From our correspondent Filippo Cornacchia
January 21, 2025 (changed at 11.06pm) – BRUGES (BELGIUM)
“Mrs X” is back, but the draw in Bruges has a different flavour. The 0-0 in Belgium effectively guarantees the Champions League playoffs for Juventus. What Thiago Motta’s team is missing, awaiting the official announcement of the new Kolo Muani coup (the white smoke is expected for hours), are goals. First with the false 9 (Nico Gonzalez) and then in the final with the original one (Vlahovic) the Bianconeri were unable to break through.
SAVONA CAUGHT BY THE BELGIANS
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Hayen starts with the Talbi-Vanaken-Tzolis trio behind Jutglà, Thiago initially confirms the mobile attack with Weah and Mbangula on either side of the “false 9” Nico Gonzalez. Many attackers, wingers and offensive players on both sides, but the two goalkeepers Mignolet and Di Gregorio lived through a cold first half and as non-paying spectators. Zero threes on goal and rhythms more reminiscent of summer football than winter temperatures. Juventus tries to surprise Bruges with Locatelli’s passes, often on the line of the central defenders, but the ball turns slowly and in the end Ordonez (the defender observed by Giuntoli for the summer) and his teammates have no difficulty in repositioning themselves and blocking on the the Juventus initiatives were born. If Douglas struggled to find the holes, Koop was unable to lead and Nico Gonzalez was unable to stretch the Belgian defence. Bruges don’t do much more: center forward Jutglà pushes his team to press in the first few minutes, but Hayen’s team falls back as time passes. So much so that the biggest thrills came from the Belgian public who, after an initial tackle, began to target Savona, then caught with every touch of the ball.
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NICO SCIUPA
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The frost and the inactive first half played a bad joke on Di Gregorio who at the start of the second half tried to overcome his boredom by attempting a dribble with a black pass to Savona. Jutglà misses his aim and doesn’t take advantage of it, but at least the episode lights up the match. Juventus breathes a sigh of relief for having escaped the danger and rushes forward, but Nico Gonzalez manages to make a mess near the goal and Douglas Luiz in an attempt to make up for his teammate’s mistake invents a lob that is more like football-tennis than evening football of Champions. Thiago Motta ran for cover shortly after the hour mark and changed Juventus’ wings: Mbangula and Weah out, Conceicao and Yildiz in. The entrances of the Turkish and Portuguese add some quality and crosses into the area. An inviting ball lands on the head of Koopmeiners, who however fails to surprise Mignolet. Hayen responds to his Juventus colleague’s moves by launching Nilsson, who is very dangerous in acrobatics. The match opens and Motta goes all out with a final triple change and the insertion of McKennie, Thuram and Vlahovic. The best opportunity, however, came from Locatelli, who committed Mignolet with a nice shot from distance.
