Juventus 0-0 Real Betis: Lots of Effort, But No Goals in Salerno

For the last “international” friendly match of their pre-season, Juventus traveled to Southern Italy Saturday in order to face Real Betis in Salerno (second largest city of Campania, after Napoli).

This match was quite particular to me because it took place in my hometown which, like most of Southern Italy, harbors a fair deal of Juventini. So like the many fans present at Stadio Arechi, I was expecting (and hoping) fireworks! Nevertheless despite the many good efforts & plays from both sides, spectators had to settle for a 0-0 draw, in a match which above all highlighted the advanced preparation of the Spaniards (La Liga begins next week-end) and put the first real hurdle in front of Antonio Conte’s boys this pre-season. It was a tough encounter, where the team struggled when faced with an opponent dominating the play.

One clear positive note remains though: the clean sheet for Buffon/Storari. Aided by a sometimes attentive and sometimes lucky defense (on certain plays Betis seemed to literally want to walk the ball into the net), conceding no goals in a match of international caliber is certainly a good thing to take home.

Below as usual, the play-by-play I wrote down while watching the game. Tune in later for a more in-depth analysis.
 

UPDATE: Post-Match Analysis:

Overall a difficult, energy-consuming performance for Juve today. We faced a technical, experienced opponent ahead of us in their pre-season, and it certainly showed on the field. Fitness can only explain so much however, and it seems the limitations of Conte’s tactics may have shown their face for the first time today.

Indeed, for as long as the Bianconeri are able to dominate and dictate the pace of the play (as we saw in their recent encounters vs. Club América, vs. Chivas Guadalajara, and above all during Cuneo’s 8-0 win), Conte’s 4-2-4 formation is devastating. Conversely against an opponent who makes ball possession not only an offensive, but also a defensive weapon (Real Betis being just one of the many Liga clubs operating under the same direction), our two central midfielders (Pirlo/Marchisio) had a bit of trouble winning the ball back. This naturally lead to our wingers dropping to help out in midfield, and that is something which Conte wasn’t happy about and may certainly want/need to correct (the counter-attack must be ready to strike!).

Other semi-sour notes: the lack of interplay between Matri and Vucinic. Be it because of stronger opponents today, be it for other reasons: Mirko seems to have a much more natural playing entente with Luca Toni or Alessandro Del Piero than Matri. Now if things remain as they are (that is Quagliarella’s knee condition still looking precarious), it looks like precisely Matri/Vucinic will form our starting forward pair as Serie A begins. In other words: we have two weeks to get the magic juices flowing!

Also: Milos Krasic? With the exception of the pass leading to ADP’s bicycle kick, he had a terrible game by “Serbian Arrow” standards. Out of focus, wasteful with his passes, unsuccesful with his dribbling attempts, today was a step back for Milos and let’s hope it is only temporary.
 

 
Among the positives notes, when Juve do have possession their passing game flirts with the downright spectacular, particularly thanks to often unexpected sources! Forget Pirlo, who could make a through ball hopping on one foot walking backwards with a blindfold on… It is actually players like Matri, Quagliarella, Marchisio who are stepping up, and illuminating us with perfect aerial services towards the wings. When these passes connect, there’s always potential for heavy damage. Such was the case in today’s opening 20 minutes.

Another positive: the backline! We’re actually looking good lads! And we didn’t even have Chiellini today!!! Yes, a few defensive brain freezes did occur (Gigi x1, Lichtsteiner x1, Krasic x1) and it lead to (squandered) goalscoring opportunities for Betis. Yet after months of hair-pulling moments from January to May, we have gone from DEFCON 1 (opponent’s goal imminent) to DEFCON 3 (occasional state of anxiety). AND on top of that, we only conceded 1 goal since July 23 in Toronto. The goalscorer? Actually one of our own Youth prospects!!

And lastly: Cristian fu**ing Pasquato!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can we stop the search for overpriced, overpaid left wingers already, and give this kid a chance??!!! Scoring left & right since pre-season start, he capped a non-scoring day with a man-of-the-match performance!! Easily the best of the Bianconeri today!
 

