The return of the Brazilian, fresh from 3 consecutive games as a starter after knee surgery, has restored the solidity of Spalletti’s defense
More than a totem. With Gleison Bremer on the pitch, Juve haven’t lost for almost a year and nine months. You have to go back 627 days, to be precise, to find a defeat for the Bianconeri with the Brazilian on the pitch: it was 24 April 2024, it was still the Allegri-bis team, which suffered a painless defeat, 2-1, at home to Lazio in the second leg of the semi-final of the Italian Cup. From then on, an open series of 22 games without defeat (12 wins and 10 draws) when the number 3 led the Juventus defense.
If in total the average is more than 2 points per game, the statistics improve if we only consider this season’s matches: in the 10 times he was on the pitch, Juve achieved 7 wins and 3 draws, with an average of 2.4 points per match. A championship-winning trend, which had already been highlighted at the beginning of last season (before the forced stoppage due to the operation on his left knee): in the first 7 outings of Thiago Motta’s team, with the number 3 always starting, the Bianconeri had achieved 4 wins and 3 draws, conceding a single, irrelevant goal (against PSV in the Champions League).
Upon his return after the operation in October to suture the medial meniscus tear in his previously operated knee, Bremer confirmed that he was the cornerstone of the Juventus wall: in the 3 matches in which he played the full 90′ under Spalletti’s management (against Bologna and Roma his gradual return saw him on the pitch for 14′ and 61′ respectively), Juve conceded just one goal: that of Banda against Lecce, originating from an error in the construction of Cambiaso. The only other goal conceded by the Juventus rearguard was that of Baldanzi in the 75th minute of the match against the Giallorossi, which however arrived when the Brazilian had already left room for Rugani. In these 270 minutes of the championship, Bremer confirmed that he is back to the rocky defender who, in the summer of 2022, had sparked the transfer duel between the Bianconeri and Inter, later won by then sporting director Cherubini: the numbers say 9 aerial duels won out of 15 faced and 10 out of 18 on the ground, 3 balls intercepted and 8 recovered. The Brazilian’s contribution, however, is not limited to the impact of his individual performance, but is also important in terms of collective security and personality: with him at his side, his teammates also increase their performance. Lloyd Kelly and Pierre Kalulu, for example, in Pisa felt free to push forward (hitting a post and scoring a goal), while against Sassuolo Spalletti had no qualms about teaming Koopmeiners alongside him, more of an added midfielder than a true defender. More than a totem, in short, for all of Juve.
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