Barcelona vs. Juventus: Bonucci Must Put in Career-Defining Performance

This year’s Champions League final was fast approaching when the news broke. Giorgio Chiellini would not play for Juventus against Barcelona. He had suffered a calf tear. Juventini hearts sank everywhere, their defence was broken.

The experienced Italian bruiser has encountered a terrible misfortune. Alongside Leonardo Bonucci, he has been the rock upon which Juventus' hopes have been built. The defensive pairing are accomplices, the Italian champions’ own striker-fighting duo.

Playing Barcelona is hard enough, though to do so without your most experienced and arguably best central defender adds another sizeable obstacle to an already mountainous task. Keeping quiet a forward line of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Luis Suarez is hard enough with everybody fit and available.

Without Chiellini, Bonucci will take on the mantle of defensive organiser. He must show deft awareness in the face of an unabated hurricane of movement, speed and flair. If Juventus are to keep a clean sheet in Saturday night’s final, it is likely that Bonucci will have to put in a career-defining performance.

This is something the 28-year-old has steeled himself for over a matter of years since he arrived in Turin in his early 20s. Back then he was still a youngster with doubt in his mind, having been let go by Inter Milan. It took mental development for him to get from there to the level he currently resides at.

Bonucci began working with personal motivator Alberto Ferrarini in order to toughen himself up. Stories were leaked of torturous methods, physical violence and dank basements. Ferrarini admitted as much himself, saying on Facebook, via Football Italia:

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Over the years I took Bonucci into my basement. Underground. In the dark…There, with a tone anything but kind or sweet, I offended him in every way possible. I judged him. I insulted him. If he made even the slightest attempt to glance at me, he’d receive a punch straight to the stomach…That’s how I started making him into a soldier.

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When Juventus beat Roma 3-2 last October in an early-season clash of Serie A title contenders, Ferrarini gave Bonucci garlic-scented sweets, according to Tuttosport (h/t the Daily Mail). Bonucci was advised to eat them and breathe on Francesco Totti and Gervinho to put them off. It worked. Bonucci put in a game-changing performance, even scoring the winning goal four minutes from time.

The psychological training had an impact on Bonucci away from the football pitch, too. In 2012, while at a car dealership with his wife and son, he was approached by a man whose face was covered. As reported by Gazzetta dello Sport, via Eurosport, the man pointed a gun to Bonucci’s head and told him to hand over his watch. Bonucci responded by punching the robber before chasing him away.

A football pitch is a world away from poorly lit basements and the threat of armed robbery, though Bonucci nevertheless looked troubled at times in the Bianconeri’s most recent game of real note—their Coppa Italia final against Lazio.

Playing in the centre of a back three, Bonucci appeared uncharacteristically flustered. Lazio surprised almost everyone that evening by playing a 3-4-2-1 formation, but some of Bonucci’s distribution was noticeably poor, and—per WhoScored—his pass success percentage for that match was below that of his season average. By contrast, Chiellini handled the match extremely well.

Giuseppe Bellini/Getty Images

Clearly for Bonucci, victory on the pitch comes first in the mind, so what must he be thinking at this moment as he prepares to swim in extremely deep waters with sharks such as Messi, without the aid of his regular team-mate?

As illustrated by Squawka, Chiellini has better stats than Bonucci in most significant departments. He makes more blocks, interceptions and clearances, while his passing is of a higher quality. Worryingly, Juve’s other two central defensive options—Andrea Barzagli and Angelo Ogbonna—don’t come close to either Bonucci or Chiellini’s stats.

Depending on coach Massimiliano Allegri’s formation of choice, Bonucci could find himself in a central defensive trio or a duo, with one or both of Barzagli and Ogbonna adjacent to him. In either situation, Bonucci will need to cajole those around him, lead them and offer solid defensive and distributive foundations upon which Juventus can build a winning performance.

Physically and technically, there is no doubting Bonucci is one of the finest centre-backs in the world today, but it is his mentality that will prove crucial against the world’s most awe-inspiring attacking force. Garlic sweets might not be enough.