The Champions League has begun, long live the Champions League. There are jokes and gags and football in Europe – they say – is something else. Also the ticket prices, among other things, have risen like soufflé in a red-hot oven. The nitpicker says: “But around Europe the prices are even higher”. It’s true, but so are the salaries. In our country only the expenses are rising. Well, end of the controversy.
Juve sumptuous, in the Champions League. Lively, proactive, very very confident and Thiagomottesque. And it’s strange to think that in less than a month we’ve gone from the triumphal tones of the first two days (“Goodbye Allegri!”), to the very dejected ones of the post Empoli (“It looks like Max’s Juve …”). The truth, as always, is in the middle: Motta knows his stuff and will make the most of a squad that has very high potential.
After all, the former Bologna player is the first to know certain dynamics: there is no Juventus coach who is given time. Whether he has one appearance or a thousand in Serie A, any Juventus coach knows he is obliged to bring results or else… the media pillory.
The match against PSV from this point of view is a great calling card: Motta has clear ideas and knows how to convey them to his players.
Ps. Excellent Yildiz: there are those who have branded him, he responded with facts. That’s how it’s done.
Opposite mood in the Rossoneri house, with Milan defeated by Liverpool well beyond the final 1-3. And it is not so much a question of individual performance, but rather of tactical approach. Milan has surrendered to its opponents so far, with the exception of the match against Venezia, which, however, managed to do tactically worse. A team can have the strongest players in the world, but if it chooses such a risky approach it is destined to succumb even against opponents who are weaker on paper. And imagine with this Liverpool.
Here, yesterday in the space of a few hours Juve played a great game, Milan definitely not. And Juve is led by a coach who with a little diligence could have been from Milan. This is the greatest merit of the Juventus management and the greatest lack of the Rossoneri one.
Ps/1 Watch out for Allegri.
Ps/2. “When the lion goes away the cats come closer, when the lion comes back the cats disappear and I don’t mean the team. I always work, I’m always present, I left for a few days only for personal reasons. The role is simple: I’m in charge, I’m the boss and the others work for me”.
This is what Ibrahimovic said before the match: strategically a bad choice (if you really have to, do it after the match after weighing the result), formally even worse. Milan is not a showcase to vent one’s ego, especially at this moment it needs facts, certainly not slogans.
Today it’s Inter’s turn. It will be tough against the almost invincible Manchester City (at home, Pep’s team hasn’t lost in 90 minutes in the Champions League since 2018), but they have the tools to at least make a good impression. Regardless, don’t let yourself get carried away by mood swings: the draw in Monza is the result of a performance that didn’t live up to the Nerazzurri’s lineage and ambitions, but thinking that a 1-1 should translate into a tragedy seems decidedly exaggerated.
But the mood swings are “typical”. For many, Napoli post Verona was “failed” (after one match!), a month later we are here talking about the team that more than any other can bother the reigning champions. And rightly so. The reason is explained by the first four games of the championship: Napoli did not play at a very high level, it showed Conte-like character, sure, some high-level plays, but also some limitations in the defensive phase (Meret amazing). And yet… it produced results and points. Imagine what could happen when Conte gives further tactical order to his (very large) squad, he who this year will be able to work all week without having European problems. Napoli is a serious candidate for winning the championship, very serious.