Juventus' Andrea Pirlo Is Still Great but Should Sit out vs. Borussia Dortmund

There is little doubting the absolute quality of Andrea Pirlo, the Juventus midfielder having proved his ability repeatedly and consistently for over a decade. The wider English press may have only finally woken up to his genius when his chipped penalty at Euro 2012 embarrassed Joe Hart, but the rest of the world had been fully aware of the Italy international for many years.

First coming to prominence during a loan spell at Brescia, it was there—alongside Roberto Baggio—where he first moved into the deep-lying playmaker role with which he is now synonymous. That continued after Internazionale inexplicably allowed him to move across town to AC Milan, and he played an instrumental role in delivering two Champions League titles to the red-and-black half of San Siro.

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If their city rivals made a mistake back when Pirlo was a youngster, it pales into insignificance compared to the grave error committed by the Rossoneri in the summer of 2011. He was 32 years old and had been on a poor run of form despite the club lifting the league title, but allowing him to leave on a free transfer was a borderline criminal offence by Milan.

Juventus could scarcely believe their luck, with Gigi Buffon perhaps best summing up the thoughts of every one of a Bianconeri persuasion. "When Andrea told me he was coming to Juventus, my first thought was 'thank goodness,'" the goalkeeper explained to reporters (h/t Mark Doyle of Yahoo Sport). "Then when I saw him play I thought: ‘There is a God!’ His footballing skills are out of this world."

Still possessing that wonderful ability to see passes other players simply cannot, his competitive career with Juve was just 17 minutes old when his vision led to him picking out Stephan Lichtsteiner. The Swiss full-back converted, netting the first goal at Juventus Stadium, and Pirlo had notched his first assist with his new club.

Twelve more would follow that season alone, and he has racked up a further 18 in all competitions since, and despite continuing injury problems, Pirlo is also enjoying a fine 2014-15 campaign. According to statistics from WhoScored.com, he is averaging 76.2 passes per game, a mark bettered only by Mirko Valdifiori of Empoli, completing 89.1 per cent of those efforts.

The same source shows that both figures are better than last season's, and yet there is a strong case to be made for leaving him out of the return match with Borussia Dortmund. Pirlo’s playing style is ill-suited to the constant pressing and high-energy defensive approach of the German side, and his inclusion could prove costly for the Bianconeri.

It was something seen briefly in the first leg, in which the Azzurri star managed 37 minutes of the encounter, limping off injured with the calf injury that has kept him out of action since. A report from La Gazzetta dello Sport (h/t Football Italia) says that the player faces a fitness test and may return on Wednesday, but that could actually hinder Juventus.

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The side looked much better when he was replaced by Roberto Pereyra, the Argentinian much better suited to both Jurgen Klopp’s defensive tactics and Juve’s counter-attacking pace. That is an opinion shared by Nuri Sahin, with the Turkey international telling Kicker (h/t Goal.com) that he believed Pirlo’s absence improved the Bianconeri:

"

I do not want to be disrespectful in any way, but I would have preferred it had Pirlo not gotten injured. But we had come up with a clear plan on how we were going to fight a team containing Pirlo and this plan worked superbly until he was forced off.

Maybe we somehow thought Juventus would not find an answer to our game plan any more after Pirlo was gone. They had to come up with a solution without Pirlo and that paid off for them.

"

On the evidence that followed—the Bianconeri running out 2-1 winners—it is hard to argue. Sahin added another undeniable truth, saying that "Pirlo is a true great, though, and will forever remain a legend."

He certainly will, and this is no reflection on his overall performances or an idea that his influence is waning in any way, but perhaps it might be better if the legend is given Wednesday evening off.