado | 6.6 |
| Mario Gomez | 6.6 |
| Khouma Babacar (for Gomez, 68') | 6.0 |
| Alberto Aquilani (for Joaquin, 78') | 5.9 |
| Jasmin Kurtic (for Cuadrado, 85') | 6.1 |
| Gianluigi Buffon | 6.4 |
| Giorgio Chiellini | 7.3 |
| Leonardo Bonucci | 7.9 |
| Angelo Ogbonna | 6.6 |
| Patrice Evra | 6.6 |
| Andrea Pirlo | 7.0 |
| Roberto Pereyra | 6.1 |
| Arturo Vidal | 6.8 |
| Paul Pogba | 7.2 |
| Fernando Llorente | 6.1 |
| Kingsley Coman | 6.7 |
| Carlos Tevez (for Coman, 60') | 6.0 |
| Claudio Marchisio (for Pirlo, 78') | 6.1 |
| Simone Padoin (for Pereyra, 88) | 6.0 |
