Yeah, it’s frustrating.
It’s frustrating to see Juventus dropping points that they have no business dropping points to. Especially after landing their biggest win of the 2024-25 season on Wednesday against Manchester City in the Champions League.
It really is quite mystifying when a game against the likes of Venezia goes the way it did on Saturday night. Juventus held nearly 70 percent of the possession, blocked nearly half of their opponent’s shots, and held their opponents under 85 percent pass completion.
And yet, Venezia managed to take advantage of a pair of second-half lapses that saw their only two shots on target go into the goal. Juve needed a stoppage-time penalty — and a fluky one at that, thanks to Filip Stankovic’s parry of a shot by Francisco Conceição into his own teammate’s outstretched arm — in order to even claim the 2-2 draw that they escaped the Allianz Stadium with.
But frustration ought not to breed panic. At least not yet. Given the crazy injury situation the club has been enduring the last month and a half, this is a team that is only just coming out of survival mode. It’s also one of the youngest teams in Serie A, and sometimes a lack of experience can cause some unsavory effects. Having expended what I imagine was quite a bit of mental and emotional capital against Man City, the team doesn’t have the experience to adjust for that in their next match — yet.
I said early in the season that patience was necessary this season as a new Juventus took form to have patience. That’s true now even more now.
But yeah, it’s still frustrating in the extreme.
Thiago Motta was suspended for the game after being sent off last week against Bologna, so his top assistant Alexandre Hugeux filled in in the dugout. Nico Gonzalez returned to the bench for the first time since early October, but Andrea Cambiaso, Arkadiusz Milik, and Jonas Rouhi all missed out. The team stayed in its standard 4-2-3-1 formation, with Michele Di Gregorio propping it up. Nicolò Savona, Federico Gatti, Pierre Kalulu, and Danilo were arrayed in defense. Khephren Thuram was joined by Weston McKennie in the double pivot. Timothy Weah, Teun Koopmeiners, and Kenan Yildiz supported Dusan Vlahovic in attack.
Venezia coach Eusebio Di Francesco was not only trying to get off the bottom of the league table, but also gain ground on the safe zone. He employed a 3-4-2-1 setup. Stankovic stood behind the back three of Michael Svoboda, Marin Sverko, and Jay Idzes. Francesco Zampano and Mikael Elertsson were the wing-backs, while Magnus Andersen partnered with old friend Hans Nicolussi Caviglia in midfield. Gianluca Busio and Gaetano Oristanio played in the hole behind Joel Pohjanpalo.
Both teams jumped out of the starting gate, each one seeing a winger get to the byline and cross within the first 60 seconds of play. But despite that quick start, the opening moments of the game overall were cagey. Juve’s passing in the early phases looked a little crisper and more refined than it had for much of the season, although the quickness of the passes sometimes led to someone losing control and failing to continue the move.
It was perhaps unsurprising in that context that Juve took the lead off a set piece. A near-post delivery by Koopmeiners found Thuram at the near post, who flicked it across goal to a waiting Gatti, who had brushed off Idzes and was completely open at the back stick to bury a poacher’s finish and give the home side the lead.
They really ought to have had a second five minutes later when a mistake in Venezia’s defense let Vlahovic loose with the ball to charge at the goal. His shooting lane was perhaps cut off, but his attempt to put Yildiz in the clear on his left was a little bit behind him, forcing him to hold up and letting the defense get itself set.
That was the story of the half for Juve — getting themselves into advantageous positions but unable to make any of them count. The best news was that Venezia were doing next to nothing with the ball, despite a large run of possession after Juve took the lead. The closest they came was when Andersen loaded up after a pull-back and hit a screamer from the top of the box, skimming it off the top of the bar.
They thought they’d stretched their lead to something more comfortable within minutes of the restart. It was almost a carbon copy of the first goal. Thuram flicked on a corner and Yildiz got up to beat Nicolussi and headed it in under the bar. The jubilation, however, was short lived, as the VAR called down to referee Antonio Giua to inform him that the ball had hit Yildiz’s hand along the way, invalidating the score.
FBL-ITA-SERIE A-JUVENTUS-VENEZIA Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images
Thuram fired just over from 25 yards, and Yildiz looked to get on the scoresheet permanently when he dribbled into position and tried to surprise Stankovic by pulling a shot to the near post, but the keeper got down to deny him.
Juve had been controlling the pace of the action in the second half, which made the equalizer all the more jarring. Venezia’s first real chance of the half came when Zampano put a ball across and his fellow wing-back Ellertsson dashed in to meet it, taking advantage of an uncharacteristically timid defensive effort by Savona and bouncing a header through the outstretched hand of Di Gregorio and into the net.
Vlahovic nearly put Juve back into the lead quite quickly, receiving a lofted pass from Douglas Luiz and firing from an acute angle. The shot took deflection from Idzes, forcing Stankovic to readjust as he threw his hand up to divert it over the bar.
Juve were again the team that looked to be in nominal control, but with seven minutes left Venezia took the lead after Douglas Luiz gave away a rather needless free kick on the left flank. Nicolussi sent the ball into the box, and Idzes beat Gatti to it by the barest of margins, flicking it across goal and just past the hand of a flying Di Gregorio.
Gonzalez was sent in along with Manuel Locatelli as a last-ditch throw of the dice to salvage the match, and Luiz very nearly did so spectacularly with a bicycle kick that flew just past the goalpost.
