Winter Champion with a thrill. Juventus conquered Rome and thus took the lead in the standings alone, right in the final round of the first leg, but did so at the end of a performance that was anything but convincing. In fact, the 2-1 final cannot make Sarri happy, forced to suffer for 90 'despite the double lightning advantage that had put the match downhill. But the bianconeri, instead of taking advantage of the situation to look for other goals, closed themselves in their own trocar, allowing Roma to reassert themselves and get back into the game, thus forcing them into a painful finish. In the end, however, the Lady won and the Giallorossi just had to deal with another defeat, the second in a row after the one against Turin, which puts the Champions area at risk (Atalanta are level on points).
However, this is not the worst news for Fonseca but Zaniolo's injury, who came out in tears after collapsing to the ground at the end of a splendid personal action. Niccolò suffered a broken anterior cruciate in his right knee and this morning he will be operated on at Villa Stuart by Professor Mariani: unfortunately his season ends here and even the Europeans, barring miracles, will only see him as a spectator. It was already understood from the dynamics that it was a serious injury, unfortunately very similar to that of Ronaldo (the Brazilian) in 2000 and not only for the area of the pitch, almost identical due to a sort of bad twist of fate. To Niccolò the wish that it could only be a bad stop before starting again in a big way, Roma have the task of replacing him in the best possible way, because an absence like this risks damn complicating the season. "I swear, I'll come back stronger than before" the comment of the very talented boy on Instagram, testifying to a much more mature mind than his 20 years.
That it was an evening with a high rate of bad luck was already understood with Demiral, who was also forced out due to an injury: it is a sprained left knee, fortunately less serious than that of his yellow and red colleague. It was the Turkish who unlocked the game after just 3' thanks to a shin kick, very effective in correcting Dybala's free-kick on goal. Shock start for Roma, hit cold and unable to react quickly: a few minutes later, in fact, Joya took advantage of it again, forcing Veretout to make a penalty foul. Ronaldo went on the spot, for the black and white 2-0 (10 ') and an apparently downhill match.
Here, however, Sarri's team decided to stop attacking, without however managing the ball in the best possible way: a sensational assist for Roma came out to get back into the game, not fully exploited only due to the many technical errors at the time of the last pass . But the Giallorossi still scared the Lady quite a bit, especially after Perotti's penalty (68') which completely reopened the game. From then on, Fonseca's team, previously already dangerous with a post by Dzeko and a great save by Szczesny on Under, further increased the pressure, forcing Juve to limit themselves to a few restarts, however badly exploited.
It should also be noted that Dybala was far from happy to give way to Higuain, as clearly seen from the replays on TV: the Argentine covered his mouth so as not to show his lips, but the attitude towards Sarri appeared rather polemical. “Honestly, I couldn't care less – retorted the Juventus coach. – The match was giving me other indications and I have to make my choices. We did very well for an hour, what I didn't like was the management of the result, this dribbling in our own half instead of going forward. In any case, suffering in Rome is almost inevitable, so we're happy for the 3 points and for a good performance for large stretches".
The mood of Fonseca is opposite, both for the result and for the Zaniolo question. “We are very sad for him and aware that it will be a big problem for us” – his comment at the press conference. – It's always difficult to play against Juventus, if we give away two goals in the opening minutes it becomes even more so. But then the team played a good game, especially in the second half where we attacked well. Recovering two goals isn't easy, but I'm convinced that by risking more we have a better chance of winning than by doing the predictable things. I believe in courageous football and with the team taking risks." At the moment, however, the choice is not paying off, at least in this terrible 2020. The same one that instead, despite ups and downs, gave Juve the winter championship. A platonic success, I agree, but almost always very indicative of how the championship can end…
