Other than party. Juventus and Roma fail their respective match points and postpone the qualification speech to the next round, the last one. Of course, the evening of the Champions League was quite demanding and beating Barcelona and Atletico Madrid is not exactly a walk in the park, yet something more was expected from "ours" on the pitch, or at least we hoped for it.
Instead, the bianconeri limited themselves to their homework against a sated Barça (Messi on the bench says it all) from the fact that a draw was enough for them to be qualified and first, and Roma failed to hurt an Atletico "incarognito" from having to win by force.
And so a 0-0 draw came out of Turin which postponed everything to the next day, with Juve forced to take the full spoil on the Olympiacos field, moreover in a city that does not exactly evoke good memories (Magath and Hamburg still ruin the sleep of many black and whites), and from Madrid a defeat that forces the yellow and reds to beat Qarabag at the Olimpico, moreover without having control of the first place in the standings (Chelsea, winner in Azerbaijan with a resounding 4-0 , bypassed them).
Let's be clear: there is certainly no need to make drama. In fact, the scenarios remain more than positive and the qualification prospects (for both) at least probable. But if the group of Roma authorized to postpone everything to the last day (even if, having reached this point, it was hoped to avoid it), so it is not for that of Juve, which saw last year's finalist clearly superior to Sporting Lisbon .
On the other hand, despite having to perform an almost impossible feat in Barcelona, he still has a chance of qualifying, a logical consequence of a lady who is too soft for the whole group and unable to bite the match point despite an opponent less hungry than usual. Allegri, forced to give up on Chiellini due to a last-minute failure, tried to surprise with an unprecedented 3-4-2-1, with Cuadrado outside in midfield and the Dybala-Douglas Costa duo supporting Higuain.
On paper a super Juve, but the pitch said something else. Also Barça's fault, this must be said clearly: leaving Messi on the bench and deploying the midfielder Paulinho on the trocar, in fact, is equivalent to putting aside any show ambitions. The only real thrill came from a free-kick by Rakitic that ended up on the post, otherwise the Blaugrana were content to manage a 0-0 draw that takes them to the round of XNUMX as first in the standings.
Juve didn't do much more, so much so that the biggest fear for Ter Stegen was created by Dybala in the 91st minute, when the draw was practically a done deal. The pass for the round of XNUMX remains close at hand, but it will have to be earned in Athens: in short, the black and white version of the recent past will be needed, certainly not the faded one seen in recent times.
"But I saw the right attitude otherwise we would have continued to concede goals - Allegri thought - In September I thought 8 points could be enough to get through the group, now instead we could need 11. Criticisms serve to improve and make us think, every time way I prefer to be less beautiful but more solid, also because in this way we will gain greater confidence".
Roma too must postpone any type of celebration to the next round, when Qarabag will arrive at the Olimpico. The mathematical qualification will come only in case of victory: on paper a more than possible mission, God forbid, provided however that one does not get anxious or underestimate the opponent.
Conte could also lend a hand, ready to receive Atletico in his Stanford Bridge den, but it is better for the Giallorossi to stop making calculations and return to playing lightly, the one missing in the Wanda Metropolitano basin.
It must also be said that Di Francesco's team could have unlocked the match first but Nainggolan's shot hit the post while Griezmann's, with a real feat, inflated the net (69'). And when Bruno Peres got sent off for a second yellow card in the final stages, Atletico Madrid doubled through Gameiro (85'), for a 2-0 that puts everything off until the last day.
“Let's not forget who we played against – explained Di Francesco. – Defeats must be analyzed intelligently, we played it evenly but perhaps we lacked a bit of malice. We need more if we want to become great, having said that, I'm not interested in responding to criticism but only in increasing the belief in my players."
