It’s pouring on the Via Emilia, Sassuolo and Turin are content with a lukewarm broth.
Torino arrives at the Mapei Stadium for the Saturday evening match: hosting it was Sassuolo unexpectedly embroiled in the battle for survival, and on the rainy evening on the Via Emilia the two teams conceded a Brodi draw, with very few cappelletti to make it tasty. The stuffed of the match comes immediately with two goals in 10′, from Pinamonti with the help of an uncertainty from Milinkovic Savic (a tax that Torino consciously chooses to pay monthly) and from Zapata who confirms his great growth. Afterwards, they don’t even uncork the wine and dine on plain water: torpor takes over the match, and those who fell asleep only startle twice in injury time due to opportunities from Defrel and Zapata. A point which, all things considered, is more useful to Sassuolo for salvation than to Turin for Europe;
Torino came from a 0-0 home draw with Salernitana, a result that wasn’t brilliant but was part of a positive trend: today the defense was worried, because all 3 starters are out (Buongiorno and Schuurs immediately joined by Rodriguez after 19′), and it’s up to the new trio Djidji-Lovato-Masina, with 2/3 just arriving from the transfer market . What we see for the second consecutive match, however, is the return of an endemic offensive problem: Zapata and Vlasic light up with champion shots but intermittently, while Sanabria does a very precious dirty job but in fact plays very far from the goal. The only dangerous factor seems to be Bellanova’s bucking, the only real happy note with exponential growth since the beginning of the season. In fact, at least one of the last two matches had to be won, and the points on the way are heavy: the feeling is confirmed that, to uncork this type of match and raise the bar, something is needed that Torino has not had for two seasons ;
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Dionisi was in the balance before the match, but tonight the team demonstrated that it had not abandoned its ship. Sassuolo is probably the most obvious disappointment of this 2023/24 Serie A, with a distance from the safety zone that is too thin compared to the quality of the squad, which becomes dramatic with the absence of Berardi (6 defeats in 6 games before today). The clear feeling is that the time is over in which the Neroverde coach exploited the good work done by De Zerbi by adding valuable intuitions, and that the weight of the points was crushing his boys: tonight the Neroverdi certainly don’t play a memorable match, but they they compact and bring home a point that smells like “if you can’t win, at least don’t lose”. In terms of salvation, this union towards the goal is an important weapon: many teams that unexpectedly fall into disgrace are unable to find it in their arsenal, but Sassuolo at least seems to have understood this lesson. Will it be enough to save the soldier Dionisi?
Sassuolo’s defense is very high by choice, Torino’s is decimated: these would be ideal conditions for harming each other, but this doesn’t happen. The two teams are at their worst in the attacking midfield, because they never manage to find the opening key, with Laurienté, Bajrami and Vlasic much less incisive than one would expect and well controlled by Viti and Masina. Dionisi’s attacking midfielders sin in their final choices, while the Granata attack tries to let Zapata and Sanabria come out in turn to create spaces for incursion, but only on the occasion of the goal does this choice prove successful, thanks to the inclusion of the excellent player in the running Bellanova (4th assist of the season). Due to these inaccuracies, on both sides, the second half becomes a boring epilogue devoid of opportunities, and probably for the same reason the two teams lack something to improve their season: Sassuolo lacks Berardi up front like hotcakes, while in Turin Zapata’s return to fitness is certainly evident, but it may not be enough to lull dreams of glory;
Juric had been huffing and puffing for a week, but this huffing and puffing had finally cleared the clouds over the future: only in the case of Europe will it remain in Turin, implicitly and explicitly declaring everything else as a failure. It is appreciable that light has finally come to light, but Juric’s position in Turin must be analyzed with more clarity: the Croatian coach has enormous merits, above all those of having restored credibility to a team, players and a club that came from decidedly troubled years . The squad at his disposal does not appear, on paper, among the best 8 in the championship, and therefore that Europe would be a “plus”, which is exactly what Juric has not guaranteed with a leap in quality above expectations: those expectations however he respected them all, because Torino moved steadily into ninth and tenth place. What is not possible to know is whether the Croatian is the coach to do it in the future, due to his type of game and character. But are we sure that the company and those who preside over it want to make that leap in quality? And that they will do everything in their power to allow it?