Europe bows to the Italians. on Tuesday of Champions it gives us an evening to remember for a long time, partly because the en-plein has become (ahinoi) a rare thing, much because the same was achieved with two great victories, albeit in completely different ways. Difficult to decide whether to celebrate the success of theInter on Barcelona, arrived with a proof of great pride and character (but also of splendid defensive phase), or that of Napoli ad Amsterdam, son of a football lesson that will go down in history. Let's say then that both have brought prestige to Italian football, too often mistreated above all by us: last night however, between champagne and bolt football, we didn't miss anything, showing off the entire repertoire.
Inter-Barcelona 1-0, Calhanoglu saves Inzaghi's bench
Calculating the coefficient of difficulty, but also the moment that is anything but rosy, it is right, however, to start fromInter, capable of finding himself on the most difficult night, in the presence of a Barcelona is it promised fire and flames and who instead only fired blanks. First of all thanks to the Nerazzurri, who perfectly interpreted the match requested by Inzaghi: Limit your opponents and then hit them at the right moment. That's exactly what happened, because the Barça, beyond a much higher ball possession (67% to 33%), he only shot on target twice, just like Inter who were however more precise. The billiard shot of Calhanoglu he moved the inertia of the match to the end of the first half (45+2'), after which the blaugrana tried in every way to at least score an equaliser, obviously without success.
It must also be said, for the record, that a wrong decision by the Slovenian referee weighs on the result Vincic, who in full stoppage time denied Barcelona a penalty for Dumfries' arm that appeared clear to everyone, except him and his colleague at the Var. Xavi he said indignantly (“the referee should come here to explain his choice” he thundered in the press room), Inzaghi instead focused on a victory that reopens the European games (now Inter have 3 points ahead of the Spaniards ), with the hope that it will be the right spark to rekindle a negative season so far. “It's not an unexpected victory, it was a great opportunity for us and we played the match we had to play with competitive spirit and concentration – the Nerazzurri coach exulted -. I'm happy for the team, the club and the fans, but this must be a start, even if this is an important night that will remain regardless."
Ajax-Naples 1-6, football lesson in Amsterdam!
If attributes won in Milan, ad Amsterdam we saw a real football lesson, of course Napoli, climbed to the chair at Cruijff's house and came back with 6 goals, as well as a performance destined to remain forever. Few can say they beat Ajax at home with this "arrogance" and it doesn't matter that the Dutch are no longer what they once were: the imprinting is always the same, as is the international experience that is decidedly superior to that of the Azzurri.
Spalletti can be really proud of his own, although perhaps the biggest compliments, other than the players, must go to Joints, capable of building a very strong team, all by cashing in cash and significantly lowering the wage bill. The input of De Laurentiis it required extraordinary skill and he, an often underestimated manager, didn't miss a beat. The scoreboard, moreover, speaks clearly and shows a brace of Breakers (18' and 47') and the signatures of the usual kvaratskhelia (63') and Simeon (81'), as well as the "survivors" (of the revolution, of course) By Lorenzo (33') and Zielinski (45'). A binge of goals in the middle of a match conducted from start to finish, dominated in scoring and statistics (26 shots to 7), in defiance of Ajax's initial lead (Holy at 9') which made one think of an evening of suffering. “It's not like a match changes your life – Spalletti's wise comment -. It was certainly a good performance and we are ahead in the championship right now, but the others are close and one misstep is enough for them to attack you. The moment is good, but we must immediately think about the next match against Cremonese".
Chelsea-Milan (21pm, Amazon Prime)
This evening the focus moves to London and Turin, where the challenges of Milan e Juventus. The most fascinating is certainly that of Stamford Bridge between Chelsea di Potter and the rossoneri's Pioli, probably the hardest rock in the whole group. Il Diavolo, in spite of the Augustan forecasts, leads the standings with 3 points ahead of the Blues, last at 1: a course clearly below Todd Boehly's expectations, not surprisingly costing Tuchel his exemption, which forces the British to win at all costs. In short, an evening with a helmet for Milan is expected, which has been ultra-remodeled given the long list of injured players.
Pioli: "Chelsea are strong, but we'll play with our mentality"
“We face a strong opponent motivated by the change of coach, but we have our mentality and our way of being on the pitch, we will try to put them on the pitch – the words of Pioli -. A compact and attentive defensive phase will be needed, it being understood that the important thing will be to play with our characteristics and our spirit: we want to make sure that we start writing our history in the Champions League as well".
Chelsea-Milan, the formations: it's up to Dest, Ballo-Touré and Krunic
The situation injuries it was already worrying before Empoli, but after that it became decidedly problematic. Calabria, Saelemaekers and Kjaer join Maignan, Hernandez, Messias, Florenzi and Ibrahimovic and it doesn't matter that Origi has finally returned to the group: the Rossoneri coach's problems are above all in defense, where the only remaining starters are Tumor e Rabbit. But Pioli, as previously told, is not looking for excuses, on the contrary he is convinced he can play with a 4-2-3-1 that he will see Tatarusanu in goal, Dest, Kalulu, Tomori and Ballo-Touré in defence, Bennacer and Tonali in midfield, Krunic, De Ketelaere and Leao behind the lone striker Giroud. Potter, snatched away by millions from Brighton to revive Chelsea's fortunes, will respond with a 3-5-2 with Kepa in goal, Fofana, Thiago Silva and Koulibaly in the back, James, Mount, Jorginho, Kovacic and Cucurella in midfielder, Havertz and Sterling up front.
Juventus-Maccabi Haifa (21pm, Sky and Now TV)
However, the most delicate race, classification in hand, is that of the Juventus, forced to win to keep their qualification hopes alive. The challenges with Maccabi they can't be wrong for any reason, otherwise the distances from the leading duo would become unbridgeable: the bianconeri probably wouldn't mind a double success from the psg, so as to leave Benfica within reach, but these calculations will only make sense in the event of a double victory over the Israelis, otherwise they would be essentially useless.
Allegri: "We have to believe until mathematics condemns us"
“We have zero points after two races, it means having to win – he admitted Allegri at the press conference -. But we shouldn't have anxiety, or try to overdo it like against Bologna, the chases are not resolved with a game. Until mathematics condemns us we have to believe it, meanwhile let's start putting a brick. I will certainly make some line-up changes compared to the last match, also because we will have an equally important match against Milan on Saturday".
Juventus-Maccabi Haifa, the formations: Milik, tired, goes to the bench
In reality, the Juventus coach would have liked to propose the Di Maria-Vlahovic-Milik trident, but the Pole has recovered from a muscle strain and will only go on to the bench. The only certainty is the Argentine's return to the field, from whom it is reasonable to expect a test of pride to erase the stupidity of Monza, which will also cost him the match against Milan. For the rest, the 4-4-2 has been revisited with Szczesny in goal, Cuadrado, Bonucci, Bremer and Danilo in defense, McKennie, Paredes, Rabiot and Kostic in midfield, Di Maria and Vlahovic in attack. Maccabi, fasting for Yom Kippur (a Jewish holiday which coincides with the match in Turin), will respond with a 3-4-1-2 with Cohen between the posts, Batubinsika, Goldberg and Seck in the back, Sundgren, Lavi and Abu Fani and Haziza in the midfield, Chety behind the offensive duo made up of Pierrot and David.
