The Rossoneri win at the “Stadium” and mathematically conquer the Champions League.
– The rhythms of the first twenty minutes of the match are almost like a summer trophy, with the public busy looking for autographs rather than cheering (also due to the absence of the organized Rossoneri fans in protest against expensive tickets) and the players who seem almost satisfied of the draw. To raise the pace, unlike what often happens, is Juventus, who are good at keeping the formidable opponent left wing at bay (where Leao is “not received”, well contained by Cuadrado, as well as being looked for little and badly) and goes close to the advantage, just before conceding an unexpected goal in the moment of maximum effort, almost as if his blanket was too short to being able to balance the two phases, so much so that in the middle of the second half Massimiliano Allegri changes form and tries to give more density to the midfield;
– Pioli’s insistence on Messias borders on incomprehensible. The fixation of the coaches for some players is often seen, but in this case it is not clear what the Rossoneri coach sees in the Brazilian, given that we are dealing with a player who has the qualities to play at his best in teams floating on the right side of the classification. His continuous return, which makes him a sort of “scarce Suso”, is detrimental to any centre-forward. There are those who talk about alternatives, but without even going to look for solutions like De Ketelaere, a certain Saelemaekers often sits on the bench who has repeatedly shown that he is head and shoulders above his teammate, despite not being a phenomenon, with even of the best defensive characteristics, daughters of his experience as a low winger in Belgium;
– On the contrary, in the Rossoneri ranks, a champion by name can play Olivier Giroud, who just doesn’t want to stop scoring and surprising. Often forced to sacrifice himself to do a job not his, very far from goal, when he has the opportunity to receive balls in the penalty area it is devastating. Calabria’s cross is more than good and, certainly, the fact that the Frenchman is free to hit the ball against three opposing defenders suggests an error by the black and white rearguard (in particular Gatti), but the timing and power impressed with the head by the Rossoneri number 9, capable of crossing the ball where Szczesny cannot reach, are something that make his goal worth seeing again and again;
– The best Juventus is the one you see after the change of form, when the bianconeri manage to raise the center of gravity and regain possession of the nerve center of the pitch, with two forwards filling the penalty area more and the wingers who disengage on both flanks to try to make the maneuver more enveloping, exploiting the freshness of Iling-Junior, the physicality of Milik and the (theoretical) quality of Paredes. All this induces Pioli to make defensive changes, even choosing to replace the evanescent Leao with Ballo-Touré and insert Kalulu to try to contain the Englishman with his speed. The Frenchman himself has the merit of being on the trajectory of Danilo’s conclusion in full recovery, saving Maignan from a certain goal, proving that every now and then the episodes and luck dominate everything else;
– Milan wins, thanks to Giroud’s goal which broke up an overall balanced game, where the two teams alternated positive moments with just as many negative ones. The Rossoneri, thanks to the penalties of today’s opponents, can officially celebrate the landing in the next Champions League, while the bianconeri can console themselves with an at least sufficient performance, after the boat suffered by Empoli a week ago in the immediate post-sentence. Ranking in hand, right now, Juventus just have to win at Udinese waiting for a misstep by Rome and Atalanta, so as to reach the mathematical certainty of the Europa League, waiting for any moves by UEFA , who could decide to disqualify her due to the well-known legal events.