Fiorentina 4:2 Juventus - Bianconeri finally pay for their mistakes

Let's not kid ourselves here - the writing has been on the wall since day one of this season. 

Like most successful Juventus teams in the past, Conte's dynasty so far has been based on two things - impeccable defense and disciplined organization. When the two pillars upon which a team is built start crumbling, results are hard to come by.

Somehow, Juventus had been leaking water for a while now but the ship had stayed afloat and steady. It took 15 thunderous minutes inspired by an Italian American coming back from some of the worst knee injuries a soccer player can have for Juventus to finally pay for the lack of focus, organization, and discipline.

After the match, Conte once again stressed that Juventus had dominated for 70 minutes, only to lose the game in the other 20. And he was right, to an extent. If one looked at the score at the break, a 0-2 lead away from home would indicate that Juventus had clearly been the dominating team of the half.

The irony, however, was that Juventus and Fiorentina were fairly equal in the first half, bar those 5 minutes when Tevez (from the spot) and Pogba put the Bianconeri ahead.

After the half time break, Juventus played their best football of the game which yielded to exactly zero goals. This turned out to be the turning point of the match, as the Viola needed little to keep believing in the game. A penalty by Rossi brought their confidence back, and a combination of lethal counter attacking and bad defending and goalkeeping saw them up 4-2 in just 15 minutes time.

Unfortunately, Marco Motta wasn't able to salvage the game for Juventus at the end. Kill me now.

LE PAGELLE

Buffon: 5.5 - He could have and should have kept Rossi's second goal out. It was this goal that gave Fiorentina the NAS their engine needed. Not sure what is up with him lately and I'm not even going to go into any rumors about his personal life that are affecting him. Gigi needs to be the stalwart this team needs in these moments.

Barzagli: 5.5 - Had a good first half, but was outplayed in the second. Caught scrambling towards the end, our whole defense just lost it by the time the third goal for Fiorentina came around.

Bonucci: 6 - Same as Barzagli, just a little bit better overall.

Chiellini: 6 - I thought he was the best defender out of the three on the night, though that doesn't really say much.

Padoin: 6 - Had a couple decent crosses in the first half. Struggled to keep up with the pace of the game once Cuadrado moved over to his side.

Pirlo: 6.5 - Moved the ball faster than usual, but if we're gonna be liable to counter attacks he will have to put in more effort defensively during them. He's usually the one midfielder closest to Buffon and will need to work harder to slow down the counter attack so others can come back and help out.

Marchisio: 7 - At halftime, I wrote down in my notes that he is resembling his old self a bit more, working hard on defense and making runs on offense. If only he could've put the game away early in the second half with his one-on-one chance...

Pogba: 6.5 - He is becoming a bit too invisible in his more permanent role in midfield. He'll need to start playing with more passion to spark our team when needed. He kinda created his own goal.

Asamoah: 5.5 - Gave away the penalty (which was weak to begin with) and was to blame for Viola's third goal. He was probably gassed, but if he made the sacrifice to get back and help out the defense on Joaquin's goal, that one never would've happened. Sadly, that's mostly what I remember about his performance.

Tevez: 6.5 - Earned his penalty (which, again, was weak if you ask me) and took it well. Movement was great, though he'll need to pass more to open up attacks instead of going for glory every time. Both him and Llorente worked hard on defense too (well, for most of the game).

Llorente: 6 - You can't blame him for anything, really, and he's coming into his own as the tall target man that holds up play. Sometimes he looks like a man without a cause out there, hopefully his understanding with Tevez improves and soon.

Subs:

Vidal: 5.5 - Not a good week for Vidal. Didn't start the game because of his unprofessional behavior getting back late from international duty, then his fancy flick created Fiorentina's counter for the last goal.

Giovinco: sv

Motta: sv - I'm willing to bet Conte put Motta in at the end as if to say "see guys, if you play this shitty I will play MOTTA of all people!"

Coach:

Conte: 6 - I like that he kept his principal of punishing players that are late. Started the right duo up top too. While he couldn't have foreseen the meltdown in the end, he needs to wake up and fix the leaks.