Pjanic would walk into any midfield in the world and start

Love Mire, but agree with Robes mostly. He has a tendency to disappear for whole matches at a time, as was the case during our period of draws both this season and last season. He just happens to be in fantastic form right now. That said, I highly doubt he's going to Juve unless Roma force that on him.

Bayern, Barcelona, maybe even PSG, United or City are likely destinations.

Indeed he would. Masterclass performance yesterday. Deep role is suiting him perfectly.

Just another example of how I'm nearly always right in the long run.

And how I was oh so wrong as well

Pjanic has proved to be an upgrade on Pogba - and at a €73m profit!

It's not often that one of the visitors is the best midfielder on the pitch at Camp Nou. Wednesday night was one of those rare occasions.


While Barcelona trio Andres Iniesta, Sergio Busquets and Ivan Rakitic tried and failed to rediscover some of their old magic, Miralem Pjanic did everything that was expected of him - and more.

The Bosnian is renowned for his pin-point passing and, in a game in which Juve were going to see less of the ball than usual, he was always going to prove integral to the Old Lady's hopes of progressing to the last four of the Champions League.

He did not disappoint. Everything went through Pjanic. No other Juventus player had more touches (76) or played more passes (51).

He didn't just retain possession either; he used it to create openings. The 27-year-old made three key passes during the game - only Neymar had more (4) - and one of them should have produced a goal.

Sadly, Gonzalo Higuain was unable to conjure up the finish that Pjanic's sublime chip in behind the Barca backline merited, with the Argentine volleying tamely into the arms of the grateful Marc-Andre ter Stegen.

Still, Pjanic produced the kind of controlled, classy performance in high-pressure circumstances that Juve had hoped Paul Pogba would deliver - yet never did.

The Bianconeri were Champions League runners-up the year before the Frenchman returned to Old Trafford for a world-record €105 million but he played very little part in their run to the 2015 final, missing the entirety of the hard-fought quarter-final win over Monaco as well as the first-leg victory over Real Madrid in the last four though injury.

Pogba returned for the return fixture at the Santiago Bernabeu but was a passenger on the night. In truth, Juve carried him through the majority of their most important fixtures during his successful - and undeniably influential - four-year stay in Turin and the fear was that Pjanic might prove just as heavy a burden.

Although touted as a bargain the moment Juve agreed to meet the €32 million buy-out clause in his Roma contract, Pjanic initially struggled to justify his fee.

His goal in the Turin derby on November 11 was his fifth of the season - he had conjured up just as many assists - but the truth of the matter was that he wasn't playing particularly well, failing to influence the play in the manner in which Juve had expected.

"I want to do more than just score free kicks," he himself admitted after settling a Serie A clash with Cheivo in Juve's favour with one of his set-piece specials. "I want to give more.

"I'm adapting to a new style of play and I know that the expectations are high."

He gamely insisted that he was getting to grips with his role as a trequartista but, in truth, it wasn't working. Indeed, there was even talk that Juve might consider selling Pjanic if he continued to struggle to serve as a stabilising yet incisive influence on the team.

However, Massimiliano Allegri's decision to switch to a 4-2-3-1 formation after a dismal defeat at Fiorentina on January 15 turned both the Old Lady and Pjanic's seasons around.

The switch has brought the best out of a number of players, including Mario Mandzukic and Juan Cuadrado, but Pjanic has been the biggest beneficiary.

Since being dropped back into a deeper midfield role alongside Sami Khedira, Pjanic has been revitalised. "It's going well with me playing as a mediano,” he admitted earlier in February. “The coach used me in every role in midfield but it's here that I feel very comfortable."

That has been borne out on the pitch. Whereas Pogba is still suffering the effects of being played out of position at Old Trafford by manager Jose Mourinho, Pjanic has now found his place in Allegri's team.

He not only has more goals and assists that Pogba this season, he is now dictating the play in a manner in which his predecessor has never proven himself capable - either for club or country.

Of course, the counterargument will be that Pogba offers more all-round attributes but Pjanic is now showing himself the complete package: a playmaker who offers protection.

At Camp Nou, he made nearly twice as many tackles as nearly every other player on the pitch - Giorgio Chiellini, Leonardo Bonucci and Alex Sandro racked up five apiece. Furthermore, no player made more interceptions (5) or recovered possession more times (10).

When asked about Pjanic's contribution to the cause after the game, Allegri simply stated: "He's just a wonderful player."

He took his time to settle but the Metz academy product is now illustrating why Juve were not too perturbed by Pogba's long-anticipated return to Manchester.

Beppe Marotta and Co. were confident that they had already acquired themselves an upgrade - at a profit of €75m. Pjanic is finally proving them right.

http://www.sportingnews.com/soccer/news/pjanic-has-proved-to-be-an-upgrade-on-pogba---and-at-a-73m-profit/dnoyus874vz21p9s6b3djbb4e

Well, Pjanic's stats wouldn't be as good if he was playing for United because of their system.

Probably a better idea to compare Pogba 15/16 with Pjanic 16/17

Why not ? Just because Pogba is an inflexible and a lazy player, that doesn't necessarily  mean Pjanić would have had the same difficulties in United's system.

Pjanić wasn't even playing in his familiar position for us until he got used to it and eventually started bossing it.

