Juventus players have let domestic woes spill into Euro 2020

How Juventus’ woes have bled into more Euro 2020 misery: Cristiano Ronaldo went out with a whimper, Matthijs De Ligt saw red, and Alvaro Morata has had his confidence shot while their club remains in turmoil

• Juventus’ poor domestic season appears to have spilled into Euro 2020 
• Several players from the Old Lady have struggled at the tournament 
• Cristiano Ronaldo and Matthijs De Ligt are two of the big names to suffer
• Some players, like Chiellini and Bonucci, have been enjoying strong form though
• Find out the latest Euro 2020 news including fixtures, live action and results here

Last season was a campaign to forget for Juventus, though it appears the roots of a year of poor performance have dug rather deep into the players. 

After scrambling to achieve a top-four finish on the last day of the season while tamely surrendering their Serie A crown, a host of Juve players have made their way to Euro 2020 this summer and struggled from the off.

This week saw Cristiano Ronaldo fade feebly out of the competition, while Matthijs de Ligt was sent off for Holland as his nation crashed out in humiliating circumstances against the Czech Republic. On Monday night Adrien Rabiot was the latest heading home, a victim of France’ shock defeat by Switzerland.

Sportsmail’s Italian football expert Alvise Cagnazzo runs the rule over the Juve stars at the tournament, passing verdict on their performances so far… 

Aaron Ramsey always plays better for Wales than Juve and is looking to move on this summer

Alvaro Morata was perhaps shaping up to be the biggest disappointment of this tournament. 

Although Luis Enrique has never questioned the player and the team has always supported and endured him even in the negative moments Morata has missed his great opportunities in front of goal. 

The Juventus striker missed a penalty and many other scoring chances that seriously risked making this European Championship be remembered as the worst in Spain’s recent history. 

His decisive goal against Croatia in extra time suggests Morata might have turned the corner and he now has the opportunity to make a huge mark on the tournament.

Alvaro Morata has been widely criticised for disappointing in the national shirt for Spain

But the largely mediocre performances of Morata in the Spain shirt is beginning to worry Juventus for future market movements: at the moment Massimiliano Allegri only has him as traditional striker, plus Cristiano Ronaldo. 

At 29 and with many opportunities not taken over the course of his career, Morata does not seem to be the most suitable player to position at the center of the new Juventus attack. 

Right now football director Federico Cherubini is busy defining a strategy that can include the purchase of a second central striker because Morata’s performances and doubts about 36-year-old Ronaldo’s permanence fuel the need to have a new No 9 who can score many goals.

Aaron Ramsey – 5.5/10

Ramsey has always lived a second life in the national team, similar to the Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. 

With Wales he has shown that he has recovered a good physical condition by playing every game without suffering injuries. 

In the national team he played continuously but never quite reached top performance. Ramsey also stated during his time in the Wales camp that he wants to leave Juventus to find a comfort zone in which he can return to playing at great levels. 

The Welsh midfielder is Juventus’ biggest technical and financial mistake of the last 10 years. 

Acquired as a free agent two years ago, Ramsey has failed all the opportunities granted by Maurizio Sarri and Andrea Pirlo and has never justified the £7million salary he will receive until 2023 as per his current contract. 

Ramsey’s biggest problem is his frailty over the past four years. 

According to Gazzetta dello Sport Juventus is ready to negotiate on the price but are looking for at least £13m.

Merih Demiral – 5/10

Turkey played so differently to the country’s expectations that it is very difficult to judge Demiral positively, despite fleeting moments. 

His European Championship was too short and difficult. Demiral made many mistakes in all the games in which he played, being crushed by Ciro Immobile, Lorenzo Insigne and Domenico Berardi in the opening match against Italy. 

The value of the player after this has almost certainly fallen.

From the £43m Juventus wanted for his services, now the speculated bid of £26m offered by Roma is looking much more realistic.

Turkey flopped at Euro 2020 and Merih Demiral failed to lead from the back for his side

Clumsy, messy and above all too aggressive on the attackers, Demiral looks like a mid-level player and not a top player destined to lead the defence of a top European club. 

According to Corriere di Torino, Demiral’s agents have asked Juventus to sell the player abroad. Fabio Paratici bought Demiral 24 months ago for £16m from Sassuolo and with the sale of him the club would obtain an excellent capital gain. 

