Between summer and winter, the Bianconeri signed top-notch players: mandatory Champions League. Bergamo’s draw makes the rivals smile especially…
It was a great second half, the one between Atalanta and Juve. They both could have won, and they both tried until the end: in the last minutes, first Zaniolo and then Yildiz (who also grows every day in personality, he’s a jewel) had precious opportunities to decide the match, which were lost for a nothing. It’s a draw that entertained us and we liked it, in short: lively, hard-fought, at times spectacular. But then, if you do the math, it is a result that satisfies above all the opponents of Gasperini and Motta, those who are competing with them for the Scudetto and Champions League.
A PEER WHO LIKES (THE RIVALS)
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Don’t you believe it? Just grab a pen and paper. In the last three games Atalanta have scored three points, Napoli and Inter nine each, gaining six on the Bergamo team. It’s not a decisive break, obviously, but Conte and Inzaghi are digging a small furrow compared to Gasp: Antonio has a four-point lead awaiting Saturday’s direct clash; Simone is on par, but has two games to recover (already tonight he has the opportunity to break away from Atalanta by taking advantage of the recovery against Bologna). As for Juve, they continue to be unbeaten, but they also continue to draw, so much so that they have now reached thirteen. And if this performance was better than almost all the others, it is not enough to change the evidence of the ranking: with the same number of games played, the Bianconeri remain below Lazio and even the much-maligned Milan, having to recover the match in Bologna, potentially has the same points as Juventus.
MOTTA, MANDATORY CHAMPIONS
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Motta in Bergamo decided to play with Koopmeiners and McKennie at the center of the attack, diverting Nico Gonzalez – who had played the fake center forward in the derby – to the left. Emptying the area of real attackers is an option that Thiago really likes, but from now on he will probably have to review this idea of his: Vlahovic is recovering from injury and Kolo Muani is arriving, we cannot imagine that he will not build the Juventus attack around these two elements. By the way: between the summer and winter transfer markets, Juve continues to make top-class players available to Motta, from Koopmeiners to Douglas Luiz, from Thuram to Nico Gonzalez and Kalulu, up to the latest strikers Kolo Muani and Alberto Costa (and it won’t end here, two central defenders are probably on the way). Reaching the Champions League, at this point, becomes an objective that the Juventus coach really cannot fail.
BEHIND SHE RUN TO CIAPANÒ
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Behind the top three, there is a close race that keeps alive anyone’s hopes of getting back into the race for the Champions League. Lazio have won two points in their last three matches, Juve three; Bologna took a point in the two most recent matches, Fiorentina even one in five matches. They all struggle too much to win, so Milan’s success in Como – although suffered and a bit daring – is worth its weight in gold.
MILAN WITH CHARACTER
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Conceiçao is right: Milan lacks many things, but not character. Thanks to this competitive malice, they won the Super Cup, overturning two matches that seemed lost, and with their aggressiveness, Como also recovered. The turning point in the match came from a random episode, a wrong shot by Theo Hernandez – one of the worst up to that point – which turned into an uncatchable volley for Butez; then Leao, the brightest as well as the most talented, took care of it. When the Portuguese has days like this, Milan can win games they don’t deserve or beat opponents who are superior to them (remember Real?).
JUVE-MILAN FOR THE RELAUNCH
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After yesterday’s results and performances, Saturday’s match between Juve and Milan takes on a completely different flavour: no longer the challenge between the two great teams excluded from the race for the Scudetto, a sort of hymn to disappointment, but the confrontation between teams that they try to regain their place as protagonists. With his gaze fixed – as mentioned – on the race for the Champions League, for all that it guarantees on an economic level and international prestige. Motta and Conceiçao’s path in the championship continues to be complicated, but this Tuesday of recoveries gave some encouraging signs. Juve-Milan will also be Riyadh’s revenge, which the Rossoneri will face however without at least two starters lost in Como: Morata, disqualified, and above all Pulisic, who was injured. The Bianconeri, on the contrary, should have Vlahovic again. And maybe, who knows, Kolo Muani.
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