Series A. 13th round
Milan. “Giuseppe Meacca”
“Milan” – “Juventus” 0:0
Milan: Magnan, Royal (Calabria 84), Gabbia (Pavlovic 84), Thiaw, Hernandez, Fofana, Reynders, Musa (Chukwueze 84), Loftus-Cheek (Pulisic 70), Leau, Morata
Juventus: Di Gregorio, Savona (Danilo 90+1), Gatti, Kalulu, Cambiaso, Locatelli, C. Thuram, Conceicao (Wea 80), Koopmeiners, Yildiz (Mbangula 90+1), McKennie (Faggioli 80)
Warnings: Leau 26, Royal 67, Fofana 69 – Gatti 27, Locatelli 87
Chief Arbiter: Daniele Chiffi
The Derby of Italy “Juventus” – “Inter” and the Derby Della Madonnina “Inter” – “Milan” are filled with anger, hatred, which is why there is a lot of drama, plot twists and often a lot of goals are scored. They didn’t even find a special name for the match between Milan and Juventus, and fear of each other prevails in this confrontation. Therefore, it is traditionally less bright, with a lack of goals and drama.
This is what is happening this season. 2:1 in the Milan Derby with a decisive goal in the 89th minute, 4:4 in the Derby of Italy and a dismal zero in the Milan-Juventus match, the kind for which you want to deduct points from both teams. The fans at the San Siro also clearly want it, as they greeted the whistle at both the break and the end of the match with a whistle.
In the last seven head-to-head meetings, including the current one, only six goals were scored. Less than a goal per match. The previous ones, however, took place under the leadership of the cautious, conservative Stefano Pioli and Massimiliano Allegri. Young, energetic, attacking Paulo Fonseca and Thiago Motta are looking for a completely different football, bright. But today Pioli and Allegri never seemed to leave.
Juventus may be partially vindicated. He lost all his forwards and was forced to place defensive midfielder McKennie in the center of the attack. In general, he brought 15 field players to Milan. Played away. In general, this was not such a bad situation, because I started the tour two points behind first place. But in sixth place, that is, you need to overtake your rivals. That is, a series of victories is needed.
Well, Milan is in seventh place and far behind the Top 6. Therefore, he was obliged to play to win. Moreover, he has already won victories in Top matches this season – over Inter and Real Madrid. But he came out with defensive player Musa on the right flank of the attack, deciding to replace the not entirely healthy attack leader Pulisic with them. And without the desire to attack in general.
A good low shot from Yildiz from the line of the penalty area, a good header from Royal from inside the goalkeeper’s area (both were slightly inaccurate), a blocked shot from Cambiaso in an excellent position – that’s all that can be remembered. The score of the match in terms of shots on goal was 6:7, on target – 1:2, and Milan’s shot on target took place in the last seconds. And the goalkeepers took all these three shots clearly.
Fonseca said that during the international break he worked almost exclusively on defense. It helped. But the attack disappeared. So after 3:3 against Cagliari it became 0:0 against Juventus. Either in the forehead or on the forehead. Only one win in the last four league matches, two in six, seventh place is nine points behind the first, albeit with a match in hand.
Well, Juventus did not concede in the tenth match of the first 13 matches of the season in the league – the best record since Roma in the 2013/14 season. But that Roma did not win the Scudetto. It is unlikely that such a Juve team that scores too many draws will win. 13 in the last 21 league matches. Yes, in this 21st year there is not a single defeat. But the highest places are not taken by anyone. Here he is now the fifth.
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