Juventus were fortunate to escape Verona with a point on Saturday evening, drawing 1-1 with Hellas to stumble again in their failing title defence.

Andrea Pirlo’s side started brightly, with Federico Chiesa forcing an early excellent save from home goalkeeper Marco Silvestri. But the hosts grew into the game and forced Juve to endure some nervy first half moments, using their pace in attack to disrupt the makeshift backline.

HT | ⏱ | Even in Verona at the half ⚪️⚫️#VeronaJuve #FinoAllaFine #ForzaJuve pic.twitter.com/yPig6q3EwV

— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) February 27, 2021

La Vecchia Signora put that pressure to one side and found their breakthrough four minutes into the second half, when Chiesa rolled the ball across to Cristiano Ronaldo, who slid an accurate strike low into the corner of the net.

But having taken the lead, Juve inexplicably sat back and allowed Verona to get back into the game. They paid for their casual approach with just over ten minutes to go, as Antonin Barak rose highest to plant a perfect header into the corner past Wojciech Szczęsny.

Verona continued to press for the winner, and Darko Lazovic gave the champions a huge scare after rattling the crossbar with a fierce drive from the edge of the box. Juventus survived though and put the pressure on in the final minutes, Ronaldo hitting a late free-kick straight at the wall.

Here’s the player ratings from a disappointing night for I Bianconeri in Verona.

Wojciech Szczęsny (GK) – 6/10 – Showed great courage to throw himself at the feet of Kevin Lasagna, denying him on the counter.

Merih Demiral (CB) – 6/10 – Won his duels well at the heart of the defence, and had to be alert given the majority of Verona’s forward play came down his side.

Matthijs de Ligt (CB) – 7/10 – Marshalled Lasagna excellently as his midfield left the backline completely exposed to regular counter attacks.

Alex Sandro (CB) – 5/10 – Carried the ball down the left flank when in possession, tucking inside and defending in a back three without. Out-jumped by Barak for the goal, allowing the hosts to pull level.

Federico Chiesa (RM) – 7/10 – Flashed a vicious strike towards goal early on, and forced Silvestri into a superb low save down to his right. Provided the deadlock breaker with nice vision and perfect execution.

Rodrigo Bentancur (CM) – 6/10 – Squandered possession in dangerous positions on a couple of occasions, but went unpunished. Not a great showing.

Adrien Rabiot (CM) – 5/10 – Such a pointless player in midfield. Not entirely sure what he offers Juventus, and even he seems to have misplaced such vital information. Answers on a postcard, please.

Aaron Ramsey (CM) – 7/10 – The only midfielder with a bit of zip and drive about him in the first half. Always playing on the half-turn, looking to slide the ball through to Ronaldo or into Kulusevski’s feet.

Federico Bernardeschi (LM) – 5/10 – Hilariously fell over next to the corner flag when desperately trying to control the ball. Summed up his form over the past couple of years, to be honest.

Dejan Kulusevski (ST) – 6/10 – Dropped deep to link up play and to slip between the lines. Couldn’t get into the second half as Juve sat back.

Cristiano Ronaldo (ST) – 7/10 – Struggled to make his mark on the game in the first half, but opened the scoring in the second with a typically ruthless finish.

Weston McKennie (CM) – 6/10

Alessandro Di Pardo (RM) – N/A