Breaking Down Angelo Ogbonna's Performance for Juventus vs. Empoli

Juventus recorded an important win on Saturday evening, maintaining their focus to beat Empoli 2-0 when they could be forgiven for looking beyond that encounter to some of their other upcoming fixtures. With a Coppa Italia semi-final and the quarter-finals of the Champions League looming, the victory over Maurizio Sarri’s men was testament to the professionalism and drive of the Torinese giants.

Carlos Tevez was once again the decisive figure for the Bianconeri, scoring one goal and creating the other as he continued the form which undoubtedly made him the club’s standout performer last month, a matter discussed at length in this previous column.

Missing a number of key figures due to injury, there were also noteworthy performances against Empoli from midfield duo Simone Padoin and Stefano Sturaro, called into action due to the absences of Claudio Marchisio, Paul Pogba and Andrea Pirlo.

Yet perhaps the most impressive player to deputise on Saturday was Angelo Ogbonna, selected in central defence in order to allow Giorgio Chiellini some rest ahead of those important impending encounters. The 26-year-old has been widely criticised for failing to live up to expectations following his €13 million switch from cross-town rivals Torino, a matter analysed in detail here as both club and country look for him to deliver higher-quality performances.

Ogbonna had not played a single minute in the four games since having been almost single-handedly to blame for Mohamed Salah’s second goal in the Coppa Italia clash with Fiorentina, yet Allegri opted to give him the nod from the opening whistle on Saturday and was rewarded with an excellent display.

Unlike many of Serie A’s smaller sides who sit deep and guard against the Bianconeri attack, Empoli came to Juventus Stadium determined to impose their own style of play on the home side, pressing deep in the opposition half as they sought to win the ball back quickly after losing possession.

That can fluster many defenders, but Ogbonna seemed fully prepared for such an approach, making an early clearance comfortably, despite the close attention of Massimo Maccarone. His performance grew from there, making a number of timely interventions and always being alert to any danger posed by the Azzurri attack.

Lining up against Manuel Pucciarelli, he was quick to deny the 23-year-old striker at every opportunity, quickly prodding the ball away from him a few minutes into the first half, a timely intervention that halted a dangerous-looking breakaway.

As the above graphic—courtesy of the FourFourTwo StatsZone app—shows, it was one of two interceptions made by Ogbonna, who in addition made three tackles and a team-high five clearances. He won one aerial duel and recovered the ball four times over the course of the match, too, putting in an assured defensive display despite his recent poor form.

He also shrugged off the high-octane drives of Empoli to complete 56 of his 66 attempted passes, including a wonderful cross-field pass to Stephan Lichtsteiner which helped switch play and open up a promising attack for the Bianconeri.

Allegri was clearly pleased with the win when he addressed the media at full-time. Noting that he had rotated the side, the manager praised the displays of those he had brought into the starting XI when speaking to Sky Italia (h/t Football Italia): “I am very happy with the performance, especially as it was Padoin’s first time playing in front of the defence, Angelo Ogbonna was back after a month and Stefano Sturaro had only his second start."

He has certainly not yet lived up to the expensive price the Bianconeri paid for him in the summer of 2013, but if Angelo Ogbonna can continue in this vein he will slowly but surely begin to repay the faith of Italian football’s grand Old Lady.