The Bianconeri’s last match of January, Juve face-off with Sampdoria ahead of a tough schedule in February consisting of matches against Inter, Roma, Napoli, and Porto in the Champions League. With goals from Chiesa and Ramsey, Juve win 2-0 and put a good end to the month!

4-4-2

#16- Cuadrado

#19- Bonucci

#19- Chiellini

#13- Danilo

#22- Chiesa

#5- Arthur

#30- Bentancur

#14- McKennie

#9- Morata

#7- Ronaldo

Juve put on a solid performance, keeping possession and pressing Sampdoria high up on the pitch. It didn’t take too long for the Bianconeri to take the lead, when Ronaldo plays the ball out wide to Morata, Morata passes into the box, and Chiesa bangs it in. Ronaldo in particular gets a few more chances but the first half ends 1-0 for Juve.

The Biaconeri continued to dominate, slowing down the pace but rarely making mistakes or giving the opponent a chance. However, at 54 minutes, Chiellini the veteran defender makes a crucial block in front of the goal as Quagliarella attempts a shot.

Morata and offsides, name a more iconic duo. In the 56th minute, Morata characteristically makes a run past the defenders, gets a 1v1 chance against the goalkeeper, and finds the back of the net. However, VAR shows that he is offside and the goal does not stand.

The scoreline continues to stand, and Pirlo make multiple changes on the pitch. Rabiot, Bernardeschi, Ramsey, and Alex Sandro replace Bentancur, Morata, Arthur, and Chiesa respectively.

It seemed like the match was going to end 1-0, despite the Bianconeri deserving more for their convincing performance. In added time however, a precise pass from Ronaldo finds Cuadrado on the right side of the pitch, who finds himself and Ramsey against just one defender. Cuadrado makes the right decision to pass to an unmarked Ramsey, and the latter clinically finishes the play with a goal. The match ends, and Juve claim three points!

Pirlo:
“It’s a shame we couldn't take our chances better and wrap up the result in the first half but we controlled the game, got the second goal late on and gave very little away. When we defend like that it means our midfielders and forwards are pressing properly – we did that well today. We're improving and starting to see the results of our work on the training ground with structure to our play.”

Chiellini:
“We knew it was an important game. We wanted to show consistency and improvement and show that we can fight for the Scudetto till the end. We played a good game today – it was a real Juve performance. Perhaps we should have killed it off earlier but we got our approach right.”

Things are looking up. Since the shocking loss against Fiorentina before Christmas, Juve have been performing steadily and winning all matches except the one against Inter. Unlike earlier in the season when the teams were drawing against Crotone, Hellas Verona, Benevento and so on, the Bianconeri are slowly but surely finding a rhythm to their play under Pirlo’s management. The performance from the team was very solid; even though it would’ve been nice to widen the scoreline earlier in the match, there weren’t many frustrating moments or obvious mistakes. Chiellini proves that despite his growing age, he is still an important leader and experienced player of the team. It’s great to have Cuadrado back in the squad, he is crucial to the team’s flow and build-up play. Chiesa has been in amazing form for the past few matches. Ronaldo, despite not having scored for three matches, is the core of today’s goals. For both Morata and Cuadrado’s assist, Ronaldo is the one that provided the ball with great vision and accuracy. Next match, we play against Inter once more but in the Coppa Italia. With Cuadrado, De Ligt, and Alex Sandro back, let’s see if the Bianconeri are able to take the win this time. Forza Juve!