Juve never stops. After the victories against Turin, Empoli, Milan and Manchester City, Palermo also arrived, very heavy in terms of morale and ranking. Now the Lady is fifth just 3 points from Rome: not bad for those who, less than a month ago, sadly occupied the right side of the rankings. The summit remains far away but the trend authorizes hopes of a comeback: the next matches with Lazio and Fiorentina could really upset the scenarios.
“We had a good November recovering points and conquering the second round of the Champions League – commented Allegri. – Compared to before we are physically better, and the positive results have given us confidence. I don't want to talk about goals, the comeback is still long to do but time is there, we have to stay calm and keep working”. More than legitimate satisfaction for the Juventus coach, highly criticized until a few weeks ago and now strengthened by results and performances.
The team seems to have finally found certainties with the 3-5-2, a score learned by heart in the Conte era and dusted off a few weeks ago, when the crisis seemed irreversible. Allegri then put some of his own into it with some unpopular choices that turned out to be right, above all that of Mandzukic. Critics would like Morata, more technical and fun to watch, while he prefers the Croatian giant, less "beautiful" but tremendously effective.
The former Atletico Madrid player, after the goal against City, also repeated himself at Barbera, confirming himself as a top-level striker. Very heavy and decisive goal, moreover at a time when the match was being channeled towards a draw. In fact, Juve had crushed Palermo in their half from the start without however being able to "punch" him. But in the 54th minute here is the game-breaking play: Dybala's cross and Mandzukic's great header for the 1-0.
Once the impasse was unlocked, the Bianconeri had to do nothing but manage and this, in the light of an overwhelming technical superiority, proved to be a rather easy task. Allegri has rotated the most offensive men in an attempt to sting Palermo again: a good and profitable choice. The "fresh" Licthtsteiner (for Cuadrado), Morata (for Mandzukic) and Zaza (for Dybala) got married in the rosanero spaces and the result, as expected, was decidedly rounded.
First Sturaro (89') and then Zaza (93') contributed to making the black and white evening better, closing the match with a 3-0 result. “We had a good game in terms of play and intensity – Allegri's analysis. – It wasn't easy also because we came from the Champions League and there was the risk of not keeping 90 minutes. We could have already taken the lead in the first half but it doesn't matter: we did it in the second and that's perfectly fine”.
The ranking, as previously mentioned, smiles again and the next few days could make it even more interesting. On Friday evening there will be the away game of the Olimpico against a Lazio in full crisis, then it will be the turn of Fiorentina for a real big match in the uptown quarters. Those that Juve, after difficult months, see again with great pleasure and with the aim of never leaving them again.