RealGunner wrote:Well, Pjanic's stats wouldn't be as good if he was playing for United because of their system.

Probably a better idea to compare Pogba 15/16 with Pjanic 16/17

Pjanić 16/17 is still better. He has been performing for the whole season unlike Pogba who was dogshite for the first half of last season and only started producing good performances once the team became settled and had other players around him to carry him as per usual.

Pjanic has not been better than Pogba for us.

S wrote:

RealGunner wrote:Well, Pjanic's stats wouldn't be as good if he was playing for United because of their system.

Probably a better idea to compare Pogba 15/16 with Pjanic 16/17

Pjanić 16/17 is still better. He has been performing for the whole season unlike Pogba who was dogshite for the first half of last season and only started producing good performances once the team became settled and had other players around him to carry him as per usual.

I watched a lot of Juventus last season ( thus why i hyped Pogba so much) and this is utter rubbish.

Pogba was one of the best MFs in Europe last season, i have no idea on Pjanic's level of performance this season i severely doubt he's been better tbh.

You are just doing the usual fan loses player and gains new player so new player is better rubbish.

The fact Rincon says he hasn't been better lends credence to my theory tbh

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:I watched a lot of Juventus last season ( thus why i hyped Pogba so much) and this is utter rubbish.

Pogba was one of the best MFs in Europe last season, i have no idea on Pjanic's level of performance this season i severely doubt he's been better tbh.

You are just doing the usual fan loses player and gains new player so new player is better rubbish.

The fact Rincon says he hasn't been better lends credence to my theory tbh

Note that I'm not taking credit from Pjanic, he has been great. But yes, he has not been Pogba level.

Our midfield was wrecked with Pogba's departure and Marchisio's ACL injury so in the end we moved to a 4-4-2 and stopped trying to rely on the midfield as we used to. Now our biggest difference makers are not in the mid. Its Higuain, Dybala, Sandro, Cuadrado, Mandzukic.

We swap Marchisio for Pjanic and it works. We swap Khedira with Marchisio and it works too. Last season we swapped anyone with Pogba and it looked terrible. Pogba was a bigger difference maker, his level was amazing to see.

Now Pjanic is very complete. He has been transitioning into a new role, so he will grow with the team and then we will see his heights. Just like we did with Pogba in the 2015/16 season when Allegri found his best football.

Yeah i'm not arguing any of the Pjanic stuff, more so that Pogba was dogshite and was carried etc etc.

It's classic scorned fan BS.

Great Leader Sprucenuce wrote:

S wrote:

RealGunner wrote:Well, Pjanic's stats wouldn't be as good if he was playing for United because of their system.

Probably a better idea to compare Pogba 15/16 with Pjanic 16/17

Pjanić 16/17 is still better. He has been performing for the whole season unlike Pogba who was dogshite for the first half of last season and only started producing good performances once the team became settled and had other players around him to carry him as per usual.

I watched a lot of Juventus last season ( thus why i hyped Pogba so much) and this is utter rubbish.

Pogba was one of the best MFs in Europe last season, i have no idea on Pjanic's level of performance this season i severely doubt he's been better tbh.

You are just doing the usual fan loses player and gains new player so new player is better rubbish.

The fact Rincon says he hasn't been better lends credence to my theory tbh

I thought you stopped watching football 10 years ago.

Now this Pjanic as of late is looking fantastic.

Pjanic, can do whatever Pogba can do at a $70 million discount.

But Pogba definitely beats him in the dabbing department...

juve_gigi wrote:Pjanic, can do whatever Pogba can do at a $70 million discount.

But Pogba definitely beats him in the dabbing department...

Nah, that's absolutely untrue and the dollar figures do not matter. Pogba was immense for Juventus and netted us a healthy return, there should be no question marks about his quality from us.

As for Pjanic, I can assure you that Pogba would not be as effective, or effective at all, in the same setup that Pjanic has been asked to play for our team. I really like what Allegri has done with Pjanic this season.

He had it difficult to fit Juve tactics who ask midfielders to have high workrate and defend as well that's why he had a slow start but game after game you can see he's improving his weak points and next season he will be established as a top 5 midfielder.WC.

World class

What a player he is turning into

He certainly looks like the Pjanic who truly flourished under Garcia. He looks very much settled in finally. Good to see. Still one of my favorite midfielders.

ES wrote:McAgger 'seen enough' just from yesterday's game against Milan, my cousin and me would've bossed the Milan midfield if we were playing yesterday (Locatelli, Bertolacci, enough said)

Anyways, i mostly agree with Robes, come high tide times watch Pjanic laze off and disappear for most of the game

Well, he can't walk into Madrid, if that wasnt obvious before, i hope you get it now

Outside of Higuain, no one else on this Juve team are going to quite feel this L like him.

Still a favorite of mine, but this was easily his most impressive disappearing act yet, especially in that second half. He lacks the grit to truly impose himself on opposing midfields, especially when his team are up against it. Juve needed him more than ever today.

Just in Italy.

19-year-old Pjanic knocking Madrid out of the Champions League.

Maybe some of Jj's loseritis rubbed off on him.

farfan wrote:

19-year-old Pjanic knocking Madrid out of the Champions League.

Maybe some of Jj's loseritis rubbed off on him.

Higuain knocked us out. Not Pjanic.