Forced to win. Juventus and Milan they return to the field after the failures of the midweek round, with the obligation to beat Udinese and Monza to avoid the risk of moving too far away from the Champions zone. This is, in fact, the most realistic objective of both, at least for now: there is still time to improve the prospects, provided that they start to grind out points seriously. Making a mistake today would be truly unforgivable, in light of a weekend that will also see Napoli-Atalanta, allowing you to recover points on at least one of the two, obviously subject to victories.
Udinese – Juventus (18 pm, Dazn)
A tricky away match for Juventus, playing on the pitch of one of the championship's revelations such as Runjaic's Udinese. Thiago Motta needs to find his feeling with victory again, which suddenly disappeared after an excellent start to the season: in the last five games with Parma, Inter, Stuttgart, Lazio and Cagliari, in fact, the three points have only come against the Biancocelesti, also on own goals and in numerical superiority, compared to three draws and one defeat. Something has broken in the mechanism of the Italian-Brazilian, either due to the many injuries (above all that of Bremer), or due to some somewhat bizarre and not always effective choices (see Danilo, left out for two months and then launched for three consecutive games, despite an embarrassing state of form). The difficulties have translated into negative results and these have had effects on the standings, so much so that Juve now find themselves in sixth place, outside the Champions League zone and 7 points behind leaders Napoli. An immediate change of direction is urgently needed, also because in the meantime Allegri's "widows" have appeared, ready to underline the five points less than last season. The real comparison, for obvious reasons, will have to be made at the end, but it is clear that more was expected from this brand new Lady, built by Giuntoli with millions and instead detached from the top of the class.
Thiago Motta: “We have to do better, including me. Vlahovic? He could rest”
“The boys are fine, they are focused on the match: in Udine we have to put in a great performance against a team in great shape. We have to do better collectively, compact ourselves and leave as little space as possible, everyone giving something extra. We must not make the opponents think and we can only do this as a team, we are still at the beginning and we know that we have to improve. We will face a physically well-structured team, that unlike other years plays good football and has more ball possession. We have to improve in both phases to win, we believe in it but we have to do better, myself included. Vlahovic? He has to grow both in the offensive and defensive phases, it is not a question of touches, but how incisive the team can be. It is not the quantity that counts, but the quality of what is done on the pitch. In these hours we will evaluate whether to let him rest, but at this point in the season there are no tired players”.
Udinese – Juventus, probable formations
Udinese (3-5-2): Okoye; Kabasele, Bijol, Giannetti; Ehizibue, Lovric, Karlstrom, Payero, Kamara; Lucca, Davis
On the bench: Sava, Padelli, Abankwah, Zarraga, Palma, Zemura, Iker Bravo, Brenner, Ebosse, Modesto, Thauvin, Pizarro
Coach: Runjaic
Unavailable: Sanchez, Atta
Disqualified: Touré
Juventus (4-2-3-1): Perin; Savona, Kalulu, Gatti, Cambiaso; Locatelli, Thuram; Weah, Koopmeiners, Yildiz; Vlahovic
On the bench: Di Gregorio, Pinsoglio, Danilo, Cabal, Rouhi, Gil Puche, McKennie, Fagioli, Conceiçao, Mbangula, Adzic
Coach: Thiago Motta
Unavailable: Milik, Bremer, Nico Gonzalez, Douglas Luiz
Suspended: Pogba (until 11 March 2025)
Monza – Milan (20pm, Dazn and Sky)
Dark days also for Milan, coming off the defeat against Napoli that has extinguished, at least for the moment, the dreams of glory. Fonseca's team seemed to have found some continuity, but once again ended up melting in the face of a top-level opponent, exactly as in the recent past (derby aside, of course). The result is that the Rossoneri have sunk to eighth place and the alibi of the match to be made up against Bologna holds up to a certain point: even if they win (and it is not a given), in fact, they would still be out of the Champions League, well below the objectives indicated by the club and coach. The away match in Monza becomes very important, because the recovery passes first of all through victories against the so-called "small" teams. Up until last year, the challenges with the Brianza team had been rather easy, so much so as to unleash the irony of detractors, ready to make jokes about Galliani's Rossoneri past, but then the 4-2 on 18 February came along to reiterate, if there was still any need, that in football nothing can be taken for granted. Nesta has also already been able to stop Inter and Roma and on Wednesday he held his own against Atalanta, falling only at the end after seeing a rather dubious goal disallowed, so he is preparing for the amarcord challenge (10 years at Milan from 2002 to 2012, with a ton of trophies won, including two Champions Leagues) with excellent arguments. Fonseca, despite the pressure, will not take any steps back from the hard line he has taken in recent times: Leao will still start from the bench, ready to come on only during the game.
Fonseca: “The team is growing, but now we have to win”
“We are aware of what we did against Napoli,” sighed Fonseca. “It’s true, we are not satisfied because we lost a match that we had to win, we tried but we have to understand where we have progressed and what the growth of the team is. The boys are confident, it’s true that it is better to work with positive results, but I think the boys are motivated and mentally strong at the moment. We are ready for this difficult match with Monza, if we look at the results we have to win because the objective is always the same. It will be complicated, but we want to start getting points away from home too. We will have the return of important players who did not play against Napoli, but those who took to the field in that match have shown how important they can be. We are progressing in many things, it is obvious that the most important thing for all of us are the results, but when this type of form from the team creates confidence for the future.”
Monza – Milan, probable formations
Monza (3-4-2-1): Turati; Izzo, Pablo Mari, Carboni; Pereira, Bondo, Pessina, Kyriakopoulos; Maldini, Mota Carvalho; Djuric
On the bench: Pizzignacco, Mazza, Caldirola, D'Ambrosio, Valoti, Birindelli, Vignato, Ciurria, Bianco, Caprari, Postiglione, Maric
Coach: Nesta
Unavailable: Cragno, Sensi, Petagna, Gagliardini, Forson
Disqualified: none
Milan (4-2-3-1): Maignan; Terracciano, Thiaw, Pavlovic, Hernandez; Fofana, Reijnders; Chukwueze, Pulisic, Okafor; Morata
On the bench: Sportiello, Emerson, Tomori, Torriani, Musah, Bartesaghi, Jimenez, Calabria, Liberali, Leao, Loftus-Cheek, Zeroli, Camarda, Jovic
Coach: Fonseca
Unavailable: Bennacer, Florenzi, Abraham, Gabbia
Disqualified: none