There were less than 90 seconds of stoppage time left when Juve’s lifeline arrived when Conceição cut inside and fired for the far post. Stankovic met it with a flying save, but his parry flew into the arm of Antonio Candela as he tried to keep Luiz away from the rebound. Giua took a moment to make his decision but eventually pointed to the spot, subsequently getting mobbed by angry Venezia players. Then they spent another minute or so trying to ice Vlahovic by forcing the referee to continually move them out of the penalty area. But when things were finally ready, the striker made no mistake, using his stuttering run-up to make Stankovic twitch before calmly slotting it in the other direction to tie the score and salvage something from a game that had turned miserable.
FBL-ITA-SERIEA-JUVENTUS-VENEZIA Photo by MARCO BERTORELLO/AFP via Getty Images
LE PAGELLE
MICHELE DI GREGORIO - 5.5. He really should have done better on Ellertsson’s goal. Getting beat at the post you’re closest to is never a good look. Had less to be responsible for on the second goal.
NICOLO SAVONA - 5. He’s been so good this season but he was due for a dud at some point. He was uncharacteristically timid in defending Ellertsson on Venezia’s equalizer, and wasn’t a huge factor going forward either. He’ll learn from this.
FEDERICO GATTI - 6. His goal is actually a little more impressive than you realize when you see the replay and realize the ball came off his shin, which even at that range can cause some bizarre things to happen. He blocked a pair of shots and completed 94.9 percent of his passes. Just beaten to the punch on Venezia’s goal but he didn’t play it badly, Idzes just had a fraction of an inch to get to the ball.
PIERRE KALULU - 6. Accurate with 96.4 percent of his passes, including five of six long balls. Tied for the team lead in clearances and also had a pair of interceptions on the defensive end. Very little got by him.
DANILO - 5.5. Didn’t make any huge mistakes, but for a guy who led the team in touches (129!) and pass attempts (117!!) it didn’t feel like he was really in the game all that much.
KHEPHREN THURAM - 6. Made a pair of key passes and was active defensively, tying his countryman Kalulu for the lead in clearances (5). He came this close to a worldie in the first half when it was still 1-0.
WESTON McKENNIE - 5. Looked a little off in his first start since the international break. Tied for the team lead in interceptions and had a key pass as well, but his overall pass completion was 79.6. Made a couple of runs into the box from deep but wasn’t able to make anything useful out of them.
TIMOTHY WEAH - 5. Very little production out of him. Didn’t complete a cross and when he did get into a few potentially damaging positions he showed a lack of control that prevented him from doing much of anything with it.
TEUN KOOPMEINERS - 5.5. Koopmeiners’ season has been odd so far, as evidenced by the fact that you can watch a game thinking he’s doing nothing and then look at the stats and realize he led (or co-led, in this case) the team in key passes. Still, you would love to see him integrate into the system enough to help the ball flow through the middle.
KENAN YILDIZ - 5.5. Had a goal disallowed and had more dribbles than anyone save McKennie (who equalled him), but didn’t create a whole ton of threat for his side of the field.
DUSAN VLAHOVIC - 6. Stroked home the penalty confidently and was denied a goal that would’ve made it 2-1 by a great Stankovic save. Was a willing runner the entire night.
SUBS
FRANCISCO CONCEIÇÃO - 5.5. Couldn’t really penetrate with his dribbling, and he only completed just over three-quarters of his passes. He did, however, let loose on the shot that eventually turned into Juve’s penalty.
DOUGLAS LUIZ - 5. Douglas Luiz making dumb fouls that lead to goals is a theme that even this injury layoff couldn’t change. It came outside the box this time, but it was needless and gave Verona a set piece when they really needed it. That bicycle would’ve bumped this up a bit if it had gone in.
NICOLO FAGIOLI - NR. Didn’t misplace a pass, but also didn’t make much in the way of trouble for Venezia with them.
NICO GONZALEZ - NR. Only touched the ball three times in his brief cameo.
MANUEL LOCATELLI - NR. Came in to add some passing range but wasn’t afforded a lot of time to impact the game.
MANAGER ANALYSIS
Hugeux was the one who was nominally in charge Saturday night, but in this day and age it’s fair to wonder whether or not they’re just relaying instructions from the stands.
I’m likely in the minority on this, but I didn’t think Juve was the better team on the field by a good margin — excepting a 20-minute period right after they took the lead. The sequences of passes have been encouraging, which is one of the things we’ve needed to see out of this attack as it turns into what it’s supposed to be under Motta.
Juventus v Venezia - Serie A Photo by Jonathan Moscrop/Getty Images
With all that said, the problems with moving a low block continue to hold this team back. They were unable to put together big chances with any semblance of frequency, often having to employ low-percentage shots and often bypassing the midfield entirely. Still, Juve carried a lot of possession in this game, and there are signs that they’re learning how to use it.
The question becomes when (or if, if you’re a pessimist) that will come full circle and have the team working on all cylinders. This is where the need for patience comes in. This is the very beginning of the project for Motta. As with most projects, one of the most important elements is time. Yes, there is frustration, but the signs are pointing in the right direction. Motta just needs the time to get there.
LOOKING AHEAD
Next on the schedule is a Tuesday clash with Cagliari in Juve’s first Coppa Italia game of the season. League fixtures against Monza (away) and Fiorentina (home) will follow — the latter of which is becoming magnified in importance given how Raffaele Palladino has them playing.