After Villa: Il Buono, il Brutto, il Cattivo

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Survive, survive, survive ...

The Good

First half efforts

Unlike Juventus' most recent Serie A fixture against AC Milan, this bout in the Champions League came with a good level of effort in the first half, and while it eventually did not lead to an additional three points within the new league phase format, there was some promise that came from the injury-ridden squad in the first 45 minute. It seemed the squad better knew how to both counter press and play the ball up in hyper-modified roles after trying something similar last Saturday at the San Siro.

The Great Wall of Locatelli

From a very shaky and arguably lackluster 2023-24 campaign to now, the improvements that Manuel Locatelli has made have been incredible. The quality of Locatelli's passing accuracy (91%), sticking to his man, and defensive play have truly shown him in a new light this season.

Players are defined by many aspects, but one of the best indicators of a great footballer is his ability to perform under poor conditions. With only six available substitutes on the bench due to the ongoing injury crisis, two of which were goalkeepers, Locatelli knew that his role in the match had to be multifaceted and he would be required to go to greater lengths to compensate for so many injured players that are fixtures of the starting XI. His all-around improvement and situational awareness have shown that the captain's armband he donned in Birmingham was very much deserved.

You got Gatti'd

In another similar situation to Locatelli, it was great to see Federico Gatti step up in such an important match. With the knowledge that Bremer is no longer around to completely interrupt oppositional attacking plays, Mr. Cats has been pouring his heart and soul out on the pitch, and when it came to Aston Villa, he refused to allow anyone past him. With 72 touches and an overall passing accuracy of almost 92%, it is safe to say that the defended was everywhere he needed to be during this extremely important match.

A modified system

What can be praised about the overall performance of this squad is its adaptability. Similar to when a person leaves a job or company and the remaining employees have to figure out which parts of the workload now become theirs, this Juve squad is stepping up to fill the gaps left behind be the six injured players, and that is noteworthy. Long-term squad plans are built with mainstays in mind, and while backups and substitutions are a natural part of the game, there is no way to predict just how many absences will pile up over the course of the first half of the season.

But under Motta, this squad is at the very least doing everything it can to compensate.

The Bad

Match Importance

Even with Juventus' astounding performance and ability to dig in their heels against their British foes, there is a question of the overall league phase table. Ideally, even in their current situation, a 1-0 win would have been perfect to gain some solid footing in the race to qualify for the knockout rounds, but fans and club alike will take what they can get in such dire times.

That being said, the three remaining league phase fixtures will not be a breeze. Manchester City, though on a six-match winless streak in all competitions, are nothing at all to scoff at. After that comes Club Brugge, who ESPN called a "gimme" game for Manchester City, currently sit in 22^nd place in the 36-team table. And if Juventus learned anything from their only loss this season to Stuttgart, no opponent should be underestimated. Finally, Juve have the opportunity to get some revenge against Benfica, as many can recall the trouncing that the Bianconeri received from the Portuguese side in the 2022-23 UCL group stage.

It is not an easy road ahead, and it would have been very nice to see Juventus start the back half of the league phase with an extra three points.

Koop, you OK?

It is difficult to try to comprehend Teun Koopmeiners' situation. He has suffered a cracked rib and a Michael Jordan-inspired fever game so far this season and is currently watching his former club run circles around both the Champions League and Serie A. Plus, the Dutchman is still desperately trying to find his first goal since signing with Juventus.

His frustration is warranted, as he has been forced to play in an unfamiliar position and with many men down, but it seems that on the pitch there is simply one thing that has been on the minds of fans, the club, and the man himself. Last season, he netted 15 goals and seven assists in all competitions — though no goals came in European competition — but has registered only a single assist with Juventus.

Everyone wants to see him succeed in this new long-term Juventus plan, but Thiago Motta has yet to figure out the special recipe that Atalanta manger Gian Piero Gasperini had to bring the best out of the Dutchman. Hopefully, time and more player recoveries will be a quick solve to unlocking his full Koop-potential.

The Ugly

How many centimeters?

Many fans can recall a time where a ball over the goal line was up to the discretion of the referee. Today, however, the involvement of computers and video replays have taken any room for discretion and provided definitive answers. But it was still so unbelievably disheartening that the difference between one league point and three league points came from a few centimeters after Francisco Conceicao's header coming from a corner kick. That was the perfect moment, only to be ruined by the lightning reflexes of Argentinian keeper Emiliano Martinez.

'You can't do that'

In the last seconds of stoppage time, an Aston Villa free kick sent the ball careening toward the gloves of Michele Di Gregorio. However, as the ball came in, the keeper surely felt a sharp pain to the ribs and was sent to the ground, and in the scuffle of bodies Aston Villa found the back of the net ... only for the goal to be ruled out due to the keeper being impeded.

Were this an American sport, waves of fans who are three to four overpriced beers in would start chopping their arms and chanting "you can't do that" whilst the referee reviewed the play. Surely there is a similar, if not exceedingly more clever, version of this in Italian.

Buono, Brutto, o Cattivo?

Many may disagree with this assessment, but while it seems that Juventus is simply surviving an onslaught of on and off the pitch issues, this squad is still unbeaten in Italy and only suffered a single loss on the European stage. When it comes to the continued ravaging of players and forced re-formatting of positions and styles of play, everyone who isn't wearing a cast or brace is doing their absolute best in a bad situation. So. this match can be labeled as good in terms of survival, but bad in terms of potential long-term European success.