From Dybala to Lukaku: winners and losers as Juventus condemn Man Utd to another defeat

In a surprisingly low key performance, Juventus overcame Manchester United 0-1 at Old Trafford.

The victory puts Juve on the verge of qualification from the group, whilst United are frustrated yet again. They were thoroughly outclassed in the first half but their attempted comeback in the second half was at least somewhat impressive, even though José Mourinho’s failure to make a single substitution, even to correct his selection errors, was a bit weird.

Who were the winners and losers?

Winner: Paulo Dybala

21st March, 1984: Diego Maradona couldn’t do it. 29th April, 2008: Leo Messi couldn’t do it. 23rd October, 2018: Paulo Dybala did it. Dybala is the third leftie inside forward genius who visited Old Trafford in European competition, but unlike the two legends who did so previously, Dybala got on the scoresheet.

He did it inside 20 minutes. Making a late run into the box that left him in prime position when a deflected cross snuck under Chris Smalling and left him 1v1 with David De Gea. A simple finish followed, and Juve had an early lead that would condition the rest of the match. After then he played reasonably well, but didn’t quite have the same energy to his game in the second half and was subbed with 15 to go.

Loser: Nemanja Matic

What, if anything, does Nemanja Matic do? Alright, he’s tall. And sure, he can definitely tackle. But what else does he bring to the Manchester United side? Because upon even cursory examination the answer is very little, and what makes that so bad is that he plays in a position that demands so very much – especially against an opponent like Juventus.

Tonight against The Old Lady, Nemanja Matic looked very much like an old man. He was ostensibly the more defensive of United’s midfield two, yet he often ran beyond Paul Pogba and left cavernous gaps ahead of the United defence for Juve to raid into. So in essence he spent a lot of the game chasing back into his own half after the Juve players he let go.

Moreover he moves the ball at a figurative snail’s pace, so whenever the ball is on his side the attack grinds to a halt unless he hands it off to Anthony Martial or Luke Shaw and leaves them alone to pull a rabbit out of the hat. How he continues to get minutes ahead of the £50m man Fred, who has proven himself in the Champions League, is beyond belief. He’s useless.

Winner: Joao Cancelo

If Juventus put out a press release saying that they had successfully cloned 2010 Maicon and given him plastic surgery to look like Joao Cancelo, it would make more sense than the idea of Joao Cancelo playing as magnificently as he is for Juventus.

At Old Trafford, all eyes were on certain superstars but Juve’s most powerful thrusting presence in attack was the Portuguese right-back. Cancelo was absolutely colossal, constantly surging forward and making Luke Shaw’s life a living hell. Cancelo didn’t always use the ball well but he applied so much pressure to the United defence with his runs and shots he ended up driving them deeper.

Loser: Romelu Lukaku

It’s going to be impressive to see just how far we can go with Romelu Lukaku’s Brett-Favre-like iron man streak can keep on going this season. Lukaku has played in every game but what’s more absurd is that the big body striker has played 90 minutes in every single game since his season debut (in which he played 23 minutes after a week’s training following his holidays).

After tonight’s game, that’s 12 games in a row in which he has played the maximum time possible; and it shows. This excess of game time has made Lukaku a loser as the Belgian clearly presents an exhausted figure, failing to chase down passes or contest long balls against Juve’s defenders.

His touch was heavy and his demeanour was aimless. United may not have had many options on the bench, but anyone, anything, would have been better than watching Lukaku trying and failing to do the simplest things a striker should be capable of. The man looks exhausted, give him a rest!

Winner: Rodrigo Bentancur

Dybala got the goal, Cancelo was the thrust, but man oh man was Bentancur the heartbeat. Not the brain, that was obviously Miralem Pjanic, but Bentancur was the man alongside the man. The one who took Pjanic’s organisation and spread it across the field.

The Uruguayan was superb, bestriding the Old Trafford pitch in a display worthy of Roy Keane. Maybe not Keane-in-Turn, but still, you can see why people rate him so very highly. Bentancur was everywhere, helping with the attack and defence via his metronomic passing and tenacious tackling. He stifled the path through the middle of the pitch and ensured United could only get any joy out wide, and whilst United did that, their crosses were easily repelled by Juve’s sturdy centre-backs.

Winner: Victor Lindelof

Victor Lindelof looked brilliant for Benfica, and Victor Lindelof looked superb for Sweden. Yet when it came time to play for Manchester United, Victor Lindelof looked mewling. Weak. A shadow of the colossus he had been in previous shirts. Was this just a (really) long adaptation period? He didn’t look capable of the basics, let alone anything else.

But tonight? Tonight Victor Lindelof looked like Odin sat atop his throne. The leader of the United defence, ruling over all his surveyed. Juve’s forwards tested him repeatedly and each time the All Father struck them down. The only Juventus goal came when they managed to conjure an attack that avoided Lindelof entirely.

And besides that David De Gea needed to make just one of his typical super saves – which for Manchester United is pretty impressive and Lindelof’s massive display was why. United’s near-comeback (though they failed to test Szczesny regularly, Paul Pogba rattled a shot off the post which then hit the goalkeeper before going out for a corner – that could have been an equaliser) was built almost entirely on Lindelof.

If United can take anything from this game, it was that Lindelof’s display was so impressive under such pressure that he may just begin to play with this kind of assurance on a regular level. If that happens? Manchester United may finally have the top-class centre-back that José Mourinho was so desperate for over the summer.

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