Waiting for Inter and Fiorentina, they all win up there at the top and therefore the Juve brings home a success that helps morale a lot but the rankings relatively little. He does it against the Monza who instead spends a sad Christmas in the queue, even if Galliani and Nesta can spot signs of hope from this performance conditioned by the mass absences due to injuries and suspensions (Maldini).
After a month and a half of draws in series, Juve instead enjoys the victory which is obviously worth the result, even if it comes from a truly modest performance. Both collectively and individually. Here they are. Di Gregorio does little, also because in the first half he finds a providential added goalkeeper in Koopmeiners. Savona is careful not to unbalance the defence, which is already lopsided because on the left McKennie plays the role (not his) of full-back in his own way. The central pair seems precise in Gatti more than in Kalulu, with Locatelli acting as the added central defender, not exactly to speed up the operations of ball possession which is actually so slow as to make Monza's rare restarts seem accelerated x2.
In midfield Conceicao is a certainty, even in his flaws: often one return too many before the cross. Koopmeiners was seen in flashes in the first half, before succumbing to yet another muscle problem at Juve and leaving the field to Thuram, who also made just a few stop&gos. Yildiz inspires more than usual, Vlahovic fights with passion and hot spirits at the expense of the cold blood required on some occasions. The Serbian is nevertheless the author of a positive performance, even if certainly not as a “man of the match”, because that's Nico Gonzalez: opportunist on the second goal, present with talent for the hour he remained on the pitch.
The ranking says that the points gap from Atalanta remains nine and seven from Napoli. The Juventus duel, also in terms of quality of play, is with Bologna and Milan, on the outskirts of the Champions area. From Christmas onwards, with Fiorentina and Atalanta next to play in the Italian Super Cup, Juventus seems close to the moment of truth. Without stories, nor alibis nor even questionable excuses, Thiago Motta has the opportunity to give substance to his work. With the results that so far, despite being unbeaten in the championship, are and remain below expectations.
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