Maccabi Haifa 2-0 Juventus: Player ratings as Juve fall to embarrassing defeat
Juventus suffered one of the most embarrassing defeats in their history on Tuesday evening, losing 2-0 to Maccabi Haifa in the UEFA Champions League.
A first half brace from Omer Atzili was enough for Haifa on the night as they condemned Juve to a third Champions League defeat in four games this season.
The home side almost broke the deadlock inside the opening five minutes, with Pierre Cornud finding Tjaronn Chery in the six-yard box with a great cross from the left flank. Wojciech Szczesny was on hand to save Chery's subsequent header on goal however.
Three minutes later Maccabi Haifa got their goal via a Cornud cross. The full-back once again looped a deadly ball into the box, which Omer Atzili rose highest to get his head on and direct into the bottom corner of the net.
It was so nearly two shortly after as Chery cannoned a brilliant free-kick off of the crossbar from just outside the penalty area, before Atzili was denied by a save from Szczesny who tipped a curling effort just wide of the post.
Things went (somehow) from bad to worse for Juventus when the only player who looked remotely capable of passing the ball to Dusan Vlahovic - Angel Di Maria - hobbled off with a muscle injury.
While Juve continued to struggle after Di Maria's substitution, Haifa continued to pile on the pressure in the offensive third, as Atzili came close to making 2-0 with an audacious overhead kick which flew just wide.
In the 42nd minute, Haifa finally doubled their lead through outstanding Atzili. The right forward latched on the ball on the right of the penalty area and rifled back Szczesny and into the top right corner of the net.
That goal work the visitors up a bit, as Dusan Vlahovic saw a great header well saved by Josh Cohen before Arkadiusz Milik saw his rebounded effort blocked by a defender.
A few changes at half-time did invigorate La Vecchia Signora slightly, but despite the visitors having more of the ball, they still didn't create anything of note.
1. Juventus (4-4-2)
GK - Wojciech Szczesny - 2/10 - Got his hand on both first half goals, but couldn't really do much more.
RB - Danilo - 1/10 - Ran ragged on the right flank. Every chance the home side created came from his side - which isn't good.
CB - Leonardo Bonucci - 1/10 - He just looks nowhere the player he once was.
CB - Daniele Rugani - 0/10 - It's odd that he's still even at Juventus. It's not odd that he didn't play well.
LB - Alex Sandro - 0/10 - When was the last time he played well? God only knows.
RM - Juan Cuadrado - 1/10 - Didn't even try to help Danilo on the right side. Terrible.
CM - Leandro Paredes - 0/10 - File Paredes under 'pointless signings of bang average centre midfielder' at Juventus HQ. Taken off at half-time.
CM - Adrien Rabiot - 1/10 - Stood still and watched while Atzili ran in unmarked to head home the opener. A very Rabiot performance from Rabiot.
LM - Weston McKennie - 0/10 - A truly hopeless performance. Subbed off at half-time because, yeah, he's bad.
ST - Angel Di Maria - N/A - Subbed off with an injury in the first half.
ST - Dusan Vlahovic - 1/10 - Just does not get any service in this Juventus team. Whisper it: he should've signed for Arsenal.
SUB - Arkadiusz Milik - 0/10 - Came on, missed a chance, did nothing else. Fun.
SUB - Filip Kostic - 0/10 - He delivery from the left flank was pretty dreadful.
SUB - Manuel Locatelli - 0/10 - A shell of the player he was two years ago.
SUB - Moise Kean - 1/10 - Ran around a bit. That was the height of it.
SUB - Matia Soule - 2/10 - Put in a bit of a shift when he came on which is a lot more than you could about other Juve players.