Juventus vs Lazio: What we learned from Supercoppa Italiana result
Juventus were gunning for revenge against Lazio when they locked horns with the Aquile in the Supercoppa Italiana.
Lazio notably beat Juventus earlier this month 3-1, handing the Bianconeri their first loss not just in Serie A, but in all competitions this season. In addition, it marked the Aquile’s first win over La Vecchia Signora since 2003 and sparked some questions about whether perhaps this marked a turning tide for Juventus.
Now under the tutelage of Maurizio Sarri, Juve have been undergoing a period of transition. Although they are still enjoying their position as the side to beat in Italy, other teams have strenghtened this term, namely Inter. Before their loss to Lazio, Juventus had been held to an uncharacteristic two-all draw with Sassuolo. Sassuolo, of course, have proven to be a pesky side for many of Italy’s bigger teams, but drawing them on home turf wasn’t the result that Sarri would have expected prior to heading to the Stadio Olimpico.
In addition, Sarri had been struggling with figuring out how to properly incorporate Cristiano Ronaldo into his system, and had taken the controversial decision to bench the superstar for some of the team’s games. Lazio, meanwhile, had been resurgent recently under Simone Inzaghi, climbing the table at rapid pace, and they were really confident in taking on a Juventus side who had caused them a lot of problems in the not-too-distant past.
Lazio’s win over Juventus marked their seventh straight Serie A win, and helped them to further solidify their grip on third spot in the table. It’s a marked improvement from the eighth placed finish they earned last term, and certainly, they will look to keep up this kind of form throughout the season.
The Supercoppa Italiana was the fifth time Lazio faced Juventus in this competition, and the Aquile were featuring after winning the Coppa Italia last May. Here’s what we learned after their impressive result.
Lazio are really an improved side
Lazio beat Juventus for the second time in two weeks, by the exact same score-line, 3-1. Although Juventus tried to apply pressure – just like they did the last time they met, with Paulo Dybala netting an equalizer, Inzaghi’s side held their nerve to come back and seal a vital and confidence boosting win. It’s a long way to go between now and May, but having beaten Juventus twice already, it seems like they’ve finally overcome their Juventus hoodoo and could potentially be a dark horse contender for more silverware this term – especially as they don’t have European football to worry about after crashing out of the Europa League early on.
Lazio aren’t overly dependent on Ciro Immobile
He may be an early contender for the capocannoniere, but Lazio are not all about Immobile. Yes, he’s having an amazing season, and could score 30 goals by the time this term finishes assuming he doesn’t suffer an unfortunate injury, and that will certainly bode well for Italy at the upcoming EURO 2020 tournament. But here’s something really impressive: He didn’t score in either of Lazio’s 3-1 wins against Juventus. In fact, he even missed a penalty during their win at the Stadio Olimpico. He’s chipped in with five assists so far, but it shows that the team can find goals from elsewhere if Immobile does hit a rough patch, and hopefully they can continue in that vein, because strikers do have their ups and downs throughout the season.
Juventus still are struggling to find their identity under Sarri, who can’t seem to figure out a plan “B” when needed
He had the same issue at Napoli, and at Chelsea, and it seems the same old issue here at Juventus, too. Sarri just can’t figure out how to mix things up when in a pinch. He does play some interesting football, but he struggles to think on the fly, and he’s being exposed for it. He’s figured out how to play Cristiano Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala, and Gonzalo Higuain together – seemingly – but is it always going to pay off? On paper, it looks great, but they haven’t exactly set the pitch alight just yet. Juventus do have other options as well, and the fact that Sarri chose to jettison a player like Mario Mandzukic, who was a valuable resource for his predecessor, Massimiliano Allegri, without so much as giving him a look-in raises some major eyebrows.
Mandzukic may not be the glamorous type of player, but he’s not afraid to track back and get stuck in to do the dirty kind of defensive work that made him a fan favorite among Bianconeri supporters. Higuain and Ronaldo’s arrivals made him have to shift to a winger from a center-forward, and he was more than willing to adjust to help the team’s efforts. His goal output went down dramatically, but the team improved as a result and that’s the kind of player any coach would want in his squad.
Well, most coaches. Sarri isn’t one of them, obviously. Just as he had a player like N’Golo Kante at Chelsea and decided to play him out of position to accomodate Jorginho whom he decided to bring in from Napoli, thus eventually forcing Cesc Fabregas – an already established play-maker who did play well alongside Kante – out and onto Monaco.
Sarri’s stubbornness is well known; he notably laser-focused on the Scudetto with Napoli in his final season and eschewed other trophy chances with the Partenopei, notably the Coppa Italia and possibly even the Europa League as he believed his team could beat Juventus in the Scudetto battle.
He came up empty handed on all fronts. At Chelsea, he did notably win the Europa League to finally win his first senior title of his career, but now at Juventus the pressure will be on to not just win the Scudetto, but to help Juventus end their frustrations in the Champions League. Allegri lost his job over that; and Sarri has seen the team lose twice to Lazio in two weeks. Hopefully, 2020 will bring better fortunes for the ex-Napoli man, and he will take heart from these learning lessons from Juventus’s defeat to the Aquile in the 2019 Supercoppa Italiana as certainly, the Turin giants don’t want the capital-based club to become their Achilles heel in the upcoming years.
