Juventus 1 - Torino 1: Initial reaction and random observations

Yesterday at 03:35 PM

Not even Douglas Luiz's new hair color could save Juve from recording yet another draw in Serie A.

Well, at least Juventus didn't blow their lead late this time around.

The problem was, Juve's lead went up in smoke early enough — although not exactly well-timed when it comes to going into the halftime break with some good feelings about things — where there was plenty of time left to actually do something about it.

Yet, after weathering an early second-half storm Saturday night, Juventus couldn't convert all the chances that they did actually create.

Despite peppering the Torino goal multiple times and to the tune of 13 second-half shots, Juventus couldn't break the deadlock that was created through Nikola Vlašić's stunner in the first minute of stoppage time before the half. No matter who tried, no matter whether it was from out wide or down the middle, Juventus couldn't crack a Torino defense that has been surprisingly solid of late despite their recent struggles. That all concluded in Juventus recording a 1-1 draw against their city rivals in the second Derby della Mole of the season and officially hitting the midway point of the 2024-25 season with 12 draws in their opening 19 games.

That's right, people: With 50% of their league fixtures played — although technically not one game played against each of their 19 opponents in Serie A — Juventus have recorded a draw in 63% of those matchups.

It's unrelenting this run of draws — and especially so knowing that Juve's next three opponents domestically are Atalanta, Milan and Napoli. That's second place, first place and the team that just handed Juve a loss in the semifinals of the Supercoppa (and is trying to get back into striking distance of the top four with their new manager).

At this rate, if anybody knows when this kind of trend might come to an end, I'd love to know. It would probably help with actually writing about this team because, right now, I am certainly running out of ways to not get overly frustrated with how this team is playing.

It feels like we're just in this same vicious cycle at the moment — get a lead, give up the lead and then try and scramble to get a go-ahead goal late. For as good as Kenan Yildiz's opener was, the ability to hold onto the lead wasn't. Torino's goal felt almost inevitable — both because of how poorly Juve's been holding onto leads lately and just how well those in granata were playing after falling behind. It's not the first time that things have trended that kind of way when Thiago Motta's side took a 1-0 lead, and you get the feeling it won't be the last until something actually falls into place.

That momentum from Vlasic's goal carried into the second half, and in a way Juve might have been lucky not to concede again. But once things turned back in Juve's control, Torino barely trouble Michele Di Gregorio's goal again, as he had to make all of one save in the second half.

The problem was, for all the chances at the other end of the field, Juventus couldn't convert. Just like Juventus' inability to hold onto leads and subsequently record draws, that's not a new development, either. Goal scoring has been an issue for this team for much of Motta's time as manager, and all the chances created in the second half against Torino just weren't put away.

Any of them.

Thirteen shots and eight saves by Torino keeper Vanja Milinković-Savić in the second half alone and not one goal actually came out of it.

So it goes. The draws, clearly, have no end in sight and a chance to get one point from fourth-place Lazio wasn't taken advantage of despite such a bright, Yildiz-inspired start. So as much as we appreciate the attempt at some help, Como, unfortunately this Juventus season refuses to shake the draws.

RANDOM THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS

• It's now been seven league fixtures since Juventus last recorded a clean sheet. Ironically, one of Juventus' last shutouts came against Torino two months ago before the November international break.
• I'm pretty sure that's the first time I've seen both managers sent off at the same time, let alone in the same game. You see something new every time you watch sports, I guess.
• Juventus xG in the first half: 0.10.
• Juventus shots in the first half: 2.
• The xG, according to Sofascore, on Yildiz's goal: 0.03.
• That goal ... my goodness.
• Yildiz isn't scoring a ton of goals this season — this goal was his first against Serie A opposition since the first Derby della Mole back in November — but a lot of them sure are pretty special. We're still a few months away from him no longer being a teenager, so it sure is quite fun to think about what kind of player he can be once he enters his 20s.
• And to beat a goalkeeper like Milinković-Savić who is both extremely tall and has the wingspan of a condor at the near post, that was just the cherry on top after some fantastic dribbling. Kenan Yildiz rules.
• Then again, for how good Yildiz's goal was, the second-half mixup with Nico Gonzalez was not as pretty.
• On the whole, the Gonzalez as false nine experiment went a little bit better than it has in previous games. At the very least he was usually passing it to his teammates, which is something Dusan Vlahovic has been struggling with as of late.
• For a guy who has barely played over the last couple of months and was making his first start since mid-October, I gotta say, Douglas Luiz did a pretty solid job. Maybe not overly outstanding, but sure wasn't the train wreck that some of his appearances have been so far this season.
• Who led Juventus in key passes? That would be Douglas Luiz.
• Pierre Kalulu had so many clearances. So did Federico Gatti. For the most part, those two guys played pretty dang well.
• Who led Juventus in tackles? That would be a certain Kenan Yildiz.
• I texted a friend about how nice of a player Samuele Riccii is and about 10 seconds later he went and blasted a shot well over the crossbar. If only I had thought to send a text about how well Torino's defense had been playing maybe it could have resulted in a Juve goal. Hindsight, folks, it's cruel sometimes.
• Samuel Mbangula does some cool stuff a few times a game. Then he does those frustrating moments when he just puts his head down and tries to dribble in between a couple of dudes without much success. That can probably be attributed to youth, right? Yeah, let's just go ahead with that theory.
• Here's another theory: I'm sick of Juventus dropping points against mid-table teams. Sure, you can do the usual "Throw out form when it comes to a local derby!" or whatever, but this has to change — and fast. We're now officially at the midway point of the season and the draws just keep on coming. It's ... yeah. It's maddening as all hell.
• So for a team that has 12 draws in 19 games, what are the odds of another draw against Atalanta on Tuesday? Let's just say that even as the unbeaten run domestically to begin the Motta era continues, the odds of a draw are probably better than those for a win.