Juve thanks Mandzukic, Roma… Vitktoria Plzen. The Bianconeri and Giallorossi celebrate the transition to the round of 0 with one game to spare, albeit with two diametrically opposed evenings. In fact, Allegri's men secured qualification (but not first place, postponed to the last day by Manchester United's goal in full stoppage time) by beating Valencia, while Di Francesco's men only achieved their goal thanks to CSKA, the whose defeat against the Czechs made the 2-XNUMX suffered by Real Madrid irrelevant.
In short, a goal achieved but without particular trumpet blasts: for those, eventually, it will be the case to do something more. Of course, Juventus and Roma start from rather different assumptions, especially in this phase where the former fly while the latter struggle a bit with everyone. The best can be expected from the Lady, therefore the champagne will remain in the fridge at least until the next round, when Allegri will have to conquer Bern to take first place in group H.
However, the bulk of it was done and the signing, for the umpteenth time this season, is that of Mandzukic: it was he who undermined the Valencia defense with a close tap-in (59 '), obviously on an assist from Ronaldo. First a few too many worries (super save by Szczesny on Diakhaby in the 46th minute), after the usual European constipation which leaves the games open until the end: against Manchester it had cost a game already won, yesterday however it proved to be irrelevant.
“We deserved this victory against a team in great condition – Allegri commented – We should have played with more precision in attack but it must be said that it is not easy to score at Valencia, it is no coincidence that they have the best defense in La Liga. In any case, we did well, and Ronaldo gives us much more confidence."
A sadder climate in Rome, where qualification for the round of XNUMX arrived but also a defeat, the second in a few days after that of Udine, which underlines the difficult moment of the Giallorossi. The pass for the next round, moreover, was practically taken for granted in a group with CSKA Moscow and Viktoria Plzen, especially after last year's ride. Only a few months have passed but it seems like an eternity: this Rome is a distant relative of that one and the imminent challenge to Inter certainly does not promote optimism.
It matters little that Real Madrid were up against them: Scolari's team is certainly not going through a good moment and could never have been knocked out like today. Provided, however, that they didn't make too many mistakes, the Giallorossi did not miss anything: first by missing a goal scored with Under at the end of the first half, then by giving Bale (in this case Fazio) the 0-1 goal.
From then on only Real Madrid and luckily the European champions, after doubling up with Vazquez (59'), decided to stop. To further complicate the Giallorossi moment here is the injury of El Shaarawy, which adds to those already confirmed for De Rossi, Pellegrini and Dzeko: music to Spalletti's ears and a big headache for Di Francesco, forced to play for the bench without the its best elements.
“The thing that angers me the most is that we always make the same mistakes again – the Giallorossi coach grinded – We pay for individual blunders, furthermore when we concede goals we are unable to react. I have to be able to make the kids understand that they can't lose their heads at the first difficulty". However, there isn't much time to do it: Inter will arrive at the Olimpico on Sunday and Roma, one way or another, will have to raise their heads again.
