Vlahovic exceptional and turned his first ball into a goal, but then only touched 23. Danilo’s long pass is an option but the Serbian striker must be served better
Adelante Juve, but with judgment. The black and white coach progresses slowly after the draw in Villarreal, against a team returning to the knockout stages of the Champions League after thirteen years. But thanks to Dusan Vlahovic’s lightning debut, Madama’s face still looks different from the tremendous performances in Madrid (2-0 defeat with Atletico), Lyon (1-0) and Oporto (2-1) in the last three round of 16 away. The sprint for qualification, which failed with Allegri on the bench only once against Guardiola’s Bayern, remains open and slippery, considering that the away goal is no longer worth double. But with the return of Dybala for the second leg (March 16), Juve can solve the main problem seen in Spain as well, that of serving Vlahovic other gift packages to be wrapped and unwrapped in front of the goalkeeper.
Allegri’s team created a few scoring balls (in the end Rulli, Dybala’s friend, was very good on the Serbian’s second pitch), but those that end up on Morata’s feet now go out like candles in the wind: the Spaniard – only one goal in 2022 in the Italian Cup against Sampdoria – with the arrival of Vlahovic he seems to have abdicated the role of goalkeeper, to put technique and race at the service of the collective. The
McKennie’s bad injury
(fracture of the second and third metatarsal of the left foot, season over) contributes to fuel a certain pessimism, because the American is the only midfielder with strong offensive skills and above all he was one of those who best responded to Allegri’s commands. Yes, because if Max’s main business is the defensive phase, even more so after an immediate advantage, then the goal conceded to Villarreal represents a group failure, involving Rabiot, De Ligt who assumed most of the blame as leaders, but also Locatelli and De Sciglio.
If Juve defended and restart, there is not too much to be picky, but he will have to find more compactness behind (waiting for Chiellini and Bonucci to get back to their best) and more rapidity in exiting their own half to ease the pressure and score some knockout blows. This seems to be the main problem, which Allegri struggles to solve: the launch of Danilo for Vlahovic, with the control of the Serbian and the right-footed rebound in the goal a key to reuse, but in the deck other alternatives are needed to exploit the full potential of DV7, which scored in his debut, a lightning goal after 33 seconds, and at an age slightly lower than that of Ronaldo and Lewandowski. Juve crosses little, also because Cuadrado seems to be in reserve, and without Dybala they have no creativity between the lines and have little proactive midfielders, waiting one day to see Locatelli as a midfielder for a whole match. Vlahovic turned his first ball into a goal, but then only touched 23least of all: in order not to lower the voltage of such an attacker you need someone who brings the electric current in the area, with continuity.
And this, considering also the absence of the Church, only Dybala can do it in an illuminating way. The Argentine himself, expected to return to the field between Florence (first leg of the semi-final of the Italian Cup) and the subsequent challenge with Spezia, at the center of attention for the issue of the renewal, who is now about to reach the definitive table, the one where the player and the club will have to reveal their cards. Juve (today the board of directors) can also think that Dybala is not worth keeping the figures he asks for. But can Vlahovic really afford to be without him?
February 23, 2022 (change February 23, 2022 | 22:33)
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