Paulo Dybala scores winner for Juventus in 2-1 win vs. Napoli

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Paulo Dybala scored the winner for Juventus in their 2-1 victory vs. Napoli.

Dybala was a substitute for Juventus and ended up making his first appearance for the club in nearly three months, having last played only 43 minutes vs. Sassuolo back on January 10. Brought on in the second half for Alvaro Morata, the Argentine would have an immediate impact as he would score just four minutes after being substituted into the match.

He would receive the ball near the edge of the penalty area and his left footed strike would beat the goalkeeper to give Juventus the 2-0 lead. That goal was his third of the league season to go with his two assists.

Already 27 years of age, Dybala’s future at the club has been a doubt. With contract negotiations apparently stalling, he broke COVID-19 protocols to attend a party which only fueled exit rumors.

28 Comments

  1. If Foyth can join Villareal on permanent basis at the end of the season, next season will be his breaking out season as Center back just like Romero.

    I have said it earlier, when it comes to talent Foyth is the biggest one we have.

    • 1 key pass
      82% pass success rate
      4(2) long balls
      Dribble attempts 2(2)
      15(9) Ground duels
      3(3) aerial duels
      90 touches
      7.7 rating
      I didn’t watch the game but seems to be pretty solid, good to see him playing at RB and getting consistent minutes. He can definitely play ahead of Montiel for matches that tactically can make use of him defensively.

  2. C Romero and Lisandro Martinez will complement each other. Romero is a tough man marker, it is difficult to get away from him. Martinez is quick to react, if beaten he does not give up, he stays with his opponent.

    Martinez’s height is not a problem. He is 175 cm. Jules Kounde is 178. It is the ground defending that is important when you have Romero next to you.

      • Height isn’t a problem for Licha. He goes for every aerial duel, he either wins them or at least unsettle the opposition player. It’s good enough. We have moderate height in midfield.

        Height does not help if you forget the player you are marking. Example : Marcelo Martins goal in Bolivia match.

        Physical blocking/body defence is the most important part of a defenders game. This is Quarta’s weakness. Otherwise his interceptions, ball control, pace and passing are top notch.

        • I completely agree. Sometimes people like to point out singular weaknesses (Senesi is slow, licha is short, Quarta leaks goals with Fiorentina even though they aren’t his fault) as if they encompass their entire ability as players and as if these weaknesses outweigh their other benefits. The trick is to pair them up with an opposite center back that can complement their weaknesses and make up for them. i.e a taller center back (Even Ocampos despite not being a center back can make up for this when it comes to corners), a faster center back, more ball carrying, more defensive/tougher.

    • With C.Romero, Licha and Quarta I think Argentina is sorted when it comes to CBs.
      All 3 are excellent readers of the game, all 3 are very good with the ball at their feet (Quarta being the best of the 3), C.Romero and Quarta are excellent in the air (Licha is solid in that department) while both C.Romero and Licha are strong man markers (Quarta is weak in that department).
      The LB department is taken care of with Tagliafico and Acuna (Licha and Madina are also options).
      Even the RB position is looking abit better than before with Foyth showing some solidarity there and the emergence of Molina.

  3. Argentine players should stop playing for fucked up clubs like leverkusen……alario and palacios are westing there time in the club..no growth in terms of stats or skills…

  4. Cristian Romero Characteristics
    + Strengths
    Aerial Duels Strong
    Tackling Strong
    Ball interception Strong
    Concentration Strong
    – Weaknesses
    DisciplineWeak

    Lisandro Martínez Characteristics
    + Strengths
    Passing Very Strong
    Long shots Strong
    Aerial Duels Strong
    Blocking the ball Strong
    – Weaknesses
    (Player has no significant weaknesses)
    Whoscored.com

    This is where Argentina problems lays
    How the hell scaloni or coaching staff ignoring those two guys It’s beyond me that is Argentina for you they are on thier own enemies when it comes to choosing right profile players on the right time.

    • Lisandro Martinez is better than Tagliafico. He should be chosen as Left Back. Acuna and Lisandro Martinez should compete for that LB role. For a plus point Lisandro Martinez can also play as CB. If right players are choose Argentina defence is very good. All Argentina defenders are good to great passers of the ball they will provide fludity in the pitch but question remain about their solidity in back.

