Claudio Marchisio Shines Again Despite Juventus Win Streak Ending vs. Bologna

Despite Juventus having laboured to a 0-0 draw against Bologna on Friday night, there were still a number of positives to take from the match. Given the form of the home side since appointing Roberto Donadoni as coach, the point the Bianconeri took from the Stadio Renato Dall'Ara may yet prove to be a valuable one in the title race.

The performance was discussed at length in this previous post, but there is little doubt the best display in a Juve shirt came from Claudio Marchisio.

With the players ahead of him struggling to create an opening and repeatedly losing the ball, the midfielder was continually forced to recover it and launch another attack.

Before the game, he had warned of the danger posed by the Felsinei, using an interview with Sky Italia (h/t BeIn Sports) to note their opponents would be more than ready for the reigning Italian champions thanks to their excellent coach:

"

Donadoni is doing a great job, as he had been doing with Parma in recent years. He's completely changed the way Bologna play but, above all, he's changed the motivations of the players.

So he's definitely put his stamp on this good Bologna side, who cause problems for everyone and will make things difficult for us.

"

The match would prove that to be a perfect assessment of the trip to Emilia-Romagna, but Marchisio did all he could to secure victory. His tactical awareness and neat distribution have become hallmarks of the Bianconeri under Massimiliano Allegri, and the coach once again oversaw a wonderful all-round display from the 30-year-old.

As the graphic in the tweet below highlights, his accuracy in picking out a team-mate was excellent, connecting with 91 of his 100 pass attempts on the night. Marchisio managed seven crosses and two shots on goal—both were blocked—while finding success on the three occasions he took on a defender.

Yet it was without the ball when he truly shone, winning one tackle, making three interceptions and blocking one shot. That he did so while recovering the ball seven times, winning the one aerial duel he contested and committing just a single foul shows the intelligence of a player who is vital to Juve's approach.

What makes that even more impressive is to do so, Marchisio has completely altered his own style of play to benefit the team. Earlier in his career, the Turin native was a marauding box-to-box midfielder, regularly arriving in the box to score or create goals in huge matches for the Bianconeri.

Indeed, he netted 10 times in 2011/12 and followed up with eight a year later, only to then become the holding player alongside Andrea Pirlo in former coach Antonio Conte's system. That freed up Paul Pogba and Arturo Vidal to attack more regularly, with both men better suited to that role rather than taking on defensive duties.

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But last term began with Pirlo injured, and while Conte had often deployed Pogba whenever the bearded genius was absent, his successor decided a different approach was needed and opted to hand the reigns to Marchisio instead.

He never looked back, with statistics courtesy of WhoScored.com showing the ease at which he adapted to the new position. Marchisio averaged 48.8 passes per game in 2013/14 but increased that to 61.3 last season, completing an impressive 86.1 percent of those attempts while still protecting the defence behind him.

Indeed, Marchisio’s tenacious tackling meant that, by the end of the campaign, he was arguably even more effective than Pirlo, and the side has not notably missed the 2006 World Cup winner this year.

They will need the local boy at his best next week as they welcome Bayern Munich to Juventus Stadium, but he will certainly be ready for the challenge.