Thiago Motta granted Juventus a weekend of rest. The Bianconeri will return to training on Monday at Continassa to begin preparing for Saturday’s match, at 6:00 p.m. at the Castellani stadium, against Empoli. Koopmeiners and Douglas Luiz, having remained in Turin to work, are candidates for a starting spot. Both midfielders were the most expensive signings on the Bianconeri market and it is reasonable to expect them to play a leading role.
Danilo returns to the field with the Selecao.
After a difficult start to the championship, Danilo returned to the starting lineup with his Brazil, wearing the captain’s armband and playing the full 90 minutes in the match against Ecuador. The number 6 of the Bianconeri touched the ball 95 times, with a percentage of 89% of successful passes. Danilo also won all three aerial duels, plus one out of two of those on the ground. The Brazilian defender put in some precious minutes in his legs to try to regain a starting shirt against Empoli, a match in which last year he also managed to score the goal that gave the Bianconeri the lead. However, using the Bianconeri captain from the start seems very difficult, as Danilo will return to Continassa only on the eve of the match against the Tuscans. Thiago Motta has only used the Brazilian defender for 5 minutes this season and we will see if the Bianconeri defender will be able to overturn the defensive hierarchies upon his return from the break.
Thiago Motta and his respect for captain Danilo.
Despite the very little playing time that Thiago Motta has given his captain so far, the Italian-Brazilian coach’s esteem for Danilo is not in question. The Juventus coach spoke about his number 6 in his first press conference as follows: “Today we have a great captain in Danilo. I would like to have him with us already, but he needs to rest, to get back to full mental and physical energy. When we are all together we will evaluate the situation. I am happy to have Danilo and I hope he arrives with us soon to prepare for a great season”. After the international break, a real tour de force will begin for the Bianconeri and we will see if Danilo will be able to get more playing time with the Old Lady’s shirt. This situation, however, will have to be monitored carefully between now and December.