  5. Angileri and Montiel has assists each in yesterdays game vs Tucuman. Angileri’s crossing good. His movement in buildup in final third is also good.

    Scaloni needs to give freedom to fullbacks. Montiel was actually in final line when a long pass was given to him and he crossed it in box for the assists. The conservative fullbacks hinders our game play big time. It is not like that our fullbacks are defensive beasts.

    In left back, Acuna should start while Tagliafico should be backup. Attacking wise Tagliafico adds nothing other than occupying spaces and passing back. Angileri should also be considered.

    Montiel is fine in my opinion. In today’s game, there are not much quality right backs. Who is Brazil’s rightback? Or Uruguay?

    Last night, PSG used Dagba as RB against Coman. It was a massacre. Madrid uses Lucas Vazquez, a former winger as RB. Sevilla uses Navas, old and former winger.

    Job of making the defense strong falls primarily on two centerbacks and central midfielders. They will provide base for strong defense, others will help. Although, Aron Wan Bissaka is very strong defensively, it does not help Man UTD when they have Maguire and Lindelof in the middle of the park. TAA is average defensively, Van Djik’s presence does compensate for that.

    It will never help us if our CBs leak goals, looses their man (Quarta), misjudges tackles (Otamendi) or just occupying spaces (Pezzella). For a big team that aims tropy, technical competence above all, tactics come later. For last two years, Scaloni tried tactics to mitigate our defensive woes. It’s time to improve on human resources.

    Cristian Romero and Lisandro Martinez not integrated to team is Scaloni’s fault. Scaloni gave ample chances to green boys like Balerdi. Trust on Quarta along with other River players are automatic. But somehow top performers in Europe warrants careful observation and planning. And there is never time for that, the next match is too important to experiment.

    In this way, we will get a decent team, a team that will not embarrass us. But no trophy with that approach unless you are lucky. We have never been lucky.

    • Good article but I think Quarta is good defender especially in modern day game but one thing is certain you can’t play otamendi and Quarta together
      One defender I can 100% trust is lich martinez this guy so good sadly isn’t scaloni’s plan. I would love to see Quarta / c. Romero partner with lich martinez.

    • Good summary of Montiel and Angileri, Montiel is still not at his best after being out for a few weeks but did do some pretty good things including the assist that you mentioned. Another thing I didn’t mention a few days ago during the discussion of penalty kicks takers is that Montiel is very good at penalties. Obviously I don’t expect him to take them yet until he becomes a consistent player for the NT, but every time he has taken one he has impressed me. The important part about him and penalties is that he has “balls” and is confident. Gallardo doesn’t seem to have a consistent kicker but I think he will be soon. About angileri he has impressed me since the restart in Argentina and maybe he would perform well for the NT

  6. Everyone, is there any room in the schedule for us to organize friendlies before the copa America? Is there a chance that the qualifiers would be played before it? Raj for once does have a good point, that they won’t want to call a new player up directly into a tournament. I knew that us continuing without Martinez and Romero was going to come back to bite us. We had the perfect chance last qualifier and wasted it.

  7. I believe Exequiel Palacios will get regular game time from now on. Leverkusen invested 15 millions for him, they would want return. Club presidents previously said they want him start but Peter Bosz says he requires more time. Now that he was MOTM last match, he will get more regular playing time.

    We also must not forget about Matias Palacios in FC Basel. He is a real gem.

  8. Argentina defence and goalkeeping are real cause of worry. Only C. Romero and Emiliano Martinez can provide solidarity to it. Otamendi is looking good in Benfica so Otamendi+C.Romero should be the pair. Pezella and Foyth should be back up.
    Either Dybla or Di Maria going to be selected in the squad both are good I can take anyone.

    • C Romero isn’t even consideration unless there is 30 man squad, uncapped and zero previous call up player cannot be called up directly in the tournament.

      • 3rd June Argentina vs Chile
        8th June Argentina vs Colombia
        14th June Copa starts with Argentina vs Chile match and Messi is suspended for that match

  9. Around 27 a player should be at his top. Dybala was way better 3-4 years ago. Not a good sign. He needs to move on this summer.

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