As the weeks go by and Juventus continue to chase crucial objectives such as the Scudetto and the Champions League, the importance of Juan Cuadrado cannot be understated.
After flopping at Chelsea, Cuadrado returned to Italy to get his career back on track. Juventus would be the team to provide him a lifeline and he has since emerged as one of the side’s most important players. Every season there’s typically one player who has stepped up for the bianconeri and delivered crucial performances en route to the Scudetto. In 2011-2012, it was Alessandro Del Piero’s free kick against Lazio along with Marco Borriello’s goal against Cesena that did the job. The next year it was Emanuele Giaccherini’s stoppage time winner against Catania that would put the nail in the coffin for Napoli’s Scudetto hopes. Is Juan Cuadrado Juventus’ latest Scudetto man?
The former Chelsea man would start the season quick out of the gates with impressive performances against Manchester City and Genoa. As Juventus struggled, however, Massimiliano Allegri went with the tried and tested 3-5-2 and would opt for Stephan Lichtsteiner more often than not. To be fair, the Swiss international is as good a wingback as there is in the world and offered guarantees that Cuadrado simply couldn’t. Recently, on the other hand, Cuadrado has been getting the nod and has shown signs of serious progress.
In addition to being his usual silky self when in possession, the Colombian international is now tactically aware and has made immense strides in the defensive zone as seen through his most recent performances. Moreover, Cuadrado offers Juventus something no one else in the team can. His speed and unpredictability, both on and off the ball, means the Italian champions can give him the ball and kick into another gear. In tight games such as the ones against Genoa and Frosinone, this is huge.
When Juventus were struggling to break down Genoa in midweek, Cuadrado received the ball on the edge of the box, beat his defender with a lovely body feint and took off. Genoa’s Sebastian De Maio would then rifle the winger’s drilled cross into his goal giving Juventus the three points. When the bianconeri took on Frosinone they were increasingly difficult to break down as they packed the middle of the park with numbers and gifted Juventus the wings. Enter Cuadrado.
The former Fiorentina man got on the end of Alex Sandro’s cross and fired the ball past Nicola Leali into the back of the net. Cuadrado would finish the game with eight, yes eight, successful take-ons and he’d go on to suffer seven fouls. Once again, the Juventus man was a game-changer and injected life into the side. At the moment, the 27-year-old sits on three goals and four assists on the season. Of those three goals, two are match-winners including the one in stoppage time in the derby against Torino that started this winning streak.
In just a few days, Juventus will welcome Inter to the Juventus Stadium. At the moment, Roberto Mancini’s side have struggled but always give Juventus a tough game. Allegri’s side, by contrast, have been in exceptional form themselves and are just coming off a come from behind draw against German giants Bayern Munich in the Champions League. With Juventus looking to extend their lead at the top and Inter trying to keep their season alive, this edition of the Derby D’Italia has calcio fans licking their lips. And one would expect Cuadrado to play a big role in it.
While there’s still a lot of football to be played before someone is crowned champions, Cuadrado appears to be Juventus’ (not-so) secret weapon and is ready to etch his name in bianconero history.
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