Turin, iron defense: with Paleari 10 bulls

“At my side I had 10 bulls who were trying in every way not to let them shoot”. Perhaps the best image to describe the dedication and attention with which Torino took care of the defensive phase in the derby against Juve is found by the Granata goalkeeper Alberto Paleari, best on the pitch in the match at the Stadium thanks to the three saves on Conceiçao, David and McKennie which gave Baroni’s team a significant point. A beautiful story that of the number 1 from Brianza, just making his fifth appearance in Serie A with the Granata (four consecutive), but already capable of embodying the founding values ​​of the shirt he wears: head and heart he indicated, in fact, to the thousand Toro fans present at the Allianz.

Ismajli-Maripan-Coco, the anti-Juve

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“It was essential to bring these virtues onto the pitch – reiterated Paleari –. My teammates were really very good, today was a great day.” Yes, because if the Granata goalkeeper’s hands were used just 6 times out of 21 Juventus attempts, a lot was thanks to the ten shots rejected by his teammates before becoming dangerous. A real wall made up of Ismajli, Maripan and Coco, who, despite having different tasks, kept the Juventus attackers at a distance. The Chilean, author of 7 duels won out of 13 between the air and on the ground, forced Vlahovic to turn outside the area and, on the only occasion that could have happened to the Serbian, he was the author of a great closure. The Albanian, not having a direct opponent to mark, stopped anyone who tried to enter the center-right of the Granata rearguard (75% of matches won), while the Equatoguinean was useful above all in recovering balls (6, second only to Vlasic) to try to restart the maneuver (32 positive passes, best among the Granata).

the work of barons

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Of course, it was not only thanks to the three defenders, but also to a midfield capable of closing ranks and closing all the spaces to the insertions of Juve’s midfielders, of a Pedersen who was very attentive to Yildiz and of a Lazaro who limited as much as possible first Conceiçao and then Zhegrova. “We knew we had to improve in the defensive phase, it’s a matter that concerns the whole team and not just the defenders – explained Maripan -. We worked on it week after week and the results can also be seen today.” The numbers are there to confirm it: the match against Juve was the fifth match without conceding a goal by the Granata, always against high-quality opponents: from Fiorentina in August to Juve today, passing through Rome, Naples and Bologna. Three times out of five away and, above all, three times out of five matches played after the October break. A sign that Baroni’s work is starting to bear fruit.