DBasia.news – Juventus narrowly won 1-0 over Parma in the first week of Serie A 2019-20, Saturday (8/24) night Western Indonesian Time. In that match, Juventus defender Matthijs de Ligt did not play and throughout the game sat on the bench.
Maurizio Sarri, the Juventus coach who was absent due to recovery after pneumonia (pneumonia), chose a local duet who had long played together, Giorgio Chiellini and Leonardo Bonucci, as a tandem at the heart of the defense.
De Ligt, 19, who was bought for 75 million euros from Ajax Amsterdam did not play at all in the match. De Ligt said he was shocked, but he understood that he was in the process of adapting to the culture of Italian football.
“Normally, I prefer to play (become a starter) and I don’t get any message from the training session, so I didn’t expect to be on the bench,” De Ligt said, quoted by Football-Italia.
“It’s clear right, I respect the coach’s decision. I have to be realistic because I’m still adapting here in Italy, playing defenders, Leonardo Bonucci and Giorgio Chiellini, have long been considered the best middle partners in the world.”
“I had to fight for a place throughout the season. The first five weeks were difficult at the physical level, but I didn’t realize that I was getting stronger. From the defense side, the demands were not much different from what I used to face at Ajax, because the coach wanted us to anticipate movement.”
The spotlight on De Ligt is indeed great, especially after last season bringing Ajax Eredivisie champions and the KNVB Cup, and reaching the Champions League semifinals. De Ligt captained Ajax and also had international experience with the Dutch national team.
However, the pre-season with Juve did not go well for De Ligt. He is often the scapegoat of goals created by opponents, even scoring an own goal.
Competition at Juve’s backline is also quite tight. Not only competing with Chiellini and Bonucci, but De Ligt also competed with Merih Demiral and Daniele Rugani. Nevertheless, waiting for De Ligt to play is only a matter of time.
Sooner or later the Ajax academy product will be played by Sarri. De Ligt also has the potential to become the main defender of Juventus in the coming years, replacing 35-year-old Chiellini. After all, it’s not just De Ligt, a famous name that has become a reserve against Parma. There are also Paulo Dybala, Mario Mandzukic, and Adrien Rabiot. This means that Juve’s good squad depth.