Juve defense: 2 goals scored in two months: from November it is the best

Massimiliano Allegri is certainly not the first and equally certainly he will not be the last prophet of the maxim that winning teams are built from defense. Beginning to see its translation on the pitch, in his second Juventus life, with at least a couple of months delay, has cost Juventus the opportunity to live this season with the usual ambitions of the last decade. Already in October a certain continuity was being found before the double painful relapse against Sassuolo and Verona, but since then Juve’s change of defensive pace has been objective.

THE BEST DEFENSE

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The numbers tell the evidence: from November to today the page has been turned. Five of the seven Juventus matches this season without conceding any goals in the league have come in the last seven games. Thanks to the offensive difficulties, the only two games in which he conceded a goal (a goal) paid dearly, almost as if it couldn’t be more serious: defeat against Atalanta and equal to Venice after having been in the lead. But those only two goals conceded give Juve a record, that of best defense in Serie A in the last two months, from November to now, approached only by Inter (three), while all the others have conceded at least 5-6 goals. more.

THE RANKING SINCE NOVEMBER

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The fact that Juve did not have Giorgio Chiellini in five of these seven games only adds depth to the performance achieved by Leonardo Bonucci and Matthijs De Ligt. If during the period Juve did not also have the best performance in the standings, it is due to the well-known problems of attack, but in these seven matches only Inter on the run (19) and Atalanta (18) have scored more points than Juve. (16), a third place in step with the best in the last two months which evidently has a different flavor from the fifth position, in cohabitation with Roma, which on a seasonal basis is giving the Bianconeri very different perspectives, with the mission of the qualification for the Champions League at the limit of prohibitive.

AGAINST THE SMALL

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Before a 2022 that will begin with fireworks, with two months of fire between big matches in the league, the beginning of the Italian Cup and the return of the Champions League, in the meantime it is evidently necessary to get there by completing the work on Tuesday with Cagliari. on the last day out. “Now we have the match against Cagliari: in the first round we lost too many points against teams, in small quotes – summed up De Ligt in Bologna -. In this we have to improve a lot: it can happen that you lose points against the big names, against the others you can’t go wrong ”.

ATTACK AND CONSTANCE

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The Dutchman clearly marked the next necessary growth step: “Defensively in Bologna we played a very good match, with great maturity. We still have to improve a lot in the construction, in the way we attack ”. If it seems an easy linear growth plan, Bonucci’s analysis: “When we play with this attitude, putting sacrifice, running and technique on the field, these results come out. It is an attitude that we have also had in other matches, the problem is that we have had it on and off: we have to find consistency, because then the qualities of the individuals come out “. Juve are building some certainty, but the work in progress sign remains in plain sight.