Atalanta stumbles again, Juve takes advantage of it. Tuesday's advances end with a shocking surprise, or the Goddess draw on the Genoa field: a 0-0 that opens the doors wide for the bianconeri, who thanks to the 2-0 win over Cagliari bring them to minus 4 in the standings, but also in Rome, Fiorentina and, perhaps, Lazio, able to shorten in today's races and make the Champions race more challenging than ever.
Waiting to see what will happen we can say that the big winner is Allegri, capable of earning 5 points in two days against Gasperini, who instead went from dreaming of the Scudetto to risking losing even fourth place. The coach from Livorno managed it with his usual cynicism, first by conquering Bologna "with a short snout", then regulating Mazzarri's Sardinians with a goal in time (Kean with a header in the 40', Bernardeschi with a right in the 83'), all with the armored door.
Let's be clear, not all the problems have been solved, indeed Cagliari had two sensational goals on the 1-0 result, one with Dalbert (unfortunate in kicking away from an excellent position), the other with Joao Pedro (header saved big time from Szczesny), but the Lady can go on holiday refreshed in morale and spirit, looking with confidence to a 2022 that will start with three terrific challenges like Napoli, Roma and Inter in the Super Cup.
“I'd be happy to arrive at the end of February with this gap to fight for the first four places – commented Allegri -. Once the direct clashes for that period have been eliminated, it will be easier, it's difficult to win them all, especially this year, that's why January and February will be two very important months". The table also depends on the opponents, Atalanta above all, but the prospects, in light of what has happened in the last few days, are certainly different.
The nerazzurri showed that they had more than one limit, failing the second consecutive match in the space of 72 hours. In fact, Marassi's draw is half a defeat, because Shevchenko's Genoa certainly didn't present themselves as an irresistible opponent, yet they were able to stop any offensive ambition from the DEA with an excellent defensive organization, also helped by the lack of lucidity of the opponents. The feeling is that the players from Bergamo, once they smell the Scudetto dream, have ended up lose mental clarity with which they usually take the field, thus ending up revealing themselves as "a normal team" and not the light-hearted steamroller that everyone has come to know.
"We played our game, had some good opportunities, but if you can't unlock the game it becomes more difficult - Gasperini's analysis -. We had very high ball possession, but there was no possibility of playing decent football on this disconnected pitch, we're not used to it. Our goals for 2022? I have none, except to see the team playing with this spirit and this compactness by shielding them to protect them, because we don't have a great media force to defend them when something isn't right." The fight for the Champions League restarts this evening with Rome, Fiorentina and Lazio, respectively engaged against Sampdoria (18.30 pm), Verona (same time) and Venice (16.30 pm).
Winning, in the light of what happened yesterday, becomes almost mandatory, but that doesn't mean it's taken for granted, on the contrary: the commitments are respectable and getting 3 points won't be taken for granted. Eyes are focused in particular on the Giallorossi, looking for continuity after the poker in Bergamo. D'Aversa's Sampdoria arrives at the Olimpico and Mourinho wants to take advantage of it to give his ranking a further shake-up, waiting for the January transfer market to bring him some reinforcements. Tonight, with the exception of the usual Pellegrini, Spinazzola and El Shaarawy, he will have almost the entire squad at his disposal and will be able to field a 3-5-2 with Rui Patricio in goal, Mancini, Smalling and Ibanez in defense, Karsdorp, Mkhitaryan, Cristante , Veretout and Vina in midfield, Zaniolo and Abraham in attack. The Blucerchiati, without starting goalkeeper Audero (muscle problem), will respond with a 4-2-3-1 with Falcone between the posts, Bereszynski, Yoshida, Colley and Augello in the back, Silva and Ekdal in the midfield, Candreva, Gabbiadini and Thorsby behind the lone striker Quagliarella. Instead, treacherous transfers for Lazio and Fiorentina, committed 165 kilometers (and two hours) away between Venice and Verona.
The Biancocelesti, in particular, must do without Immobile, positive result at Covid and therefore unavailable: absence that obviously creates various concerns for Sarri, always agitated when he has to give up his bomber jacket par excellence. Furthermore, the coach has always said that his team struggles in close matches, even if it is fair to underline how he had two more days of rest than his opponents. Winning is mandatory and to do so he will rely on a 4-3-3 with Strakosha in goal, Marusic, Luiz Felipe, Acerbi and Radu in defense, Milinkovic-Savic, Cataldi and Luis Alberto in midfield, Pedro, Felipe Anderson and Zaccagni in attack. The same game system also for Zanetti, who will respond with Romero in goal, Ebuehi, Caldara, Ceccaroni and Haps in the back, Crnigoj, Vacca and Kiyine in the midfield, Aramu, Henry and Johnsen in the offensive trident.
