Inter Milan wingback Juan Cuadrado had something of a “Jekyll and Hyde” performance between the two halves against Real Sociedad.
As L’Interista highlight, the player ratings for the match across Italian media very much noted the improvement that the Colombian made after halftime.
Prior to Tuesday evening, Cuadrado had not yet started a match for Inter.
The 35-year-old joined the Nerazzurri on a free transfer from Juventus during the summer. But he made it to mid-December without starting a match.
Cuadrado had not had the fitness to play for ninety minutes, but with Denzel Dumfries out he finally gave it a go against Real Sociedad.
And at first, it seemed like Cuadrado was playing within himself.
The former Chelsea and Fiorentina veteran didn’t have much impact on the match.
There were doubts about whether Cuadrado was even fully fit watching his reserved performance.
Moreover, Cuadrado gave the ball away a couple times, including with a potentially dangerous square ball in his own half.
Juan Cuadrado Improves Significantly In Second Half Vs Real Sociedad
But in the second half, Cuadrado looked closer to his best.
The 35-year-old was much more proactive about trying to run in behind La Real left-back Aihen Munoz.
Cuadrado looked much more robust and energetic as he aimed to receive the ball in dangerous areas and win fouls. There were few signs of any fitness problems.
There were also a few good cross-field diagonal passes from the Colombian.
Far from being unable to see out the ninety minutes, Cuadrado grew into the match.
That does not fully make for the anonymous second half from a player of such known quality.
But Cuadrado seemed determined to make up for it after the interval.
This could be a positive sign for things to come from the Colombian in an Inter shirt.
