Without Chiesa and Di Maria, the coach thinks of Barrenechea in directing with Miretti and Fagioli behind Vlahovic
There is a real classification and then there is another virtual one. Juventus are now in seventh place with 35 points, 12 behind the European zone. Massimiliano Allegri, however, prefers the version with the asterisk, where his Lady occupies the position she would deserve without the penalty: second on a par with Inter, with the possibility of overtaking her and detaching her by three points (the Nerazzurri are 50 ) in case of victory tonight against Sampdoria. “It will be an important test for us – said the Juventus coach – because the league standings are made with small players and you mustn’t make mistakes in these matches”. The big names Di Maria and Chiesa in attack will be missing, Milik is still out (“We hope to have him back for Inter”) and Pogba is not ready to be a starter, so Max relies on young players, who have become a great resource: not only Fabio Miretti and Nicolò Fagioli together from the start, but also the most recent discovery Enzo Barrenechea, surprisingly launched in the derby in place of Paredes and a strong candidate in the control room for tonight’s match. Two 2001s and one 2003, confirming that Allegri doesn’t decide on the basis of his identity card but above all pays attention to the substance.
Turnover is young
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“I’ll train up tomorrow (today, ed), the only certainties are Perin in goal and Vlahovic in attack – says the coach -. One of Paredes and Barrenechea will play in the middle, I’ll see for the rest after finishing. It’s not certain that if we play with three forwards we are more offensive and with one we are less so, it all depends on the characteristics of the players. The young players have played so far this year, Compagnon will be added from the Next Gen. However, we must have balance because Juventus must remain at the top in the first places and tomorrow will be a delicate test”. Allegri has already shown that he is not afraid to take risks and even if he is often reproached for betting little on young players this year, albeit with the complicity of injuries, he hasn’t been asked to let them play: apart from Vlahovic and Kean, so far he has employed 6 boys born after the year 2000. Miretti and Fagioli have already put together more than a thousand minutes each in all competitions (14 and 13 games as starters) and Barrenechea has quickly climbed the hierarchies, establishing himself as a more than credible alternative to Locatelli (Theo’s fresh father). Net of the absences, the anti-Sampdoria team will be affected by the proximity to the away match in Freiburg next Thursday, when Juventus will have to earn the quarter-finals of the Europa League.
Double trimmer
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In yesterday’s training Allegri tried a 3-4-2-1 with the young Argentine alongside Rabiot and Fagioli and Miretti behind DV9. An unusual line-up that however allows you to make up for absences up front (Kean is disqualified for two matches) and to keep Cuadrado (De Sciglio should play on the right) on the bench, to be used during the match. This morning Allegri will do the last test before dissolving the reserves, but barring surprises, we are heading towards a new rejection for Paredes: Max had trusted him with Spezia but the world champion (whose redemption from PSG in the summer becomes increasingly unlikely) he wasted his chance. Therefore he might prefer a young man, who has energy, enthusiasm and desire to show off.
More goals
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From Fagioli and Miretti, who are now certainties, Allegri also expects goals: “Miretti is good at getting out of his way and finding the position, Fagioli will be able to stay in front of the defense in the future. We all had faith in him, but I didn’t imagine him so mature He’s smart and smart, I think he needs to improve in the scoring phase: he and Miretti have the potential to score more.” The goal is second place alone: ”We can take a bit of an advantage over Inter, because I say it and I repeat it, we have 50 points”. The ranking Max talks about is the virtual one and he, like all fans, hopes it can become real.
March 12 – 11:57
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