They Lost To Inter, But Denis Zakaria Showed He’s Part Of A Bright Juventus Future

The Derby d’Italia did not end well for Juventus, eventually losing a difficult match by a single goal to reigning champions Inter. In a fixture where neither team could seize the upper hand, both sides struggled to create clear-cut chances as the latest edition of one of Italian football’s most intense rivalries played out in Turin.

While some of the refereeing decisions will add yet more vitriol to this already intense fixture – the history of which was discussed in this previous column – there were some positives for Juve to take away.

Foremost among them had to be the performance of their midfield, which arguably came out on top against Inter’s well-balanced trio. The Nerazzurri have enjoyed great success in that department as Marcelo Brozovic, Nicolo Barella and Hakan Çalhanoğlu work so well together to dominate matches.

Yet they could not get the better of their Bianconeri counterparts on Sunday. Manuel Locatelli did well before being forced off with injury after just 30 minutes, but the man who replaced him was even better.

Denis Zakaria had missed the last month with a muscle problem, while there was no question that his arrival at Juventus back in January was understandably overshadowed by the capture of Dusan Vlahovic.

Yet on the evidence of Sunday’s display, the Old Lady has found a player with a big role to play in her future. With his contract with Borussia Monchengladbach set to expire in June, the 25-year-old was signed for just €4.5 million ($4.94m), and that fee is already starting to look like excellent value for money.

From the moment he was introduced to the action against Inter, Zakaria played with an urgency and intensity that the Juve midfield has lacked for a number of years. Snapping into challenges and driving the ball forward, his relentlessness gave the opposition little time on the ball.

That led to bad decisions and poor passes, the Swiss international playing a major role in Juve ending the match ahead in the possession battle (54% – 46%) while taking far more shots than Inter (22 to 5).

One of those efforts was one of Juve’s better chances of the night, and was a brilliant piece of individual play from Zakaria. Winning the ball in the centre circle, he accelerated away from Brozovic and Barella, then beat Milan Skriniar before unleashing a vicious low shot towards goal.

It drew a fantastic save from Samir Handanovic in the Inter goal, the ‘keeper doing just enough to tip it onto the post and deny Zakaria what would’ve been a remarkable goal. Yet even without his name on the scoresheet, that kind of run showed just how dangerous the man wearing no.28 can be.

In addition to the physicality he injected into the game, Zakaria also played with a tactical awareness and intelligence that makes him a perfect fit for Serie A. It helped that alongside him was Adrien Rabiot, who gave what was perhaps his best performance yet in a Juventus shirt.

Widely criticised for his lack of quality on the ball, statistics provided by WhoScored.com show the Frenchman connected with 95.4% of his pass attempts, created two chances for his team-mates and was successful in all three of his take-on attempts.

Add in two clearances, one tackle and one blocked shot, and this truly was an all-action display from the 27-year-old, meaning it was no surprise that boss Max Allegri highlighted his performance as well as Zakaria’s in his post-match comments.

“I had only one doubt in midfield, but Rabiot had an extraordinary performance this evening,” Allegri told DAZN. “He has been criticised so much, but he was fantastic tonight. Zak also had a great game coming in for Locatelli, and every time he plays, he has at least one scoring opportunity.”

In that same interview the Coach admitted that Juve were now “definitively out of the Scudetto race,” he was already looking ahead to next season, adding that “we should see the glass half-full, we are becoming a team, we still have real margin for improvement and need to work on further strengthening those aspects.”

There is much truth in those words, and on the evidence of Sunday’s performance, Denis Zakaria will have a huge part to play in that bright future.