Mission accomplished. Juventus beats Zenit, thus finding a victory that had been missing for three games and, above all, qualification with two rounds to spare. Next 23 November, in Chelsea's den, they will only play to establish the ranking order, which will allow Allegri to concentrate most of his forces on the championship, in the hope of recovering a few points from those in front of him. In this sense, the Juventus coach can draw some important indications from the 4-2 at the Allianz Stadium, starting with the performances of Dybala and Chiesa, drivers for detachment and fixed points from which to start again from next Saturday's match against Fiorentina.
The jewel, in particular, has shown to be very inspired, and who knows if yesterday's brace (106 goals in the black and white jersey, achieved by a sacred monster like Platini) has not unlocked it definitively: if so, it would be ideal for Max, right in the night in which Ronaldo confirms to the world that he is not a problem, but a resource. But we'll talk about this in a moment, first it's right to celebrate Juventus' success, without however hiding the problems. Yesterday too, in fact, the defensive phase creaked, demonstrating that this Juve struggles to find a definitive balance: translated, if they decide to attack to score more, they end up collecting two goals, even if they scored one by themselves.
"At 4-1 we made four counterattacks that we didn't finish and in the end we conceded, it's the emblem of this team - he sighed Allegri in the press conference – I had no doubts about the boys' performance, they played well technically and gave great intensity, even if we still need to improve. If the withdrawal is served? I'm a trainer, not a watchdog. We went to training camp yesterday morning, we got together and did a good workout, now I've given a day off as a reward, Thursday we get together and train, also because then we'll have two days to prepare for the difficult match against Fiorentina. Dybala? He played a technically excellent game, like the rest of the team, but we have to cancel the last 5 minutes, which are the ones that made us lose against Sassuolo, against Empoli and two points against Udine ”.
The Juventus coach rightly points out what went wrong, but it is fair to reiterate that Juventus deserved the victory. The 1-1 draw at the end of the first half (goal from Dybala in the 11th minute, Zenit equalized following an own goal from Bonucci in the 26th minute) did not reflect the progress of the match, in the light of the territorial domination of the Bianconeri, masters of the pitch since 'start. In the 55th minute the decisive episode, albeit with a pinch of luck: a foul by Claudinho on Chiesa and a penalty for Juve, which Dybala kicked incredibly wide. However, the referee Hernandez had it repeated due to Barrios' premature entry into the area (it always happens, hence the reference to good luck) and so Joya erased the very heavy mistake, finding the 2-1 which gave way to the goleada. From then on, in fact, the bianconeri spread, scoring first with Chiesa (74', great personal action) and then with Morata, who finally broke free in the 82nd minute. In the final then here is the goal by Azmoun (92'), good only for the score , to remember that the problems, despite the success, are still alive and well.
It didn't go so well at theAtalanta, who sees a historic victory against the Manchester United in full recovery, signed, of course, by Cristiano Ronaldo, author of a brace. The second goal, that of the final 2-2, weighs on a possible hand ball by Greenwood, however considered involuntary: the splendid technical gesture of the Portuguese still remains, capable of finding the bottom corner with a volley as beautiful as it is decisive. Yes, because with Atalanta's 2-1 the standings would have been very different, with the Goddess one step away from qualifying and the Red Devils in the abyss; instead, Solskjaer thus maintains first place in Group F, albeit on a par with Villarreal. But Gasperini shouldn't despair, partly because the ball remains in his hands (with 6 points between Young Boys and the Spaniards he goes to the round of XNUMX), because his team gave him the answers he was looking for, putting a squadron like United on the ropes (net of the difficulties it goes through) and missing the victory only for the Portuguese alien's play.
“He's a crazy player, I never see him shoot out of the mirror, 9 times out of 10 he hits the target, at the end of the game I said something to him in Italian: 'go to hell! – He joked, but up to a certain point, the Nerazzurri coach – We played against a big name in European football, if we had won it would have been great but we came very close. We're 80% happy and 20% sorry for conceding goals in added time, we're sorry because it would have been a feat and it would have given us a boost in terms of qualifying: nothing is compromised, we still have some opportunities. There's no question of mathematics, with 6 points we qualify but then we'll have to see what Manchester United and Villarreal will do: the next two games will be very difficult."
Indeed, the regret remains, because Atalanta managed to take the lead twice (Ilicic in the 12th minute on a duck from De Gea and Zapata in the 56th minute after a check by the Var), but had to deal with the cyclone Ronaldo, in goal first for the momentary 1-1 (46'), then for the definitive 2-2 (91'). Woe, however, to losing sight of reality: if the players from Bergamo are sad after a draw with the Red Devils it means that they have come a long way (and that is exactly the case), which can only lead to optimism in view of the next rounds .