Play-by-Play:

20:43	Hellooo Stadio Arechi, home of Salernitana in the Southern City of Salerno, in the region of Campania. All the family on my mother’s side lives here. I’ve been to this stadium a few times myself.
20:44	Juve playing in pink. Betis in Green/White vertical stripes
20:46	And we’re off!!

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Half-time impressions:

• Great first 20 minutes by Juve: excellent passing, particularly one the one-touch, to find space on either wing and create many problems for the Betis players.
• Following that, Betis retrieved the domination of play, applying the Spanish stereotype to the letter: ball possession as a defensive technique, and dangerous incursions more or less contained by the Juve defense. Until the last 5 minutes that is.
• Best players for Juve so far: Pirlo/Pasquato. Krasic looking a bit lost out there. Matri/Vucinic doing well independently, but not combining with each other so much as Mirko/ADP or Mirko/Toni did.

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Full-time impressions:

• Scoreless match, but not necessarily a step back for Juventus. Betis begins La Liga next week, slightly ahead in terms of pre-season preparation (especially fitness-wise). It stood out on the field today.
• A bit worrying though (and not so much for Juve, but by extension for Italian clubs in general): despite the Azzurri’s 2-1 win vs. La Roja, we still have a very hard time against the Spanish ball possession!
• Speaking of steps back, today certainly was one for Milos Krasic. Found much tougher nuts to crack on his wing than previous games. And with the passing of time progressively disappeared from the match.
• WE ABSOLUTELY MUST FU**ING KEEP CRISTIAN PASQUATO!!!!

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Later if I have time, a match review & further thoughts.
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	JUVENTUS-REAL BETIS 0-0 [Match Highlights]
GOALSCORERS: /
JUVENTUS (4-2-4): Buffon (46′ Storari) – Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Barzagli, De Ceglie – Marchisio, Pirlo (77′ Pazienza) – Krasic (84′ Sorensen), Matri (65′ Del Piero), Vucinic (65′ Toni), Pasquato (84′ Ruggiero) COACH: Conte. (UNUSED SUBSTITUTES: Manninger, Motta, Ziegler, Marrone) (UNAVAILABLE: Chiellini, Pepe, Martinez, Quagliarella, Toni all due to injury) (REMAINED IN TURIN: Grygera, Grosso, Ekdal, Almirón, Vidal, Amauri)
REAL BETIS (4-3-3): Casto – Chica (77′ Isidoro), Dorado (87′ Calahorro), Mario (57′ Amaya), Nacho (77′ Alex Martinez) – Iriney (65′ Sergio Rodriguez), Benat (77′ Canas), Salva Sevilla (65′ Matilla) – Ruben Castro, Molina, Montero (77′ Juanma). Coach: José Mel. (UNUSED SUBSTITUTES: Goitia).

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What They Said After the Game:

Source: Juventus.com

CONTE:

“Real Betis are physically ahead of us in terms of preparation. In the last few years, Italian teams have had a tough time against Spanish opposition, teams that focus on ball possession.

This evening I’ve seen positive aspects and also a few things to improve. We have to continue to train and must do so with a serene mind; victories are achieved by working hard and rarely within a day’s work. We’re right in the middle of a learning process. Our team should hold the ball more, avoiding long passes forward; when we applied these principles we put Real Betis in trouble.

Where we are with preparation? Where I expected. We need to work, and then work some more. We mustn’t lose heart, we must have patience, something which the boys and I have plenty of. I understand people’s excitement but we don’t want to delude anyone. In order to be competitive again Juve needs time and work.”

 
MARCHISIO:

The whole team in general showed a good performance tonight. Compared to the matches we played in North America we weren’t able to circulate the ball well, but we were facing an opponent very well organized on the field. We must continue to work and improve, but this is the right path. We’re following our manager’s suggestions so that we can be ready for the beginning of Serie A.

 
DE CEGLIE:

The key point for the whole defensive block was to continue our streak and not concede any goals (N.B. since their defeat vs. Sporting Lisbon, Juventus have kept a clean sheet in all their “official” friendlies so far). We succeeded, thanks to Buffon and Storari as well who gave the team much confidence. We’re improving, the whole team has shown an excellent collective performance. This makes us optimistic for our next fixtures.”