The work of the Juventus coach is starting to be seen, Yildiz increasingly a leader. The two Milan teams have no choice
Two weeks ago, Sunday 7 December, Juve lost in Naples and the defeat resembled a de profundisthe first step towards a descent into hell. Two weeks later, thanks to three consecutive victories, including the Champions League, Juve knocks on the doors of paradise. Football is written in the sand, a wave is enough to change judgements, criticisms and perspectives. The success against Pafos in Europe was important, but mandatory, the only thing missing was for Juve not to beat the Cypriots. The mini-flight in the championship – the six points in the last two days – has a completely different specific weight, because Juve defeated Bologna and Romastrong opponents, direct rivals for the race for fourth place, the minimum objective of the Spalletti supporters. However, let’s not go around the real issue.
Juventus prospects
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A fifth Juve, today less than four from the top, does not go unnoticed and raises the big question: do you want to see that in this uncertain championship, without a strong master, the Lady, quietly and slowly, has time to sign up for the race for the scudetto? It is true that the ranking is “doped” by the Italian Super Cup, in the sense that the current top three – Inter (33 points), Milan (32) and Napoli (31) – missed a round due to a trip to Saudi Arabia. The leaders, like the two pursuers, should be assigned three more virtual points, while waiting for real recoveries. However, it is not a given that all three will win. Juve on the rise is starting to trigger some disturbances. Yes, but why should Juve suddenly win the championship, after having been criticized, almost vilified, for weeks? Because we are starting to see something of Luciano Spalletti’s work, for example a certain cleanliness and speed in the exits from the bottom and in the restarts. Or a beautiful ferocity when recovering the ball, with organized pressure, no longer left to the good heart and will of the individuals. And then Juve has three players in their belly who create superiority, who skip the famous man. The first is Kenan Yildiz, an increasingly technical leader, between solos, swerves and shots. In cascade, full-backs dribble, Francisco Conceiçao and Edon Zhegrova also cross and shoot, the latter net of the error that generated Roma’s goal. In a mechanized football full of strategies, tactics and movements prepared on tablets, natural dribblers clash. If Spalletti finds a point of balance between individual creativity and collective interests, if the wonderful Yildiz doesn’t exceed in generosity in the non-possession phase, it’s still a 10, Juve will annoy the others up there.
Roma without goals
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The match in Turin confirmed that Roma need a robust striker. The Soulé-Dybala duo had no impact, Baldanzi scored the goal of hope, but we are talking about a Chinese infantry style attack. Ferguson, the big center forward, who took over, worked hard, made a presence, but the Irishman is expected to leave.
inter and milan
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The value of the Italian Super Cup in Saudi Arabia is more economic than technical. This trophy does not make the season of a great team unforgettable, at most it embellishes it and at least sweetens it, but it does affect the budgets, with around ten million in prize money for the winners and almost seven for the defeated finalists. These are not insignificant figures, so it is surprising that Inter and Milan did not play the semi-finals with the determination and application required. Riyadh has pushed the limits of the squad to extremes Massimiliano Allegricertain summer signings betrayed expectations, and highlighted once again Inter’s inability to impose their superiority, with clarity of performances and results. Today Inter seems like a hybrid, it seems suspended between a past that does not completely pass and a future that has not yet fully manifested itself. Both Allegri and Cristian Chivu know that the scudetto is the great objective, the only one capable of amending every sin. From now until May, Milan will only compete in the championship, the Devil only has 23 games left in 5 months. Inter remains in the running for the Champions League and the Italian Cup, but the former today has the appearance of a utopia and the latter, for the big teams, is a better soothing solution than the Super Cup, but we are still talking about football homeopathy. Scudetto or scudetto, Milan has no choice.
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