A start with a bang. Juventus and Lazio they begin their adventure in the best possible way Champions League, and if the victory of the bianconeri in Kiev was, if not obvious, at least expected, the same cannot be said for that of the biancocelesti against Borussia Dortmund: a real feat, which gives us a two out of two more promising than ever .
Let's start with Pirlo's men and from him 0-2 on Ukrainian soil signed Morata: if Crotone's goal was an encouraging start, yesterday's brace is the exclamation point on his return to black and white. Many, when Paratici had taken him by abandoning the Suarez and Dzeko slopes, had turned up their noses, considering him a stopgap solution, a third-choice striker. But in Kiev Morata definitively recovered Juve, uncorking a match in control from start to finish, yet bogged down in a dangerous 0-0 draw. The Spaniard took the lead at the beginning of the second half by exploiting a sort of rebound from goalkeeper Bushchan on a shot by Kulusevski (46'), then he repeated himself in closing with a good header from a cross by Cuadrado (84').
Alvaro on the cover, but also the rest of Juve handled it quite well: Pirlo's 3-4-1-2, this time, appeared logical and concrete, with two fast wingers like Cuadrado and Chiesa, the pair few frills Bentancur-Rabiot in midfield, Ramsey behind Kulusevski and, indeed, Morata. The only negative note of the evening Chiellini's injury, who went off in the 18th minute with a muscle problem: the hope is that it's a minor matter, but in the meantime, the next matches, pending De Ligt's recovery, will have to be played with only Bonucci and Demiral (including Messi's Barcelona).
The other great winner of the evening is Inzaghi's Lazio, capable of defeating Haaland's Borussia Dortmund at the Olimpico, Reus, Sancho and so on and so forth. A rock that seemed insurmountable for the biancocelesti, grappling with the usual training problems and with a depressed environment from the bad defeat in Genoa. Compared to Marassi, however, Lazio has found hunger and bite again, attacking the most popular Germans with a courageous and drumming start, with the consequence of finding themselves up 2-0 after just 23' thanks to Immobile's goal (6') and goalkeeper Hitz's own goal (23'). From then on, Inzaghi's team got back to doing what they do best, namely the counterattack: a concept of football that modern critics don't like, but which represents over a century of our history. Well done to the Lazio coach in never forgetting him, also because Borussia did have the weapons to get back in the running (71' Haaland), but also the defects to get permanently scuttled (76' Akpa Akpro).
Archived yesterday's games, it's time to think about today's games with Inter and Atalanta on the shields. Conte's Nerazzurri will receive the Borussia Moenchengladbach, those of Gasperini instead will go to Herning to face the Danes of Midtjylland (both at 21).
The spotlights are inevitably focused above all on theInter, called to win to alleviate the pain of the derby, but also to give a strong and clear imprint to a group which, it should be remembered, also includes Real Madrid and Shaktar Donetsk. In Spain, perhaps to get a little ahead, many think that the nerazzurri are the favorites of the group, a concept with which Conte, on the other hand, does not agree at all.
"I think that certain evaluations must be done seriously, otherwise they are said to be nonsense - the coach retorted in the press conference - Real won the last championship, they have players worth 100 million, if we question it because it didn't make the transfer market, it means to say that football is changing and maybe I'm losing sight of reality...".
But beyond that, the Nerazzurri have a duty to beat the Germans, otherwise the qualification issue would be complicated just like it was a year ago, when they were stopped by Slavia Prague in the opening match. Conte cannot afford it, but he still has to deal with several absences, reason for which the training will largely follow that of the derby, with only Eriksen replacing Brozovic. The Nerazzurri 3-4-1-2 will see Handanovic in goal, D'Ambrosio, De Vrij and Kolarov in defense, Hakimi, Barella, Vidal and Perisic in midfield, Eriksen in the frontline, Lautaro and Lukaku in attack. Mirror game system for Rose, who will respond with Sommer between the posts, Ginter, Elvedi and Bensebaini in the back, Lainer, Kramer, Neuhaus and Wendt in the midfield, Hofmann behind the offensive duo made up of Plea and Thuram, the latter son of the former Juventus player Lilian.
Great expectation also for Atalanta, in the second participation in the Champions League in its history. Compared to last year there is a greater awareness of one's own means, the daughter of a sensational journey, which was interrupted only in the quarter-finals against PSG, moreover in full recovery. However, woe to think that it is easy: if the people of Bergamo lose hunger and concentration, as we saw in Naples, then they are at a really big risk.
"Now we start again, we play every three days and there's no time to think about what happened - Gasperini cut short - Even when there's a bad day, you have to focus on the next match, with the awareness that these are already points that weigh".
After the turnover at San Paolo, the Nerazzurri coach will return to fielding a 3-4-2-1 formation: Sportiello in goal, Toloi, Palomino and Djimsiti in defence, Hateboer, De Roon, Freuler and Gosens in midfield, Pasalic and Gomez in shoulders of the lone striker Zapata. Priske will respond with a 4-3-3 formation that will see Hansen in goal, Andersson, Sviatchenko, Scholz and Paulinho in the back, Cajuste, Onyeka and Evander in the midfield, Sisto, Kaba and Mabil in attack.
