In pursuit for 117 days in Serie A: now overtaking Inter and Milan is not a utopia. Solidity, mentality, few risks. And after all, without the -10 it would have already been on par with its two rivals
No one escapes the refined game of “download the championship”: for Marotta, Juve is the favourite, Pioli ditto because “not having the cups is a great advantage”, Allegri downplays it by setting the goal of fourth place in the Champions League. And in the meantime Napoli is below deck. Who is bluffing? Given that any discussion is at very high risk of being denied after nine days, the ranking today says: Inter 22, Milan 21, Juve 20, all passionately together. We can at least hazard a hypothesis: Juve are in the running for the Scudetto as they have never been since Sarri won the last title. Inter and Milan have been warned.
A LONG TIME
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The Bianconeri’s last first place date back to August 1, 2020, the pandemic tournament that spilled over into the middle of summer. Since then, over three championships, two coaches and one hundred and seventeen rounds have passed, all in pursuit: Juve has no longer been in first place. Neither Pirlo nor Allegri, five times champion in a row in his first cycle, experienced the thrill of command, while Inter, Milan and Napoli took over the roll of honour. He is now third place, but the scenario and signals are different. Juve is there.
CRAZY IDEA
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And it’s not that impossible to return to primacy. All eyes on Juve-Verona on Saturday: there isn’t a written result in this Serie A, but there were many more problematic opponents. Quote 23 points is not a utopia. The next day, Inter-Roma and Napoli-Milan are certainly more alarming for Inzaghi and Pioli. Going into command would have no practical meaning, on the contrary it would put additional pressure on the Bianconeri, who up until now have been luxury outsiders due to penalisation, squad downsizing, the Pogba and Fagioli cases. But do you want to have an effect on rivals who are used to looking down on the Bianconeri?
REDUCED DISTANCE
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And in any case the ranking can be deceiving. In ’21 and ’22 Inter and Milan took turns in the top two places, while Juve didn’t go beyond fourth. But last year tells another story: without the -10, Juve would have had the same points as Inter (72) and two more than Milan (70). Allegri would have qualified for the Champions League. In short, the gap wasn’t that sensational at the starting line. Inter allowed themselves a much richer and more covered squad in every role, Milan was aiming for an inevitable revolution after the latest troubles. Nobody is unbeatable: Inter fell to Sassuolo, Milan lost the two direct clashes with the Nerazzurri and Bianconeri, while Juve seems to have absorbed the bad blow against Sassuolo well, gaining confidence.
AND IF JUVE
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Many ask themselves: if Juve played well where would they be? Rhetorical question. This is the Allegri bis team in every sense. The first was elastic (see how he avoided the post-Conte shock) and courageous (Pjanic played, Mandzukic on the outside). This, perhaps considering the quality of him as inferior, he prefers to manage without taking any risks. Against a Milan with ten men, and with a clear lack of ideas, several colleagues would have fielded an extra striker. He preferred to maintain control, keep Milan away and strike, almost certain that, sooner or later, he would have done it. He is sorry that Udinese and Lazio, attacked, pressured, rushed through, have now been dismissed, but it is as if Sassuolo had forced a safety reverse. On the other hand, Milan seems more fragile and certainly discontinuous, while Inter is solid, knows how to be ruthless, but is not already on the run as one might have thought. Ugly, dirty and bad but with only one match a week, injured but impervious in defense and young, Juve is there. Fiorentina, Inter and Napoli have the task of clarifying his future better in the next 6 rounds.
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