Le Pagelle: Juventus vs. Lecce
· Yahoo Sports
Saturday’s game between Juventus and Lecce looked for all the world like it was going to be a thrashing. Dusan Vlahovic set a club record for quickest goal scored in a league match to put the team in the lead within 12 seconds, and in the next six minutes he nearly scored again and Francisco Conceição bashed a ball into the crossbar. Lecce, still playing for their lives to stave off relegation, looked completely shell-shocked. Save for a great save by Michele Di Gregorio to keep the home team from equalizing quickly, they didn’t produce all that much in the way of threat.
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But as we’ve seen too many times in 2026, Juve couldn’t capitalize on their dominance. A game that really ought to have been 3-0 or more by halftime turned into a nervy affair by the end, as Lecce tried desperately to salvage a point for themselves while Juve clung to their single goal.
Many times we’ve seen Juve get bitten in the rear by their inability to put games away, but fortunately this time they avoided that particular fate. Their 1-0 victory pulled in three huge points, especially considering the results the rest of the round. Roma stayed on Juve’s tail a point behind, but AC Milan took a shocking beating at the hands of Atalanta, allowing Juve to jump above them for third place. On Monday, Napoli lost to a last-second winner against Bologna, leaving them only two points ahead of the Bianconeri with two games left. The race for the Champions League places has now sucked everyone below champions-elect Inter (barf) with two games left to go.
How did Juve’s players fare on an individual level at the Stadio Via del Mare? Let’s take a closer look.
MICHELE DI GREGORIO – 6.5. Made a huge save with his thigh in the third minute to keep Lecce from snatching back the momentum early, then had a relatively easy 87 minutes ahead of him, bar a late stop on a long-range effort from Santiago Pierotti. Got him a little bit of a reprieve after his mistake against Verona.
PIERRE KALULU – 6.5. Surprisingly tame on the offensive front, but he made four tackles and generally made sure Lecce were neutralized on that flank.
BREMER – 7. Good night for the big Brazilian, racking up three tackles, four clearances, and an interception in the back while limiting Walid Cheddira to precious few opportunities.
LLOYD KELLY – 7. Led the team with six clearances and even got credit for two dribbles coming out of the back four. Good day all around.
ANDREA CAMBIASO – 7.5. What is this mini-revitalization going on with Cambiaso? For the second straight game he was excellent, assisting with an excellent cross, adding on one more key pass. He forced a good save out of Wladimiro Falcone with his only shot of the match, and recorded three tackles, including a couple of one-on-one stops in space of a type you didn’t often see even when he was going great two years or so ago. Whether it’s something Luciano Spalletti figured out or if he found his way to Leonardo Bonucci’s old mental coach, keep it continue!
MANUEL LOCATELLI – 6.5. Really deserved an assist for the beautiful pass he threaded through to Concieção when he hit the bar. Was a little inaccurate with his passes today (82.9%) but made four tackles and two clearances to help the defensive effort.
TEUN KOOPMEINERS – 6. He worked hard, which should especially be highlighted in the effort he made to stave off two defenders and kick the ball out to Cambiaso before the goal. Made three tackles and completed 92.5 percent of his passes, but didn’t contribute directly to a shot the entire game.
FRANCISCO CONCEIÇÃO – 7.5. Unlucky not to have doubled the lead right away. He stacked up a ton of stats in this game, including four key passes and five tackles—which, amazingly, wasn’t even the team high. Worked his tail off.
WESTON McKENNIE – 6. Relatively standard day for him, with a pair of key passes and a ridiculous work rate.
KENAN YILDIZ – 7. Dude made eight tackles on the night, which is simply absurd from that position, and from a guy who isn’t 100 percent either. Had one or two chances to score, including a nice lane in the second half, but he pushed it wide.
DUSAN VLAHOVIC – 6.5. Beautiful control and turn for the game’s only goal. He took seven shots total, barely missing high on a couple of occasions, and had another shot stopped by Falcone when he tried to go through his legs. If only he’d nailed a couple of those other chances.
SUBSEMIL HOLM – NR. None of the subs had much chance to do anything, but Holm helped lock things down late as Spalletti decided to set up shop.
JÉRÉMIE BOGA – NR. Denied at the very end by a one-on-one save from Falcone, and made two dribbles in only seven minutes of play.
EDON ZHEGROVA – NR. Similarly denied a late clincher when Falcone finished a double save by denying his rebound attempt after Boga’s shot.
JONATHAN DAVID – NR. Only had time to make three passes, but one of them nearly set up a goal.
FEDERICO GATTI – NR. On for a final bit of muscle in the closing minutes.
MANAGER ANALYSIS
One of the characteristics of Spalletti’s Juve has been rather aggressive starts off the kickoff, never sending the ball back off the first kick but quickly moving it forward to press the attack right away. It worked to perfection this time, taking all of 11 seconds to go from Yildiz to Koopmeiners to Cambiaso to Vlahovic. It’s a hallmark of the attacking mentality that Spalletti has instilled in this team, as opposed to the likes of Max Allegri and Igor Tudor. The fact that the team couldn’t push the ball into the net wasn’t anything he could’ve helped with.
I mentioned last week that one of the only things Spalletti could’ve done on his own was inserting Vlahovic into the lineup, and it’s amazing how much different the team felt with him at the front as opposed to Jonathan David. He created some real havoc, using his pace to outrun defenders to through balls and his strength to hold off Tiago Gabriel on his goal. This obviously needs to be how things finish.
If there’s one thing that I’ve been scratching my head about in recent weeks it’s Spalletti’s sub pattern. Once again he went to his bench quite late, waiting until the 77th minute to insert his first sub. By that point Eusebio Di Francesco had put on four—the sum total of what he eventually used from his bench. It didn’t affect the game all that much, but if in the next two weeks it looks like a change needs to be made, it has to come with some more alacrity.
LOOKING AHEAD
Two more games remain. Next week, Juve finish the home slate against Fiorentina in the Sunday lunchtime kickoff. Then the Derby d’Italia finishes the season.
Juve sit in third place, one point ahead of Milan and Roma (Milan holds the tiebreaker there) and three ahead of Como. They’ve reeled Napoli in second to within two points. It’s rather amazing that as little as three weeks ago we were figuring on three teams fighting for one spot in the Champions League to a five-team melee with second, third, and fourth all in play. This’ll be an interesting two weeks.