A Paulo Dybala effort that bore more resemblance to a magic trick than a well-hit free-kick proved to be the difference as Juventus beat Atletico Madrid 1-0 in Turin and win Group D of the Champions League.
Cristiano Ronaldo returned from injury to line-up against his old foes but it was Dybala who provided the star power and scored the decisive goal at the end of the first half with a sumptuous free-kick.
Here are the player ratings…
JUVENTUS XI (4-3-1-2)
Szczesny 6 – Had a couple of routine saves to make but was never stretched.
Danilo 6 – Was focused more on defence on this occasion and made four interceptions.
Bonucci 6 – His leadership at the back came to the fore during the last 20 minutes.
De Ligt 7 – Dislocated his shoulder at the weekend but was in perfect condition to make a heroic last-ditch block to deny Correa what shoul’ve been a late equaliser.
De Sciglio 5 – Held his own defensively but never offered the kind of width or drive you’d expect from first-choice left-back Alex Sandro.
Pjanic 7 – Retained possession and distributed it masterfully. Pulled the strings for Juve.
Betancur 6 – Drove forward with the ball on occasion but often lacked the pass to follow.
Matuidi 5 – Provided some steel in midfield but little else on the ball.
Ramsey 5 – Started brightly and was involved in a lot of the play in the final third but faded later on and was Sarri’s first change.
Dybala 8 – Oozed class with some of his touches and link-up play. Left defenders for dead and his phenomenal free-kick proved decisive.
Ronaldo 5 – A strange performance from the Portuguese. A shadow of himself but still had a few flashes of good play though clearly still injured.
SUBS
Bernadeschi (63′) 6 – Hit the upright with an excellent strike after cutting in.
Higuain (76′) N/A – Involved in a couple of chances at the death.
Khedira (86′) N/A – Looked in on goal but was offside and Oblak saved anyway.
Ronaldo looked out of sorts
ATLETICO MADRID XI (4-4-2)
Oblak 5 – Could argue that he should’ve kept out Dybala’s free-kick but it was struck superbly.
Trippier 7 – Solid performance. Kept Ronaldo under wraps whenever he drifted. Five interceptions and three key passes were both game-highs.
Felipe 5 – Extremely loose with his passing. Was dominant in the air however.
Hermoso 4 – Also struggled with the ball at his feet and gave away some clumsy fouls.
Lodi 5 – Got forward a lot but his crossing was ineffective. Dybala had the beating of him when drifting to the right.
Koke 6 – Strong, energetic display but not enough guile to aid the attack.
Herrera 5 – Kept the ball well but didn’t hurt Juventus with it.
Thomas 6 – Probably his side’s best midfielder. Good on the ball and drove forward while also contributing defensively.
Saul 5 – Should’ve done better with a header and tested Szczesny with a shot from range. Had another wayward shot at the death.
Morata 6 – Looked the most likely to score for Atletico but could never really get a clean shot away. Missed from close range late on but was probably offside.
Vitolo 4 – A bit of a nothing performance. Ran the channels but barely made much of anything.
SUBS
Felix (54′) 6 – Provided a spark when he came on and had a decent effort at goal.
Correa (60′) 6 – Clever and improvised ball in for Morata was headed over. Denied by a great De Ligt block.
Lemar (64′) 4 – Didn’t have the same impact as the other two subs.
