A Juve with 10 men for 80′ is unable to adapt, Empoli is unable to produce, but equalizes with Baldanzi.
The main time of Juve Empoli is at 17th minute: on an apparently anonymous and harmless ball placed in midfield, Owned by he sensationally misses the stop and, not happy, he tackles Cerri in a decidedly impetuous and dangerous way. Red right and Juve with ten men. From there the plot of the match changes radically and control passes to Nicola’s men, who probably have to blame themselves for not having fully believed in emerging with the 3 points from the Stadium. Cause? Own errors (Gyasi almost conceded the 1-0 to Miretti at the end of the first half) e a lack of consistency and courage in closing Juventus in their own half.
Allegri chooses to rely on the Milik-Vlahovic duo at the start, leaving Yldiz on the bench. If the Pole is mainly responsible for the “non-victory”, the Serbian seems to be in really great shape and, in addition to the goal, he demonstrated that he is ready to fight and several times tried to create a scoring opportunity independently.
After Milik’s red card, Juventus didn’t seem very capable of reacting to the new context, giving up any attempt at high pressing. She relied on the total throw-in game and her dangerousness on set pieces, which had also given her the momentary advantage.
Allegri certainly doesn’t have many alternatives of men at the moment, but he didn’t try different ways even regarding the disposition of the men, handing himself over hand and foot to the dribble of a good Empoli.
Support Sportellate: associates Our work is based on the commitment and passion of a young editorial staff. Through the association you help us grow and always improve the quality of the content. Join now!
However, the Livorno coach was about to be right again when in the second half, thanks to 10 minutes of increased pressure, Juve found the goal from a scrum from a corner. From then on, however, those who expected Juve to once again be mentally solid at the back had to think again: with the entry of an excellent Baldanzi, Nicola exploited the ability of the new substitute and Cambiaghi to play in tight spaces, thus keeping the Juventus rearguard on their toes. Baldanzi’s goal from outside the area was the almost natural consequence of Empoli’s tactical consistency even after the disadvantage. The end of the match was certainly more Tuscan than Juventus. With hindsight, Nicola may have a few more regrets than Allegri.
Alex Sandro is simply a former player from Juve, not presentable even on a Saturday afternoon at home against Empoli. Kostic confirms his personal involution and Locatelli once again shows his limits in the setting phase. Positive notes for Allegri are the aforementioned Vlahovic and Cambiaso who, even if he still needs to improve in the last 20 metres, is constantly growing in tackling his role in a modern way, with the necessary personality. Now the Bianconeri will go to San Siro against Inter in the match that has been awaited for weeks: the approach to the match will essentially depend on what Inter achieve in tomorrow’s postponement in Florence
We cannot know if Nicola will manage the miracle of saving Empoli, but against Juve the Tuscans have confirmed that they will have very interesting material in Cambiaghi and Baldanzibut to suffer terribly from the absence of an attacking midfielder of an acceptable level for Serie A. The point obtained at the Stadium could be the first step in a run-up that promises to be rather difficult, but feasible