Player Ratings: Juventus – Sampdoria

Player Ratings: Juventus – Sampdoria

Following Juventus’ frustrating and disappointing 0-0 draw against Sampdoria, Carlo Garganese rates the performances at the Stadio Olimpico in Turin…


Juventus

Buffon – 6: Was a virtual spectator for the entire match, and was not required to make a single save of note. He did watch a header from Maggio crash off his left-hand post though.

Birindelli – 6: The 33-year-old veteran will undoubtedly have been targeted as weak point by the opposition before the game but he was rarely troubled.

Grygera – 6.5: Filled in well in the centre following the injury to Giorgio Chiellini. Is certainly a much better option than substitute Jean-Alain Boumsong.

Legrottaglie – 6: Like Grygera, Legrottaglie was caused few problems by the Sampdoria forward pairing of Bonazzoli and Bellucci.

Molinaro – 7.5: Molinaro was absolutely brilliant in the first-half, causing havoc with his raids down the left flank. He created two great opportunities for Trezeguet and did a delicious nutmeg on an opponent. Ineffective after the break, like all of his team-mates.

Marchionni – 5.5: Guilty of possibly the miss of the season during the first half. Only Marchionni will know how he managed to hit the ball over an open goal from just six yards. The ex-Parma man’s frustrations at Juventus continue.

Zanetti – 6: The bulldog was his typical gritty self in the middle-of-the-park, however he is no playmaker and Juve desperately need an inventive centre midfielder who can create.

Salihamidzic – 6: The Bosnian showed some fighting spirit without really any reward. His versatility is certainly useful but at the age of 31, does he have the quality expected of a Juventus player? I am not sure.

Nedved – 6.5: A real workhorse, who at the age of 35 still has plenty to offer the Bianconeri. Created the open-goal shocker for Marchionni brilliantly in the first half, and was the only player with any spark in the second period.

Del Piero – 6.5: For sure this was not one of Del Piero’s better games, however the fact Juve dominated the first half was largely due to the link that the Golden Boy offered between the midfield and attack. This disappeared when he was subbed at half-time for Iaquinta. A simply shocking decision by Ranieri, who will deserve all the criticism he will certainly now receive.

Trezeguet – 7: Usually when Trezeguet doesn’t score, he is anonymous. This wasn’t the case today and he was desperately unlucky to hit the bar and have an effort cleared off the line. The Frenchman’s movement in the area was superb and I am sure he would have scored had Del Piero stayed on the pitch.

Substitutes: Iaquinta – 3.5, Palladino – 5.5, Almiron - NA


SAMPDORIA

Castellazzi – 6.5: The goalkeeper has been guilty of some shocking gaffes this season, however he performed none of these today. One particularly fine save from Marchionni in the first-half.

Accardi – 8.5: Brilliant display from Sampdoria’s left centre back (pictured above). Produced a superb goal-line clearance from Trezeguet, and didn’t give Iaquinta a sniff in the second-half. Man-of-the-Match.

Gastaldello – 7.5: Held the Samp backline together excellently against his former club. An authoritative display.

Campagnaro – 7: The Argentine also impressed in the right centre-back position. A number of key clearances helped keep the Bianconeri at bay.

Maggio – 5.5: Was given an absolute roasting by Molinaro in the first half, being left for dead repeatedly. However to his credit Maggio didn’t give in and he improved markedly after the break. Also hit the post with a header from a corner.

Sammarco – 5: His game only lasted 21 minutes before he was forced off with injury. His replacement Gennaro Delvecchio worked tirelessly in midfield and deserves great credit.

Franceschini – 6: Battled well in midfield and got stuck in, and like most of his colleagues was a much improved player after the interval.

Palombo – 7: An impressive performance by the all-action midfielder. Offensively and defensively strong, it is surely only a matter of time before Palombo moves to a big club.

Pieri – 6: The ex-Udinese man, like all of his colleagues, battled gallantly and showed great energy from the first minute until the last.

Bonazzoli – 5: Anonymous display from Bonazzoli. Barely got a look-in all game.

Bellucci – 5.5: Bellucci was only marginally better than Bonazzoli. The Juve defence were so rarely troubled by the Sampdoria frontmen that they could have afforded to take the afternoon off.

Substitutes: Delvecchio - 6.5, Volpi - NA


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