Juventus are in a hurry to solve financial problems by pushing for several sales abroad. The Turkish defender has a salary of around £1.5m a year and despite the fact that he has the lowest salary among the players of the Italian club, the hypothesis of a sale of him is very likely for economic reasons.

Wojciech Szczesny – 5/10

He is the first goalkeeper in European Championship history to score an own goal. His season was disastrous but Gianluigi Donnarumma’s failure to arrive in Turin has rekindled his ambitions and he will most likely be able to remain Juventus’ No 1 next season. 

He renewed his contract until 2025 around 12 months ago for an agreed salary of £5m a year plus bonuses, though Juve are beginning to have many doubts about him. 

He was perhaps the worst player in a Poland team eliminated in the group stage of the tournament, and does not seem to have overcome the shock of the constant mistakes made in Serie A with Juventus last term. 

Wojciech Szczesny had a miserable tournament as Poland failed to make an impression

In England Szczesny remains highly regarded and his name has been repeatedly associated with several top clubs looking for a great deal on the Italian market. 

This negative moment for him coincides with a general football crisis in the Poland ranks, which will most likely start a profound restructuring process in the coming years.

Matthijs de Ligt – 5.5/10

His European Championship was very negative. Distracted and confused, those are the right words to describe the Juventus defender’s adventure at Euro 2020. 

Marco van Basten’s criticisms of De Ligt resonate. The former Dutch star has criticised the Juventus defender very harshly. Van Basten is perplexed about how De Ligt has been struggling to adapt his game to the methods of defending in Italy.

He told Dutch broadcaster NOS: ‘He is a central defender and he has to transmit more leadership to the whole defence. He has to make himself heard, to assert himself because he has to lead the defence. 

Matthijs de Ligt’s miserable European Championship ended in a red card against the Czechs

‘Instead he just runs after his man, leaving a huge hole. De Ligt went to Italy to learn how to defend, but I don’t think he learned much there.’ 

The umpteenth mistake made against the Czech Republic condemned the Netherlands to a premature exit from Euro 2020. 

Against the Czech Republic, the Juventus defender received his marching orders for a handball call by VAR, which changed the color of the card from yellow to red.

In Italy, the criticisms of him have been amplified online, where numerous fans of Juve’s rivals have criticized the clumsy intervention of De Ligt with memes for a ‘volleyball player who occasionally decides to play football’.

But, it’s not all bad…

Adrien Rabiot – 8/10

He is the crazy horse, as dubbed by the Italian media, who appeared capable of dragging France with his poise and physique. 

After 24 months of racing in Serie A, Rabiot seems to have finally acquired all the skills needed to compete in the division and perform for Juventus after the many problems related to his acclimatisation. 

Didier Deschamps now cannot do without him, his great physical stamina and his aggressiveness benefit France greatly, and he was not to blame for the team’s shock defeat by Switzerland in Monday’s last-16 clash.

Adrien Rabiot has raised his game and is now an important player for both France and Juve

At times he is very reminiscent of Emmanuel Petit.

The worst seems to be over in terms of Rabiot’s poor run of form at Juve, and his determination is an additional weapon for both club and country. 

His contract expires in two years and it is now most likely that the club will look to renew the agreement until 2026 to avoid losing the player on the cheap.

Giorgio Chiellini – 7.5/10

The Juventus captain, 36, fights for every ball and continues to roar despite his age and the many injuries he has had this season. 

Roberto Mancini wanted to preserve his physical form for the quarter-final match against Belgium, in which he will face Romelu Lukaku. 

Strong and charismatic, Chiellini’s qualities are those of the Mancini national team who dream of reaching the Wembley final. 

Veteran star Giorgio Chiellini is still vital for Italy and is being saved for the right moments

The renewal of his contract with Juventus is a formality that will be ratified at the end of this European Championship.

New boss Massimiliano Allegri has asked for his confirmation in Turin to lead the team in a very delicate moment in the recent history of the club. 

The greatest fear for the Italian fans is that Chiellini will not be able to continue this European Championship due to injury issues but right now this is not being considered by the Italy hierarchy, who are continuing Chiellini’s recovery with a personalised training program.

