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The more things change, the more things have stayed the same.
- Juventus dominated the possession, holding the ball for 74 percent of the time. (YES, SEVENTY-FOUR PERCENT.)
- Juventus had 21 total shots. They scored one goal.
- That goal was an own goal, by the way, just in case you forgot how Juve found the back of the net.
- Stephan Lichtsteiner was screaming at the referees just minutes into the game. Welcome back, Serie A.
- The 3-5-2 formation made an appearance despite a different man writing the starting lineup.
The thing that was different from one season to another? Well, the manager, with Saturday's season-opening 1-0 over Chievo win being Max Allegri's official debut as Juventus coach. But also the absolutely brilliant debut from 18-year-old Frenchman and summer signing Kingsley Coman, who got the start in part because Fernando Llorente and Sebastian Giovinco were still getting over being sick during the lead up to Saturday's game.
And what a debut it was.
Coman was everywhere in his first career start in black and white. Against the best competition — even though that team nearly got relegated last season — he has faced since coming to Turin this summer, he answered the call. And then some, quite frankly. His touch on the ball was fantastic, he added some much-needed creativity, and just everything he brought to the table was pretty much
Coman's first touch, his ability to pull the ball out of the air, is really something else. Great personality on his debut
— James Horncastle (@JamesHorncastle) August 30, 2014
Kingsley Coman, man. I can get used to that kind of game.
Random thoughts and observations
- As Juventus continued to clang the ball off the crossbar in the second half, I had a thought: Llorente is all but certain to be healthy when the international break is over, so where does Coman fit into the equation in Juventus' second game of the season? I mean, after the way he played against Chievo, he has to play from the start when Juve host Udinese in two weeks. Does that mean Allegri goes with a 4-3-1-2 with Coman playing behind Llorente and Carlos Tévez? I wouldn't be opposed to that kind of thing, to be honest...
- Gigi Buffon wasn't busy at all. But considering Juventus couldn't finish in front of goal to save their respective lives against Chievo, how important was that point-blank range save on Maxi Lopez? That's why having the GOAT as your starting goalkeeper is such a beautiful thing.
- Juventus just hit another two shots off the crossbar while I wrote the last two bullet points.
- Lichtsteiner could have had three or four assists if Juve actually finished their chances. Then again, it's not like Juve not finishing their chances is all that surprising at this point.
- I thought out loud in the match preview about how long Arturo Vidal would play. When it was all said and done, Vidal played all but about 10 minutes of Saturday's game. And you have to say, regardless of how truly fit he really is compared to before the knee injury, he looked pretty good.
- Own goal or not, that header Martin Cáceres delivered from that angle was just ridiculous.
- I like Claudio Marchisio as a regista more and more every time I see him play there. I know I sound like a broken record about it at this point, but it's true. He's just adapted to it so well.
- Black letters and numbers on the back of Juventus' jerseys >>>>>>>> Yellow letters and numbers on the back of Juventus' jerseys. Well done by the club realizing such a terrible design flaw and fixing it ASAP.
- Seriously, though, that should have been a 4-0 or 5-0 win. So many chances, so much bad finishing in front of goal. I think I know what the coaching staff will emphasize at training next week...
- Kingsley Coman, man.
