Fabio Capelloformer AC Milan and Juventus former coach, has shared his thoughts, as usual, to La Gazzetta dello Sport. He discussed the Bianconeri’s 2-0 win at home against Sergio Conceicao’s team.
“Juventus’ victory over Milan is significant in terms of positioning for the Champions League. I was struck by Milan’s lack of quality. A very, very poor Milan, one that showed itself to be inferior, especially technically. Conceição’s team struggled under Juventus’ pressing. In the first half, in the few rare occasions when they managed to break out cleanly, they even created some goal-scoring opportunities. But they didn’t score, and in the second half, they completely collapsed, mainly because their first possession was disastrous, poorly managed, with all those balls going to Maignan. By the way, did you see Napoli’s first goal in Bergamo? A long rebound from the goalkeeper… Not exactly tic-tac in the box. The feeling is that, despite changing coaches, the Rossoneri still rely on the left flank: if Theo and Leao don’t step up, it’s total darkness. Fofana and Reijnders struggled, and the others… let’s not even talk about them. And then Bennacer, plagued by injuries, is out of shape, and it shows. This way, Juventus had no choice but to close down the side of the two best opponents and press effectively on the others.
On the organisation of the Juventus and Milan teams, Capello commented:
“To be honest, I wasn’t particularly impressed with Thiago Motta’s team either. They run, they are organized, but without a key moment, they give the impression of struggling to create chances. In the first 45 minutes, they limited themselves to a sterile possession, I’d even say boring. In fact, the turning point of the match was a shot from Mbangula deflected by Emerson Royal. After taking the lead, Juventus was able to play with more space and even found a second goal, defending in the final moments. However, the victory against a direct competitor for a place in next year’s Champions League is crucial. And the Bianconeri are now in a clearly advantageous position over Milan.”
Is the race over for the Rossoneri? Capello answered:
“Calm down. First of all, we don’t know if Serie A will send four or five teams to the top European competition next year. Then, Conceição has been at the Milan helm for too short a time to raise the white flag already. But of course, if Milan is always the same as what we saw yesterday in Turin, then their hopes of snatching a ticket to next season’s Champions League will be practically nonexistent.”
