Scudetto, minus 4. Many (so to speak…) are the points that Juventus lack to win the title number 29 in its history, the second in a row in the Conte era. 5 days from the end, with Napoli 11 lengths behind (which however become 12 considering the direct clashes), just a formality. The Old Lady deserves it, capable of staying at the top of the standings for the whole championship, despite the calendar, especially in recent times, offering more than one pitfall. After the draw in Naples, Juventus scored 6 consecutive victories, conquering the difficult fields of Bologna, Milan (Inter) and Rome (Lazio), beating Catania and Milan at home, in addition to poor Pescara (however between the two matches at the Bayern Monaco). In short, a triumphal march, which not even the Rossoneri, the only ones unbeaten in 2013, have managed to put an end to.
“This is the sixth consecutive victory for us and I've been hearing about the scudetto for 6 games, instead we're only now +11 – explained Conte with a touch of pride. – If we had drawn even just two, today we would only be +7 with a tough calendar. Today was a step, I won't say decisive, but a big step”. While waiting for the coach to indulge in the celebrations (by the way: they could arrive as early as next Sunday, if Juve win the derby with Toro and Napoli won't go beyond a draw with Pescara), the black and white people are enjoying the victory over Milan , the only opponent (along with Sampdoria) not yet beaten this season. It wasn't a good game and, on balance, the fairest result would have been a draw, but the Old Lady stole nothing. As a great team that they are, they took advantage of a Rossoneri mistake to unlock a very balanced match up until then.
After a first half without particular emotions (except for a free-kick by Pirlo deflected by the barrier and rejected by Abbiati), the second also ran along the same lines. Horizontal possession of the ball by Milan, vertical tears by Juve, all without shots on goal. Boredom was broken by the duo Abate – Amelia, the latter taking over from Abbiati after just 15 minutes of play. The two messed up a ball on which Asamoah pounced, before the Rossoneri goalkeeper blatantly overwhelmed him. Sacred penalty and goal by Vidal, precise as a sniper in sending the ball under the top corner. More to tell? “It was a balanced game, Milan is Milan, they're starting to win, finding us at +18 is a source of great satisfaction for us – thought Antonio Conte. – They came from 14 useful results in a row and it wasn't easy for us because with Napoli at -8 some bad thoughts come to you, they had put a bit of pressure on us".
As reiterated by the coach, the advantage over Milan is remarkable: “Finding ourselves at +18 on them is a rare thing, I think it hasn't happened often lately. I repeat, the story is written by the winner, the others can only read it”. The dig at Galliani is evident, but, pending a possible reply from the CEO, Massimiliano Allegri took the floor. Who appeared calm, despite the fact that the moment is rather complicated: “It was a balanced match, we conceded little or nothing, but at the same time without creating chances. We're sorry because we could have done better, but let's take this defeat, the first of the second round. Now let's play the next matches in the best way to keep the advantage over our pursuers". Which was reduced to the bone, especially on Fiorentina. The Viola are at minus 1, and third place, almost certain until two weeks ago, is back in the balance. “Fiorentina isn't scary – Allegri shrugged. – We knew we had a triptych of important matches, we had the match ball in Florence at 2-0. But we have a calendar that allows us to score points on paper and the team's performances are good". Maybe, but the Rossoneri, in any case authors of an extraordinary comeback, have scored just 2 points in the last 3 games, thus complicating the way to the Champions League preliminaries.
