Breaking Down Kingsley Coman's Performance for Juventus vs. Napoli

Having clinched the Serie A title some time ago, it was obvious Juventus have had their minds elsewhere, with a number of off-field storylines receiving far more attention than the fact the club has won a domestic double for only the third time in its history.

Adding the Coppa Italia to that fourth consecutive league crown is a major achievement by the Bianconeri, with a Champions League final against Barcelona still to come. Yet all the talk in recent weeks has been about links to players for next season rather than this year’s accomplishments, with the club expected to complete the signing of Paulo Dybala in the next few days.

Indeed, the Argentinian’s current coach at Palermo, Beppe Iachini, recently told Sky Italia that the 21-year-old “is now a Juventus player” (h/t Football Italia). In addition, despite director general Beppe Marotta insisting that he had “never started negotiations for [Edinson] Cavani,” (h/t Football Italia), many reports continue to link the Bianconeri with a move for the Uruguayan star.

Writing on his own website, Gianluca Di Marzio ignored Marotta’s repeated denials about Cavani's being a Juve target. On Saturday against Napoli, one of the club’s current strikers served up a timely reminder of his own ability. Kingsley Coman may not possess the prestige or star power of Cavani or Dybala, but his display at Juventus Stadium certainly grabbed the attention.

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The dominance of Massimiliano Allegri’s side has meant the French youngster has received more playing time than he otherwise might have expected, and he made his fifth league start—and 15th appearance overall—against Rafael Benitez’s men on Saturday.

It was arguably his finest performance to date, with the 18-year-old seizing on the jubilant atmosphere to really enjoy the game, which was undoubtedly reflected in his play. In a game filled with a seemingly endless array of tricks and flicks from the home side, no player dazzled as much as Coman.

Yet there was substance to his performance too, and there were less than 15 minutes on the clock when he made his first meaningful contribution. Picking up the ball outside the Napoli box, he spotted the run of Roberto Pereyra and picked out the Argentinian with a delightful chipped pass.

The former Udinese man made no mistake, firing home unmarked to open the scoring with a simple chance that owed everything to the vision of its creator. Coman almost added a second assist just moments later, misplacing his through ball as he tried to release strike partner Alvaro Morata, who had already lost his marker.

David Lopez and Stefano Sturaro traded second-half strikes to preserve Juve’s one-goal advantage, with Simone Pepe’s late penalty seeing the game end 3-1 to Juventus. By the time the final whistle blew, Coman had turned in a well-rounded display, always willing to help protect the defence and possessing the speed in transition to spark dangerous attacks.

As the graphic below, courtesy of the FourFourTwo StatsZone App, shows, he ended the match with just one shot, but he completed four take-ons from a game-high eight attempts. He won all three of his tackles and made one clearance, recovering the ball on two occasions and winning his only aerial duel.

Coman also enjoyed a good evening in terms of passing, connecting on 24 of his 27 attempts while committing four fouls and suffering just once. It is unlikely he will have caused Allegri to consider starting him against Barcelona—the recent performances of Morata almost certainly guarantee he will line up next to Carlos Tevez—but he surely made a strong case to remain part of the squad.

Indeed, with this performance, Coman proved he deserves to remain part of the long-term plan at Juventus, as the youngster has only just begun to unlock his clearly vast potential.