Juve, with Sampdoria Allegri tries the “tridentone”: but when Vlahovic rests?

The trip to the sea, if it were not understood, is not a trip. Juventus will drive towards Liguria during the day and there are only a few trolleys on the landing: 14 players from the first team, plus reserve goalkeepers and youngsters. As it is, as it is not, the team has a 2019 atmosphere. Allegri lost the noble Chiellini-Douglas Costa-Mandzukic trio and did not use Khedira for a calf problem, while Cuadrado even remained out of the Champions list. A Juve that needed a restorative vacation went to play against De Ligt, Van de Beek and all the cheerful class of Ten Hag, on a trip to Turin and in better shape than ever. How it turned out (very badly), you know.

Seven by eight

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Three years later, Allegri is back and has similar problems. The goal this time too is the Champions League, in its two meanings: qualify for the 2022-23 edition and make the most of the way possible in the Cup. The novelty, however, is Dusan Vlahovic, the new image of the post-Ronaldo man. The two 7s resemble each other for their obsessive attention to work and in fact here they are, always on the pitch. Ronaldo played his first 22 games with Juve from the start – he only rested after Christmas – and Vlahovic also never stopped. Eight out of eight games from the start, more than Tevez and Mandzukic, more than Higuain and Dybala, who didn’t even play the first game with Allegri. How long can that streak last? By eye, at most two more games: Dusan cannot always play, he will rest against Sampdoria or more likely against Salernitana. The weekly priority is clear: the return with Villarreal.

One stands outside

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In the last few hours Allegri has made an experiment: Kean, Vlahovic and Morata, all together in a strange hyper-offensive trident. Now, the idea is not very cheerful – Max always has a striker on the bench – but it will have to be considered, especially if Cuadrado is far from 100% after Tuesday’s fever. If not, Panita ready to play from the start, with one of the three strikers out. Could it be Vlahovic himself who is resting? He is not excluded, but the tags issue must be considered, which would suggest preserving DV7 against Salernitana. Dusan is warned and Juve will find Inter between two matches. Allegri knows it: of all the games he can skip, not that one.

Two against 10

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“He has great qualities, a lot of hunger and a desire to improve – Chiellini said yesterday about Vlahovic -. He pays a lot of attention to trying to understand the Juve world as soon as possible. There is great esteem for how he approached us.” The locker room has been repeating it since February: on the 7th he is a Juventus head, rather than a jersey. He struck everyone for the approach and for the physique but even that physique is not indestructible: the risk, for him and for the other owners, is that the super work of these matches could create problems of injuries and fatigue. A Juve without Dybala and Chiellini, Bonucci and Zakaria, obviously McKennie, Chiesa and Kaio Jorge means super work for Rabiot and De Ligt, for Morata and Locatelli, for Arthur and Danilo. Look at the composition of the bench last weekend. Juve had only Bernardeschi and Kean, who entered on time, plus Perin and Pinsoglio. Inter, always net of second and third goalkeeper, brought 10 players close to Inzaghi, Napoli 9 plus Zanoli, Milan 10 counting Maldini.

The sentence

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There is a difference and this is also why someone inside Juve turns up their noses. Some injuries are traumatic but muscle problems, especially after Christmas, have been too frequent. Those who are healthy like this can never stop. De Ligt has played since the beginning of 16 of the last 17 games in Serie A, Rabiot’s last match without playing dates back to January 9, Vlahovic also got on the carousel and never goes down, never goes down. It is the destiny of today’s footballers – to play when you need to, if you need to play always – and with Dusan it will end as with Mark Twain, the writer, who said he wanted to stop in Genoa but was forced to leave. Whatever happens tomorrow night, Juve will wake up in Turin on Sunday thinking about other things, thinking about Villarreal.