The final that no one can lose. Juventus-Napoli (Reggio Emilia, 21 pm) is giving away the Italian Super Cup, but above all a beautiful piece of credibility for the projects of Pirlo and Gattuso: the black and white, in the light of the championship, are certainly worse off, but also the blue, in case of defeat, would have several problems in the shadow of Vesuvius. The two, ironically, are great friends and companions in a thousand battles between Milan and the national team: tonight, however, they won't be able to make any kind of discounts.
"The match against Inter must be cancelled, but we are lucky enough to be able to play in a final right away to redeem ourselves," he explained. Pirlo - A different attitude will be needed, but we want to pay back and show that we are not the same as the other night. It's a difficult moment, but the team shouldn't be attacked. We want to bring home the Super Cup”.
"Juve will hardly lose two in a row, even if they lack important players, they have an incredible squad: we mustn't make the mistake of thinking they are in crisis," he warned. Gattuso – It's a final, taking it home can allow you to raise the bar, but if we lose we'll have to be good at reacting because we play every three days”.
The tension is high on both sides, but at Juve the air is undoubtedly heavier. The defeat against Inter left its mark, as did the statements of a senator like Chiellini after the match, who spoke of "cycles that end". In short, this final becomes a very heavy test for Juve and their coach: a year ago, moreover, Sarri's crisis began precisely by losing the Super Cup against Lazio, despite a much better ranking.
“This final is not a crossroads, I'm used to these situations and I experience them well – he reiterated Pirlo – I'm only sorry for the players who have been brought up and attacked, especially the younger ones: I prefer you to attack me and not them. This, however, is not a crossroads, the finals are played to win them and we are here to do it".
On the Naples front, however, cautious optimism reigns, son of Sunday's 6-0 with Fiorentina, who restored a smile to a very moody environment. To further increase the electricity of the match, obviously, there is the "non-precedent" of 4 October, which makes this the first Juventus-Napoli of the season.
"At that moment there was good faith on our part, we respected the rules, the ASL blocked us on the bus and I assure you that there is great respect for Juve, all the rest is talk - he glossed over Gattuso – We arrive well, beyond the 6-0 we had a great performance and we must continue like this. It's a difficult match, against a great team and great champions, but we've prepared it well and we'll give it our all. For the club, the city, the fans, the team, it has an important meaning."
Beyond environments and controversies, this is a match that will be won on the pitch, net of the training difficulties which, to date, affect Juve above all. In fact, Pirlo has to do without Demiral, Cuadrado, Alex Sandro, De Ligt and Dybala, while Gattuso can "settle" for only Fabian Ruiz and Osimhen.
In short, the formations cannot be the typical ones, in particular for the black and whites who will line up with a 3-4-1-2 with Szczesny in goal, Danilo, Bonucci and Chiellini in defense, Chiesa, Arthur, Bentancur and Bernardeschi (runoff with Frabotta) in midfield, McKennie in the frontline, Kulusevski (favorite over Morata) and Ronaldo in attack.
Classic 4-2-3-1 instead for Gattuso, who will respond with Ospina between the posts, Di Lorenzo, Manolas, Koulibaly and Mario Rui in the back department, Demme and Bakayoko in the midfield, Lozano, Zielinski and Insigne behind the lone striker Petagna, recovered and ready to start, with Mertens first change off the bench.
