Fourth place up for grabs. Gattuso wants the overtaking that can condemn his friend The Juventus coach: “It’s not a decisive match.” Allegri’s return is in the air
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Mors your life mea. After saving the Napoli bench, beating Juventus at the Maradona stadium, just over 50 days ago, Gennaro Gattuso has reversed the situation and tonight is in the uncomfortable position of being able to send one of his closest friends to the hell of the coaches. .
Andrea Pirlo plays a lot, perhaps everything, in this championship recovery that goes hand in hand again with the Covid alarm. Six months ago the match at the Stadium was postponed due to the decision of the ASL of Naples to block the Azzurri, after the positivity of Elmas and Zielinski, while today (6.45 pm) we play even if Juve will have to give up Bonucci and Bernardeschi – victims of the National Outbreak – with Demiral just recovered from the virus.
“We respect the rules and follow what the authorities say”, explains the Juventus coach before this Champions League play-off which happens at the wrong time, against a Napoli in great shape (4 wins in a row) who dreams of overtaking. Up for grabs are not only tens of millions of euros and a rematch for everything that happened after the ghost match on 4 October, but also the future of Pirlo himself. «It is not decisive – the former midfielder tries to dribble – but important: the pressure is there and it is normal. We used to have it to fight for 1st place, now to get the places in the Champions League ».
Precisely this sudden change of perspectives (how much economic and sporting advantage was dissipated in a short time) triggered the red alert in Juve.
Against Napoli, fourth tied with the bianconeri, Pirlo and his men can no longer fail. It will be a risk, while rumors of a change on the bench and the repatriation to Forte dei Marmi between Andrea Agnelli and Massimiliano Allegri, on the day in which the Turin derby was staged, do not help to chase away the clouds.
«I was warned by the president of this meeting – says Pirlo – and it is normal that there may be, the friendship remains. It is as if I went to dinner with Maldini and then it turns out that I could become the manager of Milan. I feel the confidence, then it is normal for the results to change our work: it will be up to me to prove that I can be the Juventus coach next year ». The hypothesis of a return of the exonerated technician in 2019 has been hovering for weeks, after the elimination in the Champions League and the knockout with Benevento (the same evening Allegri did not deny the scenario to Sky), even if in the immediate future it appears complex and for the other figures are also considered in the future (Gasperini above all).
Easier to promote Tudor in the event of an immediate total collapse, but never say never when there is a need to save a homeland and, above all, a treasure. In Juve they are all under scrutiny and who knows how the team will react at the crossroads. “I feel the trust of the players and we need to move forward because the future is today”, says Pirlo who has reinstated Dybala, McKennie and Arthur (the last two can start as starters) after the forbidden dinner and now launches the last challenge: “We must honor this shirt, we have no more excuses ». Will it be enough? –