Toothless Juve misses the first points - Serie A

A frustrated Dusan Vlahovic didn’t come into play at all. © APA / afp / MARCO BERTORELLO

In an action-poor game, Juventus and Sampdoria parted with a draw. The old lady leaves important points compared to the leaders in Serie A.

22. August 2022

From: do

Max Allegri should not be satisfied with his troupe. Slow, careless and unimaginative are adjectives that should be tossed around in the Juventus dressing room. In the game where Sampdoria had the only real chance, the two teams drew 0-0. Old master Fabio Quagliarella came on as a substitute in the 78th minute, but was unable to bring about a decision. At Juve, newcomers Filip Kostic and central defender Bremer were allowed to play from the start.

The defensive transfer was also the protagonist of the first and only big chance in the 6th minute. Abdelhamid Sabiri set up an irresistible pass for Mehdi Leris, who slipped between the two Juventus centre-backs and appeared alone in front of Mattia Perin’s goal. He was able to direct the right winger’s shot to the crossbar with his body. On the Turin side, the other new signing Filip Kostic tried to set the scene for striker Dusan Vlahovic with his flanks. But this was repeatedly isolated from the Sampdoria defense and had no part in the game. The Genoa team was more compelling in the first half, just missing a goal.

Abdelhamid Sabiri (right) was one of the game’s standout players. © APA / afp / MARCO BERTORELLO

So the old lady was challenged in the second half of the game if she didn’t want to lose ground to leaders Napoli, Roma and Inter (6 points) in the second game. However, Max Allegri’s team failed to gain momentum late on Monday night. Adrien Rabiot’s supposed liberation to make it 1-0 was then annulled for offside. Sampdoria was always a thorn in Juventus’ side, allowing little to nothing and always lurking for an opportunity themselves. A few minutes before the end, Quagliarella’s ball flew just wide of the Juve goal, Kostic was denied in injury time by Emil Audero in the Sampdoria goal. The game ended in a sobering 0-0 draw.

Juve dropped the first points in the second game. The top game against AS Roma takes place on Saturday at 18:30. The capital side beat Cremonese 1-0 earlier in the evening to become, together with the old lady, the only team yet to concede a goal this season in Serie A.