Pjanic is Juventus' most important player right now

The Bosnian was linked with a move away from Turin during the summer but has become Maurizio Sarri's 'new Jorginho', thus making him indispensable

On Saturday night, Juventus took on city rivals Torino in the Derby della Mole.

Miralem Pjanic had been a doubt for the game with a minor thigh muscle problem.

Not only did he start, though, he played all 90 minutes.

Pjanic has become that important to Juventus. He has become Maurizio Sarri's new Jorginho.


Injuries and the make-up of the squad have forced the Tuscan trainer into moving away from his beloved 4-3-3 formation in Turin – for now at least – but the need for a deep-playing playmaker to dictate the pace of the game remains utterly integral to 'Sarriball'.

And nobody can perform the role better at Juventus than Pjanic.

Rodrigo Bentancur tried against Genoa last Wednesday but while the Uruguay international has many attributes, he does not exert anything like the same control over the game as his Bosnian team-mate.

In the end, Juventus only prevailed thanks to the harshest of penalties won and converted by Cristiano Ronaldo in the seventh minute of injury time.

Sarri pointed out afterwards that Juve's problems were twofold.

Firstly, without Gonzalo Higuain, who also missed the game through injury, Juventus did not have a point of reference in attack.

The Argentine is, of course, a long-time Sarri favourite but the coach is correct when he says that Higuain is the only striker at Juventus with "the characteristics of a real centre-forward.

"The others are more atypical. Despite dominating possession, we always risk not having enough presence in the box without Gonzalo."

However, of greater significance was the absence of Pjanic, as Juve looked slow and predictable in possession without him.





GOAL