Cioffi shuffles the cards for Lazio, then Marì will reinforce the Udinese defense

“Dry” match at the Olimpico for the round of 16 (whoever passes will challenge Milan): defense to the bone, Arsenal central arrives

UDINE. Rome becomes the hub of Udinese’s maneuvers this week which will lead to Saturday’s (key) match in the league against Genoa.

On Monday, the bianconeri landed in the capital to visit the “dry match” of the Italian Cup against Lazio, scheduled for tonight at the Olimpico, while the defender who will take the place of Samir on the center-left, Pablo Marì, will undergo the usual visits doctors at Villa Stuart, the facility where Professor Pierpaolo Mariani, one of the gurus of knee reconstruction, works.
For today’s commitment, therefore, Gabriele Cioffi will not be able to count numerically on another player in the rear, which would certainly have pleased him, given that he must try to put into practice a minimum turnover and that there are not many back there. alternatives, considering that the Croatian Benkovic, registered immediately after his engagement with Juventus, does not seem the maximum reliability, certainly from a physical point of view, of the match pace, given that he has not played a game since last October 23, when he held the pitch for just over an hour with Leicester in what can be called the Premier League reserve championship.

To catch up with his teammates, he will have to work hard for a few weeks, then Cioffi will be able to assess whether Benkovic will actually become a winning bet for Udinese.

So at the Olimpico the Juventus coach could give Nuytinck a break, recovering Becao, confirming Perez and adapting Zeegelaar once again on the center-left, where the Dutchman can move thanks to his left-handed.
This is why Marì would have been comfortable, if only from the point of view of experience, while also for him the physical form is a question mark, despite having been available, on the Arsenal bench, last 13 December on the occasion of the match. of Efl cup with Liverpool.

Spaniard, born in 1993, will arrive on loan until June, as well as in 2019 he played on a temporary basis in South America with Flamengo, to win the Libertadores Cup and play the Club World Cup before the lockdown.

Then only a few appearances as a supporting actor once he returned to the Premier. All that remains is to cross your fingers.
Returning to the present, at the match at 17.30 at the Olimpico with Lazio, after talking about the defensive options, Silvestri’s return to the posts after the absences related to the positivity for Covid should be noted: in this regard, Udinese has stopped updating the account of those in isolation, it can be assumed that all 12 positives of January 8 have become negativized, without however knowing any other infections that are not desirable.

The reasoned turnover therefore concerns the median, with Jajalo likely central pivot, Samardzic mezzala together with Makengo (ready for the relay with Arslan), on the bands eye to the forthcoming reconfirmations of Soppy and Udogie, while in attack probable turn of rest to Beto and rotation of three elements, Success, Pussetto and Nestorovski (from the bench).

The question mark about employment remains. Deulofeu, lackluster and replaced with Juventus. All that remains is to dance: whoever wins the “rumba” will challenge Milan in the quarterfinals tonight.