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14.09.2019 » Fiorentina 0-0 Juventus. The champions settled for a point
Coming off an international break is never easy for a top club, especially when there are so many players being called to represent their national teams. Juventus was no exception and struggled a lot in their Serie A fixture against Fiorentina this Saturday, leaving the Artemio Franchi with a goalless draw. Maurizio Sarri was back on the dugout for the first time due to a bout of pneumonia, but could only watch his side escape with a point that would end Juventus' perfect start to the Serie A campaign. On the other hand, Fiorentina's extended their run of Serie A games without a victory to 17, their worst run in the league since 1970-71. The Viola changed their usual 4-3-3 formation to a 3-5-2, in order to accommodate Frank Ribery and Martin Caceres, who made their first start of the campaign.
Cristiano Ronaldo game photos in Fiorentina vs Juventus
Fiorentina 0-0 Juventus - Goals and highlights:
All Cristiano Ronaldo actions vs Fiorentina:
Injuries slowed down Juve
The start of the game was not great from Juve, as they clearly showed signs of struggling in passing accurately, while Douglas Costa also suffered a right-hamstring problem and made way for ex-Fiorentina player Federico Bernardeschi.
Cristiano Ronaldo had an early target on the goal with a free-kick, but didn't create much trouble for the opposition goalkeeper.
It was Frank Ribery who pushed the visitor's into trouble, as goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny went chasing down the Frenchmen and making a clean tackle due to a terrible back-pass from Matthijs de Ligt. It was the home side's ability to press hard that looked the major difference maker between the two teams, as Ribery went for another test against Szczensy at the near post with the help of his teammate, Federico Chiesa.
Blaise Matuidi's chance against Bartlomiej Dragowski's gloves was the only major highlight in the first half, as Fiorentina put in an impressive performance at the Stadio Artemio Franchi.
Problems didn't stop for Sarri though and still before the half-time whistle was blown, Miralem Pjanic limped off with a right-thigh issue too and got replaced by Rodrigo Bentancur.
All in all, a point wasn't that bad...
The second half was also not much in the favour of Juventus and things got worse when Danilo had to be taken off, which led Juan Cuadrado to be used as a make-shift right-back.
Sarri will have to deal with major starting players getting injured since the UEFA Champions League fixture against Atletico Madrid is just around the corner.
Cristiano Ronaldo did manage to take a shot that hit the target, but it went straight to Dragowski, who kept hold of the ball tightly.
Later, the Portuguese superstar also attempted to go with a smooth bicycle-kick, but chances were few and far between for the Old Lady.
Sami Khedira's managed to find for Ronaldo in a good spot to score, but saw the ball being intercepted by Pezzella. It remained largely a Fiorentina-dominated performance throughout the game... Instead, it was Frank Ribery that was massively appreciated by the Stadio Franchi crowd when he ran back to stop and make an accurate tackle against Ronaldo, who was ready for a counter-attack move.
Ribery received a standing ovation by the home fans as he was replaced by Kevin-Prince Boateng, who also didn't grab the opportunity to win the game for Fiorentina, as their last chance was wasted by the former Barça striker end the game ended with no goal at either side.
Juventus are still top of the table with seven points, but could surrender the lead to Inter Milan or Torino before the end of the weekend and will set their sights against in-form Atletico Madrid on Wednesday in the UEFA Champions League.
Juventus line-up vs Fiorentina:
Goalkeeper: Szczesny
Defenders: Alex Sandro, De Ligt, Bonucci, Danilo
Midfielders: Khedira, Pjanic, Matuidi, Douglas Costa
Attackers: Higuaín, Cristiano Ronaldo.
Match stats provided by www.ronaldo7.net
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|---|---|---|
Fiorentina
|
vs
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Juventus
|
0 |
Goals |
0 |
18 |
Shots |
8 |
5 |
Shots on goal |
4 |
10 |
Corner kicks |
0 |
10 |
Fouls commited |
7 |
3 |
Yellow cards |
3 |
0 |
Red cards |
0 |
46% |
Ball possession |
54% |
Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Juventus in the UEFA Champions League is against Atletico Madrid. You can watch Atletico Madrid vs Juventus, Real Madrid vs Levante, Barcelona vs Valencia, Manchester United vs Leicester City, Liverpool vs Newcastle, and Wolverhampton vs Chelsea, all matches provided from our soccer streams game pages.
Juventus next game:
Atletico Madrid vs Juventus kick-off time (18-09-2019):
Beijing (China) | UTC/GMT+8: 03:00
Jakarta (Indonesia) | UTC/GMT+7: 02:00
India (New Delhi) | UTC/GMT+5.30: 00:30
Italy (Turin) | UTC/GMT+2: 21:00
Spain (Madrid) | UTC/GMT+2: 21:00
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | UTC/GMT+1: 20:00
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | UTC/GMT-3: 16:00
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-4: 15:00
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-7: 12:00
Sources: ronaldo7.net / juventus.com / bbc.com / goal.com
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