Juventus needs to figure out how to best use Miralem Pjanic, and quickly

Crisis? What crisis? Gonzalo Higuain was in defiant mood at his press conference on Tuesday, mocking those journalists who had criticised him for going four games without a goal. "Now what?" he goaded, basking in the memory of Saturday’s match-winning strike against Napoli. "Am I not in crisis any more?"

He never had been, not truly, but Higuain must know that this is the sort of silliness that can arise once a team has paid €90 million for your services. The only worthwhile response was to carry on scoring as he always has. For all the chatter, Higuain’s goal against Napoli was already his eighth in 12 appearances for Juventus. He made it nine in 13 against Lyon on Wednesday night.

This should have been an even more profitable occasion for the Argentinian. After converting an early penalty, he scooped another very presentable chance over the bar from 12 yards. His miss would cost Juventus dearly. The Old Lady failed to build on the lead, and was pegged back by a Corentin Tolisso equaliser in the 85th minute.

A 1-1 draw was bad news for the Bianconeri - leaving them two points behind Sevilla in Group H. The Italians’ progress to the knockout stage is hardly in jeopardy - two points from their remaining two games would guarantee it - but they almost certainly need to win away against Sevilla if they hope to finish first, and secure seeding for the last-16.

Juventus knows from last year, when they were eliminated by Bayern Munich at the corresponding stage, how damaging the alternative can be.

To blame Higuain for putting the team in this position, however, would be facile. A club of Juve’s ambition should have been capable of charting a path to victory at home after securing such an early lead. And where the Argentinian had at least gone some way to holding up his end of the bargain, the same could not be said for another summer signing - Miralem Pjanic.

The Bosnian’s start to life in Turin has called to mind a criticism raised by the journalist Alessandro Angeloni in Il Messaggero. "Pjanic has always been accused of running on an alternating current," he wrote last year. "And there has always been a little bit of truth to such reproaches."

At his best, Pjanic has been brilliant for Juventus - serving up goals and assists in routs of Dinamo Zagreb and Sampdoria. But in the biggest games he has powered down. His worst performances have arrived when his team needed him most, against Inter, Napoli, and now Lyon, his former club.

The frustration on Wednesday was that Juventus’ whole team had been set up around him. For the first time this season, Massimiliano Allegri lined his team up in a 4-3-1-2, with Pjanic in the No.10 role.

It was easy to understand why the manager would want to try something new. His team had been outplayed in the away fixture - beating Lyon only with the help of Gigi Buffon’s saves and a goal out of nowhere from Juan Cuadrado.

But if the idea was to put Pjanic in position to pull the strings in Turin, then it failed. Before limping off in the 68th minute, his most noticeable contribution had been to collect a yellow card for a shoddy challenge on Maxime Gonalons.

Already this season, Allegri has experimented with Pjanic as a deep-lying playmaker, as well as in the mezzala (half-wing) role that he used to fill in Rome - where he shuttled the ball up from midfield to attack with great effect.

As a kid, Pjanic might have relished the chance to attempt to try out so many different positions. In an interview with L’Ultimo Uomo back in 2014, he cited Zinedine Zidane, Andrea Pirlo and Xavi as childhood idols. Three completely different players, and one to match each of the roles he has filled in Turin.

Pjanic, though, insisted in that same interview that he was more interested in their sporting intelligence than their specific jobs on the pitch. "I like footballers who reflect while they play," he said. "You can see if a player knows how to reflect or not.

"And these three see things that others do not see."

His own ideal position, he continued, was the one that he filled at Roma. "My place is where I play now," said Pjanic. "The mezzala in a 4-3-3. In a midfield where we manage the game, where we always have possession, without being afraid to hold onto the ball. This is my game."

On Wednesday, he looked like a man who did not know where to put himself - left with all too much time to reflect as the game passed him by. Where Higuain and Mandzukic were seen ferociously scrapping to win the ball back from Lyon defenders, Pjanic was mostly seen giving the ball away - something he did more often than any other team-mate.

He was hardly the only Juventus player to disappoint. Medhi Benatia looked off the pace after coming on to replace Leonardo Bonucci in the second-half, Andrea Barzagli almost gave up a second goal with a horrific touch, and Stefano Sturaro was left spinning round in circles.

But Pjanic, like Higuain, was signed to make the difference on nights such as this. Juventus has already been crowned domestic champions in five seasons running. If the club invested heavily in the transfer market this summer, it is because it has its sights set on the Champions League.

In the spirit of Higuain’s pre-match press conference, we ought to remind ourselves that one bad game does not make a crisis.

Juventus is still unbeaten in Europe this season. Even so, two weeks away from that visit to Sevilla, Allegri is under pressure to stop tinkering and find a fix for Pjanic’s fiddly on-off switch.