Juventus looked a little lacklustre but goals from Mario Mandzukic and Blaise Matuidi proved enough to take three points at the Stadio Ennio Tardini.
Juventus Player Ratings
Defence
Wojciech Szczęsny: Made an excellent diving save from a dipping effort by Stulac before being partly at fault for the Parma equaliser. Made an incredible double save near the end of the first half to keep Juve on level terms. Solid for most of the match but was let down by a poor showing from the players in front of him. 6.5/10
Leonardo Bonucci: Played an average opening half before being caught ball watching, allowing Inglese to sneak in behind for Parma’s equaliser. Seemed better as the game progressed but there was still far too much space for Parma to exploit, especially down the right. 6.0/10
Giorgio Chiellini: A decidedly average showing from the captain. Should have done better on the Parma equaliser but as mentioned before, there was so much space for Parma tonight and the defence on the whole should have been better. 6.0/10
Alex Sandro: Found plenty of space to exploit on the left early on. Performed a precision tackle to cut out an almost certain goal for Parma in the opening half but he was missing for periods of the game. 6.0/10
Juan Cuadrado: Whipped in the cross that led to the opening goal and performed a great tackle to prevent De Gaudio. Was on hand again to make a crucial tackle when Parma countered. Was one of the few players that acquitted themselves really well on the night and he deserves credit for a strong showing. 7.0/10
Midfield
Sami Khedira: Blasted a good effort straight at Sepe early on but he was worryingly anonymous for large spells in the opening half. Had a good chance to put Juve ahead early in the second but blasted his shot over the crossbar. 5.5/10
Miralem Pjanic: Made a truly reckless challenge on the 15 min mark, allowing Parma to hit the woodwork with the ensuing free kick. Directed the play well enough but never truly imposed himself when Juve were in good positions. 6.0/10
Blaise Matuidi: Can’t deny his workrate and runs into the box but his decision making in the final third is still questionable and his distribution was really poor to start with. Scored Juve’s second goal with a real neat and tidy finish from a tight angle. 6.5/10
Attack
Mario Mandzukic: Started very brightly and opened the scoring after two minutes with an easy finish. Sprinted down the left to tidy-up at the back when Parma countered and provided the neatest flick assist for Matuidi to put Juve ahead. Warrior. 7.5/10
Cristiano Ronaldo: Started on the left before switching with Mandzukic to take up a more central position. Had the beating of his man on many occasions but couldn’t create space to truly test Sepe in the Parma goal. Can’t be faulted for his positioning as he got into the right positions and on another night, he would have scored at least twice. 6.5/10
Federico Bernardeschi: Lively down the right and took a great free-kick that tested Sepe from distance. Took a rather blatant dive to earn a needless booking and should have done better when played in by Chiellini. 6.0/10
Substitutes
Douglas Costa: Came on as a sub early in the second half and made a good impact, injecting some pace down the left and starting a great counter that should have been capitalised on. Created space to craft an effort that hit the post from way out – Really deserved a goal for his that brilliant moment. 6.5/10
Emre Can: Came on for Pjanic to steady the Juve midfield, passing the ball well enough and picking up good positions. 6.0/10
Paulo Dybala: Late substitute at the end of the game. N/A
