Juventus vs. Chievo: Winners and Losers from Serie A Game

Table-topping Chievo travelled to Juventus Stadium on Saturday evening—the Veronese club in the unfamiliar position of holding a six-point lead over their struggling hosts.

The game ended in a 1-1 draw, with Perparim Hetemaj grabbing a surprise opening goal for the visitors only for the Bianconeri to equalise through a late Paulo Dybala penalty.

Chievo had undoubtedly impressed in their opening two matches of the season, recording emphatic wins over both Empoli and Lazio. The latter result was particularly impressive, beating last season’s Coppa Italia runners-up by a 4-0 scoreline just two weeks ago.

For Juventus, the 2015/16 season so far has proved difficult, losing first to Udinese and then AS Roma as a plethora of injuries robbed Massimiliano Allegri of some key figures.

Able to include Claudio Marchisio and Alvaro Morata after they had recovered, and new signings Juan Cuadrado and Hernanes, the coach was confident this third game would be a very different proposition.

“Our championship has to start now, because we still have no points,” Allegri told reporters at his pre-match press conference. “We'll have to be focused and we'll need to pick up the right pace to face games like these.”

Unfortunately, with a Champions League clash with Manchester City looming on the horizon, they would fall behind early and struggled to break down a tough opponent.

Over the following pages is a look at the winners and losers from this clash, highlighting the best and worst performances from both sides.

Winner: Rolando Maran (Chievo)

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Ahead of the game, Chievo coach Rolando Maran was rightly in a confident mood and insisted his team would play the Bianconeri without fear after their own impressive start to the season.

“We won’t set out already beaten and we certainly won’t play a defensive match,” he said at his pre-match press conference. “We wouldn’t be able to. It will be a great game and a fascinating challenge and we will try to play at our best."

For the first 80 minutes of this encounter, they would do just that, defending resolutely and looking dangerous whenever they regained possession, vindicating Maran’s approach completely.

Loser: Massimiliano Allegri (Juventus)

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The Champions League was clearly on Massimiliano Allegri’s mind as he named his starting XI, as the Juventus boss chose to rest a number of players despite his team’s difficult start to the season.

Leaving out Paul Pogba, Stephan Lichtsteiner and Giorgio Chiellini with an eye on Manchester City backfired spectacularly, with Chievo grabbing an early lead and then outplaying their hosts for large portions of the game.

Allegri will undoubtedly feel the pressure of Juve’s poor performances—winless in their opening three games of the season and with a number of difficult fixtures to come.

Winner: Simone Pepe (Chievo)

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One of many players to leave Turin this summer, Chievo substitute Simone Pepe is one player who still enjoys the support of the clubs fans.

When he was introduced in the second half, the midfielder received a warm welcome from Juventus Stadium, with supporters recognising his contribution over the previous five years.

Loser: The Juventus Defence

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So often a strong point of the team, the Juventus defence struggled mightily here, never looking comfortable against Chievo. That in itself is shocking, but the performances of Martin Caceres and Andrea Barzagli in particular were worrying for a team yet to keep a clean sheet this season.

Allegri will hope that the return of Giorgio Chiellini, Stephan Lichtsteiner and the suspended Patrice Evra will remedy that situation.

Winner: Hernanes (Juventus)

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While Juventus may have endured yet another poor display, Hernanes made an impressive debut behind the strikers. Alvaro Morata in particular was disappointing, but the Brazilian playmaker was bright throughout, testing goalkeeper Albano Bizzarri on a number of occasions with some excellent shots.

Standing in for Patrice Evra—banned for his red card against AS Roma—Alex Sandro was also one of the only men in black and white to give a good account of himself.