14 September 2019
Juventus and Fiorentina shared the spoils in a goalless draw at Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence, with the Bianconeri having lost Douglas Costa and Pjanic in the first half due to injury.
The game was the first Serie A fixture Maurizio Sarri was on the bench for, having missed the victories over Parma and Napoli, and the new-look Fiorentina side made for an interesting battle between the two sides
TWO FIRST HALF INJURY BLOWS
Unfortunately, Juventus were forced into making a change in the seventh of the game, as Douglas Costa, who was celebrating his 29th birthday, was forced into an early substitution due to injury. Federico Bernardeschi came on in his place.
The Bianconeri were let off the book on two occasions in the opening 15 minutes of the encounter. The first was when Szczesny cleared the ball away, but he didn’t realise the close proximity of Chiesa, and his clearance ricocheted off the Fiorentina attack and flew straight over the face of goal. The second, was when a mistake back-pass by de Ligt saw the ball sail across the face of goal.
The following 15 minutes didn’t see any major stand out chances fall to either team, with Szczesny being called to make or two saves, while Dragowski also did so. Dalbert then caused the Bianconeri some trouble in the closing stages of the half, as his effort at the near post forced Szczesny into making a one-handed save at the near post. Juventus were then handed another early blow by injury when Pjanic was substituted off just before the break, with Bentancur taking his place.
GOALLESS SECOND HALF
Badelj and Dalbert were undoubtedly the host team’s most threatening players, and they threatened in the 53rd minute when a cross by Croatian saw the latter strike a cross-cum-shot that forced the Bianconero goalkeeper to make a save. Sarri was then forced into making his third and final change of the game just after the hour mark, when Danilo had to be replaced by Cuadrado due to cramps.
A very good chance fell to Juventus in the 74th minute of the game when Khedira moved down the right flank. He then pulled the ball back and delivered it across the face of goal for Ronaldo, only for Pezzella to make an interception! Ronaldo then attempted to break the deadlock with a bicycle kick in the 85th minute of the game, but it failed to hit the target as the game ended goalless.
Fiorentina: Dragowski; Milenkovic, Pezzella (Ceccherini 83’), Caceres; Lirola, Castrovilli (Zurkowski 89’), Pulgar, Badelj, Dalbert; Chiesa, Ribery (Boateng 69’)
Substitutes: Terracciano, Ranieri, Boateng, Sottil, Cristoforo, Ceccherini, Ghezzal, Montiel, Venuti, Zurkowski, Vlahovic, Terzic
Juventus: Szczesny; Danilo (Cuadrado 61’), De Ligt, Bonucci, Alex Sandro; Khedira, Pjanic (Bentancur 44’), Matuidi; Douglas Costa (Bernardeschi 7’), Higuain, Cristiano Ronaldo
Substitutes: Pinsoglio, Buffon, Ramsey, Dybala, Cuadrado, Can, Rugani, Rabiot, Demiral, Bentancur, Bernardeschi
