Patrice Evra has suggested that Arsenal got away with a near transfer miss with a damning assessment of Juventus midfielder Arthur Melo.
Former Manchester United defender Evra was working as a pundit on Italian TV for the Champions League Round of 16 clash between his old club Juventus and Villarreal. The Frenchman tore into Juve’s lack of quality in midfield, with Arthur in particular coming under fire.
The midfielder – who was previously strongly linked with a move to Arsenal – produced an underwhelming performance for Max Allegri’s side and came in for heavy criticism. The Brazilian international joined the Italian club from Barcelona in 2020, in a de facto swap deal with Miralem Pjanic.
Despite being underdogs in the tie, Villarreal romped home to a 4-1 aggregate victory over the Bianconeri, who have now been eliminated at the Round of 16 stage for three successive seasons. Juve are also struggling for form in Serie A – where they are currently on course to record their second successive fourth-placed finish.
Yet their European struggles are also stark, this elimination follows exits to Ajax, Lyon and Porto in the previous three editions of the Champions League. Having reached the 2015 and 2017 finals, their fall from that point is telling.
Among those critical of the decline is their former player Evra, who did not hold back when analysing the Old Lady’s failings against Villarreal – who recorded an eye-catching three-goal victory in Turin on Wednesday night to progress to the last eight.
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Evra on Amazon Prime Italia, as per Football Italia : “I am really disappointed by what Juve showed this evening. It feels like Max Allegri is performing miracles with what he’s got, because there is no quality there, especially in midfield. In my day, we had Claudio Marchisio, Arturo Vidal, Andrea Pirlo. Now there’s Arthur… I don’t think he made a single pass that really changed play today. He doesn’t make the difference.”
Arthur was also criticised by former Italian boss Fabio Capello who was analysing the match on Sky Sport Italia, noting that the former Barcelona midfielder “looks like he’s playing rugby.”
Juventus have waited 26 years for the Champions League title, having last lifted the trophy all the way back in 1996. Indeed, Italian clubs in general have struggled to make an impact in the tournament in recent years – with Inter’s triumph under Jose Mourinho in 2010 the last time they tasted success in the competition, with no Italian side’s in this season’s quarter finals.
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