Leonardo Bonucci – 9/10

He is the soul of the team. Perhaps Euro 2020 is the first truly great international event in which Bonucci has demonstrated his great charismatic quality. 

After the victory against Austria, his speech to the team went viral online, as fans were left in awe at his ability to motivate his team-mates, pushing them to overcome yet another great test that awaits on Friday. 

Bonucci is physically intact and has never had major injury problems. This great durability at 34 is an additional asset for Mancini, who decided to field Francesco  Acerbi alongside him in the last matches against Switzerland and Austria due to the absence of Chiellini. 

Leonardo Bonucci has stepped up to the plate and is hoping to lead Italy to greatness

The Juventus tandem of Bonucci and Chiellini will soon be reassembled and the defence of Italy will have its blue wall back. 

Bonucci prefers to play on the centre-right of the four-man defence and Acerbi has shown that he can take Chiellini’s place in the centre-left. 

If the Juventus captain does not recover against Belgium, Acerbi will again be chosen to try to block Lukaku.

Federico Chiesa – 10/10

He is the best player of the Italian national team in terms of quality and aggression. 

His extraordinary extra-time goal against Austria saved Italy and gave Mancini a pass to the quarter-finals. 

His goal, perfect for technique and co-ordination, gave Italy the passage to the next round, proving that he can be decisive in this extraordinary European Championship. 

A total of 25 years is the distance between his father Enrico Chiesa’s last goal in the Italy shirt and Federico’s first goal in an international competition. Enrico was one of the strongest strikers in Serie A in the 90s.

Federico Chiesa was the star of the show after coming off the bench against Austria

Federico Chiesa’s speed is impressive. According to Serie A statistics, the Juventus winger has a speed of about 35 km/h, placing him faster than Alvaro Morata (32.72), Matthijs de Ligt (32) and renowned speedster Juan Cuadrado (31.94). 

When he entered the field at the end of the second half, Chiesa showed all of his speed and physical power, embarrassing the Austrian defense.

Federico Bernardeschi – 6.5/10

He is the twelfth man of the Italian national team and with his ability to always be ready he has been making a solid impact from the bench, earning the renewal of the contract with Juventus that he will sign on his return from the Euros. 

Bernardeschi has continued his stellar form, in conjunction with a new tournament haircut in the platinum blond style of England’s Phil Foden. 

Bernardeschi has played almost all the games entering the field from the bench, with boss Mancini considering him best as a right winger or a left winger, useful when needing to rest Berardi or Insigne.

Federico Bernardeschi is in strong form and has looked bright each time off the bench

Cristiano Ronaldo – 9/10

Right now Ronaldo is a half-happy man: he is sad because he failed to bring Portugal to the quarter-finals of this European Championship but he is happy because he tied with Ali Daei for the most number of goals scored in international football (109).

On Sunday evening he threw the captain’s armband to the ground and had the sad face of a man coming to terms with the fact he will not be Portugal’s leader at the next European Championship, because of his age.  

Cristiano Ronaldo is deflated to have exited the tournament but did match Ali Daei’s record

His future is now an enigma: the feeling in Italy is that Ronaldo is no longer at the centre of the Juventus project and the club is starting to think about a different future for him. 

It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to find another club willing to pay big money for the centre-forward who has won the Ballon d’Or five times, but his new tactical position could be difficult to accept even for a top player like him. 

Before being sacked by Juventus, in the last interview with president Andrea Agnelli, Allegri had advised the club president to sell Ronaldo.

Dejan Kulusevski – 8.5/10

The player was decisive in victory against Poland by providing an assist to Emil Forsberg and one to Viktor Claesson. 

A positive Covid-19 test put Kulusevski’s European Championship on hold, but the young Swede reacted with pride and came back strongly.

According to Opta stats, the Juventus forward became the first millennial to have provided two assists in European Championships and World Cups, as well as being the youngest to score two in a single game after Cesc Fabregas in 2008. 

Juventus will use his talent heavily next season in the 4-2-3-1 system chosen by the returning Allegri, who hinted at how the Swedish national team player will be at the centre of Juve’s new tactical and technical project going forward.

Swedish star Dejan Kulusevski has shown the exciting versatility to his game at the Euros

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