A victory to breathe again. At the Juventus that would be enough too a point to qualify mathematically for eighth of the Champions League, but given the current moment, a success would be rather welcome. The match with the Zenith (21 pm) could be ideal for restarting, especially as the group standings, unlike that of the championship, allow you to play without anxiety, however everything depends on your attitude and on this, in the light of what has happened in the last few days, you can no longer put your hand on the fire.
“We are all angry and sorry, in five days we threw overboard everything we had built in a month and a half – he explained Allegri in no uncertain terms – This must make us think, we must work to improve, we conceded 15 goals, 11 of which against teams that deservedly beat us, but which, with all due respect, are between tenth and twentieth place in the standings. There is only one solution: work and shut up. It is useless to talk about the problem, whoever wins is right, whoever loses is wrong”.
The moment is very complicated, definitely more than it was legitimate to expect in the summer, when many thought that the return of the Tuscan coach was enough to solve all the problems. And in fact Max, after a thrilling start, had strung together a series of victories that foreshadowed a return to the greats, shipwrecked however after the defeats against Sassuolo and Verona. The comparison with the past is embarrassing (Pirlo, these days, had 8 points more and occupied fourth place), but now it's time to think about the Champions League and that, in perfect antithesis with the past, has so far reserved only smiles.
Allegri wants to close the qualifying discussion already today, to then focus solely and exclusively on the championship between now and Christmas. To do this, he will rely on the now usual 4-4-2 with Szczesny in goal, Danilo, Bonucci, De Ligt and Alex Sandro in defense, Cuadrado, Locatelli, Bentancur and Chiesa in midfield, Dybala and Morata in attack. Semak, already capable of keeping up with the Lady in the first leg, will try again with a 3-4-2-1 with Kritsyuk in goal, Lovren, Chistyakov and Rakitsky in the back, Sutormin, Kuzyayev, Wendel and Santos in the midfield, Malcom and Claudinho behind the lone striker Azmoun.
The other challenge of the evening that concerns us is that of Bergamo, where theAtalanta will receive the Manchester United. Very delicate match for the Nerazzurri, who after the defeat in the first leg (with their heads held high, but still defeated) are forced to score points in order not to risk losing ground to Villarreal, currently level but expected to have an easier match against Young Boys.
“United are a team of absolute value, they can play in different ways and have a world-class attack – the analysis of Gasperini – We are in a particular phase of the season, in the league we occupy the Champions League zone and in Europe we have decisive matches. We can qualify, with two wins in the next three games we would be mathematically."
We therefore need a Goddess-style feat, just like a year ago when, these days, the Anfield victory against Liverpool arrived. The Nerazzurri coach will try with the usual 3-4-2-1 with Musso in goal, Palomino, Demiral and Lovato in defence, Zappacosta, Freuler, De Roon and Maehle in midfield, Pasalic and Malinovskyi in the trocar, Zapata in attack.
“Atalanta have a unique style, they look like an English team – the words of Solskjaer – We need an away win to get through the group, but we know it will be a very difficult match: in the first leg, without two great saves from De Gea, they would have gone 3-1 up and things would have gotten a lot more complicated”.
The Norwegian coach put a nail on his bench by beating Tottenham, but his situation remains at risk, which is why a slice of the present is being played tonight. At the Gewiss Stadium the Red Devils will wear the classic 4-2-3-1 with De Gea in goal, Lindelof, Varane, Maguire and Wan-Bissaka in the back, Bruno Fernandes and McTominay in the midfield, Fred, Shaw and Rashford behind of the lone striker Cristiano Ronaldo.
