Juve overcome Sampdoria in the weirdest game of the season

A minute of madness had the game far tighter than it should have been, but Juve eventually pulled away from the bottom side.

Juventus’ last two Serie A home games have been really freakin’ weird.

Two weeks ago, Juve had to fight back from two separate deficits to eventually overcome Torino. But, at least that can be reasonably explained as a Derby della Mole where the intensity ratchets up in any situation. Less easy to explain, however, is how Sunday night’s game against Sampdoria ended up turning into a symphony of strangeness that eventually ended in an identical 4-2 scoreline.

This time, it was Sampdoria who pulled an improbable comeback, taking advantage of a minute of madness to score twice in 72 seconds and wipe out a 2-0 Juventus lead. Sampdoria, who came into the game rock-bottom in Serie A. Sampdoria, who came into the game having scored all of 11 goals — 11 goals — the lowest total of any team in Europe’s top five leagues.

Seriously, 11 goals.

Eventually, just like the Torino game, Juve’s quality eventually told and they put their opponents away, but not before a wild 45 minutes of football. It *Stefon voice* had everything: VAR controversy, penalties given, denied, and missed, a crazy save or two, some potential injuries, and an eventual sealer in stoppage time.

This was a crazy game, certainly much more than Juve had been hoping for, but eventually the points were registered ahead of a week of big games.

Massimiliano Allegri’s selections were hampered by an unavailable list that rivaled the ones he was dealing with just before the World Cup. Federico Chiesa, Alex Sandro, and Angel Di Maria all joined the injured list alongside Arkadiusz Milik and Kaio Jorge. Also headed to the treatment table — again — was Paul Pogba, who pulled up in the morning training session and is now likely to be out until after the international break. Additionally, Moise Kean began his two-game suspension for violent conduct after his red card last week. That list conflicted with Allegri’s desire to keep players fresh for the second leg against Freiburg on Thursday, but he rotated his 3-5-1-1 as much as he could. Mattia Perin gave Wojciech Szczesny a rest in goal, while Bremer, Leonardo Bonucci, and Danilo made up the defense. Mattia De Sciglio started at right wing-back opposite Filip Kostic, while Enzo Barrenechea was given a start in midfield alongside Nicolo Fagioli and Adrien Rabiot. Fabio Miretti played Di Maria’s role behind Dusan Vlahovic in attack.

Dejan Stankovic’s charges needed a miracle from God to avoid relegation, and it only got worse when one of their few rocks, former Juventus prospect Emil Audero, suffered an injury in training and was ruled out for the year. Stankovic elected to give the starter’s gloves to 19-year-old Martin Turk, who made his Serie A debut. The team ahead of him was arranged in a 3-4-2-1 formation. Bruno Amione, Koray Günter, and Bram Nuytinck made up the defense, with Alessandro Zanoli and Tommaso Augello on the wings. Tomas Rincon and Harry Winks manned the midfield, while Mehdi Leris and Filip Djuricic supported another former Juve prospect, Manolo Gabbiadini, up front.

Juve were perhaps given a warning in the seventh minute when Gabbiadini got behind Bonucci and latched on to a ball over the top. One-on-one with Perin, Gabbiadini didn’t even find the target, pushing his shot well wide of the target. Three minutes later, Bremer was jumped in the center circle by Djuricic, starting a two-on-two break with Gabbiadini, who got a little selfish and went for goal from range, resulting in an easy save by Perin.

It took less than a minute for the Brazilian center-back to atone for his mistake. A corner taken by Kostic was whipped into a perfect area for Bremer, who had hung back behind the penalty spot and made crept forward completely unmarked. He was able to measure up the ball and load up a powerful header into the ground that bounced past a flailing Turk to open the scoring.

Juve continued to boss the game for the most part, but neither side seriously threatend again until the 25th minute, when Miretti found Vlahovic with an excellent through ball. It looked like the big Serb was through on goal, but Amione was able to scramble back in time to block the shot. The ensuing corner was headed out, but Miretti was there to recover it on the back end. He had so much time to weigh up his cross that the ball was stationary when he struck it, and it was a beautiful one, dropping perfectly for Rabiot to head back against the grain and double the lead.

Juve looked to be in cruise control, but the mistakes in the back were still happening, and eventually it bit them in the ass.

At the half-hour mark, Bremer and Barrenechea both let Djuricic run through the Juventus half of the field and feed Leris. Danilo blocked the shot and was unlucky when the ball bounced right into the path of Augello, who hit a shot that was more difficult than it looked with his weaker right foot into the net as Perin tried to reset his feet.

Seconds later, the game was tied. Zanoli was sent down the right side relatively unmolested, while Djuricic traveled half the length of the field without ever being noticed by a defender. It left him a completely free run into the right channel and an easy side-footed finish.

Juve tried to recover from the almighty wobble, but neither team made another move of note before the half, save for a strange moment in the 44th minute when Fagioli put a nice ball into the box. Nuytinck headed the ball away, but Turk, apparently anticipating the ball to get through, dove toward the feet of Vlahovic and wiped him out off the ball. The striker begged for a penalty, and frankly probably should’ve gotten it, but no call came.

Allegri shook things up at the break, calling upon two starters who he had intended to rest, Manuel Locatelli and Juan Cuadrado. The former immediately made an impact, glancing a low Kostic cross on frame and forcing Turk to make a save.

Samp made a brief surge five minutes into the half, with a free kick and a corner, but Juve then pushed them into their own half and, for the most part, kept them there. Vlahovic hit a free kick into the wall, then Bremer got his head to another corner from Kostic that looked on frame, but it bounced off the back of a defender.

The pressure, however, was kept coming, and eventually paid off. The move started near the left sideline with a deft interchange between Kostic and Rabiot, who drove toward the box. Nuytinck stepped out and forced him to lay it back to Fagioli, but Nuytinck followed the ball and left the Frenchman alone in the channel, and Fagioli returned it to him. He controlled, turned, and hit a half-volley into the net to restore the lead. Sampdoria were furious, claiming that Rabiot had stopped the ball with his arm as opposed to his chest, but VAR official Marco Di Bello judged there was no angle that showed the call to be a clear and obvious error.

Things went from bad to worse for Samp. Within a minute of the resumption of play, Augello took Cuadrado’s legs out from under him in the box, and referee Alessandro Prontera pointed to the spot after a brief consideration. It seemed like a perfect time for Vlahovic to hit the net and gain some confidence back, but the young striker’s mental block reared its head again, and he smacked the ball flush against the post. It cannoned back so quickly that Rabiot didn’t have time to set up for the rebound and could only hit it over the bar.