It was another dismal Champions League Final night for Juventus, so Football Italia picks the best and worst in Cardiff.
Words: Tom Scholes
Gianluigi Buffon: 5
It was another dismal Champions League Final night for Juventus, so Football Italia picks the best and worst in Cardiff.
Words: Tom Scholes
Gianluigi Buffon: 5
Tonight was supposed to be the night for Gigi, and everyone was convinced that this was going to be his year, but it just wasn’t meant to be. Some could argue that he could have stopped two of the four goals, but when it’s a deflected effort there is hardly anything a goalkeeper can do about it.
Leonardo Bonucci: 5
First half, Bonucci was a rock and actually provided an attacking threat. His long ball to Alex Sandro for the Juve goal was standard for Bonucci, but with his back up against the wall in the second half, he couldn’t stop the Madrid forwards. Wave after wave of attacks just proved too much for Juve and the backline.
Andrea Barzagli: 5
For most of the game, Barzagli was quite solid. He got caught out a few times in behind, but always got back and recovered well. Nevertheless, he just couldn’t keep up when Real Madrid upped the ante. The game just seemed to pass him by and there was nothing he could do, so when the 36-year-old was eventually subbed off, it was for the best.
Giorgio Chiellini: 5
Like the rest of the defenders, it was a tale of two very contrasting 45 minutes. In the first, Chiellini and his partners were imperious and tough to break down, but after the break they seemed to just melt. They couldn’t stop the onslaught and tried to do something, but simply couldn’t. For the defenders, it was an unusually poor night, and a very uncharacteristic performance.
Alex Sandro: 5
He was a big threat on the left-hand side during the first half, where he played a huge role in the Mandzukic goal, but in the second he was non-existent. He couldn’t push forward and wasn’t even helping out in defence, rendering his presence entirely futile.
Dani Alves: 4
A lot of pre-match build-up centered around Alves and how he could do the Treble three times, but tonight he was very out of sorts. Marcelo and Alves cancelled each other out at times, but unlike Marcelo, Alves very rarely contributed to the attacks. This may come as a surprise, but he was very poor for most of this game.
Miralem Pjanic: 4
Pjanic was tasked with being the dictator of this Juve midfield and at times he did well to start attacks and move the ball forward, but he just got taken out of the game. On the other side, Luka Modric did an incredible job of what Pjanic was meant to do for Juve, but the former’s game meant that the latter was made irrelevant, despite his best efforts.
Sami Khedira: 4
I try to be fair and not be too critical on these player ratings, but my word Sami Khedira was awful tonight. First half he was average, but second half he was simply invisible. There isn’t much more to say apart from he vanished once the second half began and some have even gone as far as saying he was an “utter disgrace.”
Paulo Dybala: 4
Dybala was man-marked out of the game very well by Casemiro and rendered useless whenever he got the ball. He did try to get involved, but credit to the Brazilian who managed to silence Dybala and take him out of the game completely.
Mario Mandzukic: 6
If it wasn’t for his wonder strike, Mandzukic would probably have been just as average as most of his teammates. His goal was brilliant, but apart from that, he didn’t really do much. He hassled the Madrid players in the first half and was tracking back well, but like everyone else, he was poor in the second 45 minutes.
Gonzalo Higuain: 4
Higuain was signed to win big games like this one. He came into this game with a huge point to prove, especially against the team that decided he wasn’t good enough to cut it at the highest level. Surprise, surprise, Higuain failed to deliver when it truly mattered. Everyone knows that he is a lethal striker at times, but tonight highlighted every flaw in his game. Ramos and Varane marked him out of the match without even trying. Poor once again from Higuain in a big game, but is anyone really surprised?
Subs
Juan Cuadrado: 3
Subbed on for Barzagli, did nothing for twenty minutes before getting sent off. Summed up Juve’s second half.
Claudio Marchisio: N/A
Introduced for Pjanic after the third goal, but it was probably too late. If he was brought on at half time for Khedira, we may have had a different story.
Mario Lemina: N/A
After coming on for the disappointing Dybala, Lemina barely touched the ball. It would have been unfair to give him any sort of rating.