Merih Demiral started in Juventus’ win over Bayer Leverkusen and was excellent in the clash
Juventus star Merih Demiral has struggled for regular minutes this season at the Serie A giants.
The 21-year-old Turkish star joined from Sassuolo and has only played in three games for Juve. The centre-back is a regular for the national team but hasn’t been as lucky since joining the Italian champions.
However, Demiral did get a run out in their final Champions League group game. Juve had already qualified from their group and were up against Bayer Leverkusen in Germany.
The 21-year-old put up a monster display against the Bundesliga giants. A compilation shared by UEFA highlighted how great the defender actually is.
The defender did feature in their next game, a win over Udinese, and picked up an assist too.
Demiral’s tough time at Juventus
The Turk wasn’t the only one who joined Juve in the summer in the defence. Matthijs de Ligt was one of the stars in the Champions League last season and has featured regularly alongside Leonardo Bonucci.
De Ligt hasn’t lit up Turin as expected and had a tough start to his career. However, Maurizio Sarri has persisted with the Dutch defender, while Demiral has acted like cover.
It will be interesting to see if the Turk gets more time on the pitch after his recent performances. Juve have to think about their future regarding their defence.
Bonucci is 32 while Giorgio Chiellini is 35 and has been out for most of the season. A pairing of De Ligt and Demiral could dominate the Serie A for years to come.
Juve, however, are tied with Inter Milan on 39 points and Antonio Conte’s side are giving the champions a real fight this season.
It will be interesting to see if Juve come out on top and win another Serie A title. However, many fans shared their support for the Turkish defender and wanted him to feature more for Juve.