Motta hails ‘valuable point,’ defensive stability in Juve’s draw with Milan

Juve’s manager shares his thoughts after his team’s scoreless draw with Milan at the San Siro.

Juventus’ meeting with AC Milan on Saturday night proved to be the kind of matchup where very little was asked in terms of shot stopping from two very talented goalkeepers.

That had a lot to do with how ineffective both attacks were when it came to both creating scoring chances and then actually putting what they did create on frame. But it was also another strong performance from the Juventus defense — which, the last time the Bianconeri stepped foot onto the field at the San Siro, was very much a complete mess against the reigning champions in Serie A.

The defensive effort by the likes of former Milan man Pierre Kalulu and the rest of the players at the back for Juve did not escape their head coach.

“I am really satisfied with the team’s performance, especially defensively,” Motta said after Saturday’s scoreless draw. “We faced a strong opponent and conceded very little, and this shows great solidity.”

While Juventus’ defense put forward another strong showing and recorded their league-high 10th shutout of the 2024-25 season, the same couldn’t necessarily be said about what was going on at the other end of the field.

Things figured to be a patchwork effort with striker Dusan Vlahovic being one of the seven players who were forced to miss Saturday’s matchup due to injury, With Teun Koopmeiners fielded as a false nine and Weston McKennie coming into the starting lineup to play in a more advanced role, Juve’s attack struggled without much of a focal point up front.

While Juve outshot Milan 7-6 on the game, they forced keeper Mike Maignan into just a pair of saves.

“In the attacking phase, we have to be more incisive,” Motta said, “we created some interesting chances, such as those of Francisco (Conceição) and (Andrea) Cambiaso, which could have been finished better. This draw gives us continuity and pride for the way the team is performing, showing maturity and great team spirit. The road we are on is the right one, but we can still grow.”

One of the bigger individual bright spots to come out of the proceedings proved to be the play of Juve midfielder Khephren Thuram. The 23-year-old Frenchman who arrived from Nice this past summer has started to find a nice run of form after struggling a bit following a muscle injury in the season-opening win over Como.

Thuram led Juve in defensive actions (9) and tackles (6), while also winning 10 of the 13 ground duels credited to him against Milan.

“Khephren has been improving for a while,” Motta said. “I don’t like to talk about individuals, but the performance we saw today showed such improvement, mentality and strength, both on and off the ball. He is a player who can become very important and he is growing with such pace. I can say that because I know his values and mentality, so I am sure he will have a fantastic career path.

“Since the first day, he has always been eager to give more and we are the ones who must tell him to calm down, get some rest. This is the kind of player a coach always wants in his squad.”