The team had lifted the Coppa Italia and, with a six-point lead over closest rivals Napoli, the league title was already all but theirs too. A single point in one of their last two matches – or even seeing their rivals draw or lose – would clinch the Scudetto for Juventus, meaning that the stage was set for one of the attacking players to score the goal that would clinch a seventh consecutive Serie A crown.
Max Allegri tried his best to facilitate exactly that, reverting to a 4-2-3-1 formation against AS Roma that allowed him to shoehorn Gonzalo Higuain, Paulo Dybala, Federico Bernardeschi and Mario Mandzukic into the starting XI, while Douglas Costa came off the bench seeking to press home their second half advantage.
Yet, perhaps somewhat aptly, the goal never came. The players in black and white certainly did not care, substitutes Gigi Buffon and Giorgio Chiellini ready to celebrate the instant the final whistle blew at the Stadio Olimpico. Juve’s dominance of recent years has always been built upon their imperious backline, with the tweet below from Opta underlining just how strong that rearguard has been in 2017/18.
However, while in years past it was the iconic “BBC” trio of Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci and Chiellini who were responsible for an endless stream of shutouts, this term it has been a revolving cast of characters filling in. Indeed, Wojciech Szczesny made his 17th start of the season in goal on Sunday, while the performances of Medhi Benatia were discussed in this previous column as the Moroccan international emerged as arguably the club’s most important defender.
Like Buffon and Szczesny between the posts, Alex Sandro and Kwadwo Asamoah have routinely alternated at left-back, while on the opposite flank there has been even greater fluidity. Juan Cuadrado started there in recent weeks but Stephan Lichtsteiner, Benedikt Höwedes and even Barzagli have all taken turns there too.
The reason for that constant turnover has been Mattia De Sciglio’s lack of fitness, the former AC Milan full-back constantly in and out of the side with a variety of issues. His most latest setback was a foot injury that had sidelined him since mid-April, but against Roma he returned to the starting XI and underlined just how important he could be.
His performance at the Stadio Olimpico – detailed in the tweet below courtesy of the StatsZone app – was typical of his entire campaign as the 25-year-old was diligent defensively, working well with Daniele Rugani to ensure the Giallorosssi got little joy down their side of the pitch. He was alert to former Milan team-mate Stephan El Shaarawy’s love of cutting infield while also closing down Aleksandar Kolarov’s overlapping runs.
Always tidy in possession, De Sciglio did well when he pushed forward, completing all six passes he attempted in the attacking third. Juve rarely score from crosses so it is no surprise to see him end the campaign without an assist to his name, but the Italy international has repeatedly proven he deserves to be first choice at right-back.
The only problem has been his battle to stay healthy, making just 10 league starts and two further appearances from the bench. That Juve conceded only one goal – ironically to rock bottom Benevento back in November – merely serves to highlight his quality, helping the side to keep clean sheets in tough away games at Roma and Napoli as well as in Turin against Inter.
Allegri managed him as well as he could, keeping him as an unused substitute on a number of occasions in order to have him available for midweek Champions League outings where De Sciglio made six more starts. It shares many parallels with the manner in which the Coach deployed Sami Khedira – another player who struggled with injuries before joining Juve – in his first season with the club.
In that 2015/16 campaign Khedira made just 24 starts, but went on the feature from the outset 42 times a year later and he has made another 39 appearances this term. Hopefully the club’s medical staff and coaches can make a similar impact with De Sciglio, because having him ready to play every week would clearly be a huge bonus.
It would also save them from needing to spend heavily on reinforcing a position which he can make his own for years to come. Agent Donato Orgnoni told Tuttosport that his client had rediscovered the “serenity and focus” he had lost at Milan, and – if he can add fitness to that list – Mattia De Sciglio can continue the traditions of Juventus’ great defenders.
