Juventus 2-2 Parma: What Has Happened To The Juventus Defence?

Parma celebrate scoring at Juventus Stadium (Photo by Andrea Cantini/Parma Calcio 1913/Parma Calcio ... [+] 1913 via Getty Images)

Having drawn 4-4 with Inter at the weekend – a game analysed in detail here – Juventus needed to bounce back against Parma on Wednesday evening in order to keep pace with Serie A leaders Napoli.

Yet the game was just two minutes old when Michele Di Gregorio was forced to make his first save, sticking out his boot to deny a strong effort from Ange-Yoan Bonny as the visitors showed they were in Turin without fear.

The Juve goalkeeper could not prevent Parma scoring from the resulting corner however, Norbert Balogh nodding the ball on to Enrico Delprato who powered it into the back of the net.

Tucked away in one corner of the stadium, fans in yellow and blue celebrated wildly, while those in black and white looked as shell-shocked as the defenders in the same colours as it quickly became clear this was going to be a difficult game.

Those fears grew even greater when the referee awarded a penalty against Juve, only to spot his assistant’s flag indicating the ball had gone out of play before the Di Gregorio foul on Bonny.

The game then became an end-to-end scramble as Dusan Vlahovic and Bonny both wasted excellent chances, before Juve finally grabbed a foothold on the match. A short corner was knocked to Tim Weah, who picked out his international team-mate Weston McKennie and the midfielder headed home with a superb finish.

But the stalemate would only last seven minutes as Parma proved they were in no mood to settle for a share of the points. A swift counter attack saw McKennie beaten far too easily for a header, the midfielder then giving up on the play completely and leaving Danilo with two attacking players to contend with.

Dennis Man had all the time in the world to pick out Simon Sohm, and he made no mistake from close range to restore the lead. The Bianconeri would equalise shortly after half time thanks to some neat play from Manuel Locatelli, Khephren Thuram and Francisco Conceicao, whose cross was volleyed in by Weah.

A plethora of chances would follow at both ends, but the game would ultimately end 2-2 and leave the Old Lady once again asking what has happened to a defence that looked impenetrable at the start of the season.

Indeed, after conceding just one goal in their first seven games, Juve have now only kept one clean sheet in their last six, allowing opponents to score 10 goals across those matches.

There is no denying that Gleison Bremer’s season-ending ACL tear – discussed previously here – robbed the Bianconeri of not only their best defender, but also of the undisputed leader of the backline.

The Brazil international’s injury occurred just six minutes into the team’s UEFA Champions League game against RB Leipzig, and all 10 of those aforementioned goals against them have been scored since that point.

Yet that issue is no excuse for some of the defending seen since then, the team suffering from technical, tactical and disciplinary problems at an alarming rate. Over the last six games they have given away four penalties and had three players sent off, testament to the chaos that can be seen almost every time their opponents attack.

Thiago Motta honest about Juventus problems

“We gave Parma a lot and we created a lot too, but we must try to avoid allowing so many scoring opportunities on the counter-attack,” Thiago Motta told Sky Italia shortly after the final whistle.

“At times we did well, at other times we were not so good, we need to improve the balance of good to bad. We must use our style of football for longer periods to put the opposition under more consistent pressure.

“The mistakes we made at both ends were technical in the final third. We cannot allow the other team to counter-attack every single time we make a mistake and lose the ball, especially when Parma had wingers who were waiting for those chances to hurt us.”

Asked if his team was failing to regroup after losing the ball in recent games, the Coach gave an honest answer as he admitted “I absolutely agree” with the panel before expanding on the point.

“We need to be immediately aggressive to win the ball back again and not allow them to go on the counter,” Motta continued. “Because we attack with many players and try to flood their penalty area, we need to pin the opponents back and not allow them to sprint 60-70 metres at us.”

“We must work as a team to maintain that balance and do it as a collective. Sometimes it got a bit chaotic and if we cannot finish the moves, then the opponents will go on the counter and take advantage. It’s something we need to avoid.”

Thiago Motta and Juventus have a few days now to address those issues before they face Udinese in Serie A followed by a Champions League meeting with Lille and then the Turin Derby.