Juve, Di Maria and Chiesa aim for a starting position with Sporting

A desperate need for the Church, and Di Maria. The two most offensively talented Bianconeri change the face of the Lady in an indispensable way. The Reggio Emilia final against Sassuolo confirmed what had already appeared a week earlier with Lazio (but less the first leg with Sporting last Thursday: better as a move of desperation than from the start?). Certainly Fede and Fideo cannot fail to be present in matches without tomorrow, like the one on Thursday in Lisbon. A road that leads straight to the trident, together with the fact that the 1-0 legacy of the first leg leaves little to defend: there’s a game to play.

Defense to 3 or 4

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Ultimately it is the same solution that Massimiliano Allegri had chosen in the first leg: Chiesa and Di Maria on the wings, in that case with Milik in the center of the attack instead of Vlahovic. A track for Thursday? Partly. Because if the three tenors up front are a must, the 3-4-3 may not necessarily be. Indeed, the finals with Lazio and Sassuolo say that the ideal support of the trident is rather the 4-3-3. Which paradoxically changes little or nothing in the choice of defenders: Danilo-Bremer-Gatti are good in both cases, with Cuadrado going down with them or up in midfield depending on the formation.

The Kostic variable

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Rather change in the choices in midfield, because the 4-3-3 would call for the sacrifice of Kostic, reserving the places in midfield for three more “internal” men between Locatelli (predictable return), Fagioli, Paredes, Miretti and… Pogba. Even if Allegri’s declarations on the fact that he doesn’t have 90 minutes in his legs – “and in the meantime let’s see if we can get him to do half an hour” – let us think of the Octopus more likely as a weapon in the running. Unless… Kostic on the left and Chiesa on the right at full range to supply Di Maria and a center forward in a 3-5-2 formation are a choice (from the start, not during the match) already proven this season: 13 January in Naples, defeated 5-1.