Ranking Juventus' Top 5 Players for March 2016
Having launched a spectacular comeback in the Serie A title race—going on an undefeated run in the league that stretches back to October—March proved to be a tumultuous month for Juventus.
The Bianconeri started out with a 3-0 loss to Inter Milan in the Coppa Italia, only emerging from the second leg of that semi-final clash via a penalty shootout, while also enduring a 4-2 loss to Bayern Munich that saw them eliminated from the UEFA Champions League.
Their Serie A form was much better, however, recording victories over Atalanta, Sassuolo and cross-town rivals Torino before the most recent international break. Clearly taking in some enjoyable highs and saddening lows, head coach Massimiliano Allegri’s men will still hope to end the campaign with a repeat of last year’s domestic double.
What follows is a look at Juve’s five best players over that period, ranking them in order of impact on those aforementioned results and looking at what each man brought to the side over the calendar month.
The Nearly Men
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While the top five have been outstanding, there are a handful of players who can consider themselves unfortunate not to be among them.
Italy international Leonardo Bonucci has led the defence superbly and consistently—a subject discussed in detail in this previous post—with Alex Sandro providing excellent support on the left flank.
In addition, Mario Lemina has returned to action and given a good account of himself, netting against Atalanta and filling in well for the injured Claudio Marchisio.
His impact in the centre of midfield should see his move from Olympique de Marseille made permanent this summer, a matter debated here.
5. Juan Cuadrado
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Similar to Lemina, Juventus have yet to make Juan Cuadrado’s move from Chelsea permanent, but perhaps his performances in recent matches will convince them to do just that.
After creating the winning goal for Paulo Dybala against Sassuolo, the Colombian’s own strike against Bayern Munich capped a fine personal display.
According to figures provided by WhoScored.com, Cuadrado took two shots—both of which were on target—and created two scoring opportunities while his dribbling and speed meant he was a constant headache for the Bundesliga giants.
“We will try to keep Cuadrado,” director general Beppe Marotta told Mediaset recently (h/t Calciomercato.com). “We want to keep our best players, but it is still too early to talk about it. The level of Chelsea and Juventus players is the same.”
If he continues in this form, the Bianconeri will almost certainly move to do just that after seeing the 27-year-old thrive in their colours.
4. Andrea Barzagli
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Always a reliable and solid performer, last month saw Andrea Barzagli garner some attention after a number of vital displays.
Netting a shootout penalty against Inter clearly gave the veteran defender a taste for goals, and he scored against Atalanta to end a barren run that stretched back to May 2012 when he struck against the same opponents.
“If we want to win, then each of us have to give our all,” Barzagli told Sky Sport Italia and Mediaset Premium after the game (h/t Football Italia). “My teammates always make fun of me because I never score, but this wasn’t my first goal!”
His work at the opposite end of the field deserves much of the credit, however, with Barzagli playing all three roles in Allegri’s three-man defence in recent weeks. His immaculate timing and ability to sense where problems will arise make him an indispensable member of the squad, with statistics via WhoScored highlighting his contribution.
Their figures show the 34-year-old has averaged 0.9 tackles, 2.4 interceptions and 2.8 clearances per game in 2015/16, performing as well as he ever has for Italian football’s Old Lady.
3. Paul Pogba
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Having struggled to maintain focus and drive for long periods this season, March saw Paul Pogba finally string together some impressive performances in big matches.
Another to net in that penalty shootout with Inter, the France international also struck an early goal against Bayern before scoring again past Torino.
That goal—in a match where Pogba also dished out two assists—came courtesy of a perfectly executed free-kick and saw the midfielder again attract attention in the transfer market, with a former team-mate happy to share his opinion on the matter.
“Of course, Juventus will want to keep him but sometimes you can get to a transfer fee that you can rebuild an entire team with and he would get to that fee,” Andrea Pirlo said, per David Anderson of the Mirror. “At his age, you can build a team around him for the next years. If he does decide to leave, then I think it will be for a world record.
The same report linked Manchester City as a potential destination, but for now Pogba is routinely delivering for Juventus.
2. Gigi Buffon
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March saw Gigi Buffon set a new Serie A record for minutes without conceding a goal, breaking a mark set by Sebastiano Rossi back in 1994.
Prior to the derby with Torino, the Italy captain had kept 10 consecutive clean sheets and needed just four more minutes to surpass the former AC Milan goalkeeper.
As OptaPaolo tweeted during the match, Buffon managed exactly that, going on to add another 40 minutes to that aforementioned previous high. Yet while Who Scored figures show that no team have allowed opponents fewer shots per game (8.4), he nevertheless had a busy month between the posts.
According to statistics courtesy of ESPN FC, Buffon made five saves against Torino, three against both Bayern Munich and Atalanta plus two in the win over Sassuolo, proving vital to the Bianconeri in each outing.
That saw his coach praise both those recent performances and Buffon's importance off the field, using his press conference immediately after the derby clash to laud the impact of his 38-year-old skipper.
“Buffon has fully deserved this record," Allegri told reporters at Turin's Stadio Olimpico. "Going 10 matches without conceding is no mean feat. Not only is he an extraordinary player, but a great man.”
1. Alvaro Morata
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While Buffon was busy setting records at one end of the field, Alvaro Morata was rediscovering his best form at the other.
An assist against Bayern Munich appeared to spark something of a revival, with the Spain international going on to net twice in the 4-1 win against city rivals Torino in the following match.
That saw Morata named the club’s player of the month, according to their official website, but it also meant talk of a return to Real Madrid once again resurfaced. His former side have an option to buy back the 23-year-old, an issue Beppe Marotta described to Mediaset Premium as “a sword of Damocles hanging over us.”
"Morata expressed the desire to remain with us and we are aware that in our hands he’s not a promising player, but a reality,” the director general continued (h/t Football Italia). “We want to build the future on these young players and we’ll try, but ultimately the final word rests with Real Madrid.”
The player continued his excellent form in Saturday’s victory over Empoli, and the Bianconeri would surely hope to retain Morata, who has now scored 25 goals in 87 Juventus appearances.
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