It was the 90th minute when he signaled Szymon Marcinak to finish the meeting and spare Juventus the torment. . The producer also showed the stands, where Alessandro Del Piero, the legendary striker of Juve, looked sadly at the pitch. The camera also captured the president. he fired his cigarillo with his nerves.
The VIPs sitting in the Allianz Stadium’s box of honor could have been furious, because by the 76th minute he was playing better. He pushed his rivals to a deep defensive. Everything fell apart after a senseless foul by Daniel Rugani. Gerard Moreno turned the penalty into a goal, and the air was completely deflated. Earlier, Turin dominated the visitors, but Gerónimo Rulli was doing great between the goal posts.
– If I could play this match again, I would make the same decisions. I can’t really complain about the guys because they played well most of the game. At one point, Villarreal focused only on defense. As many as nine guest players were behind the ball line – said coach Massimiliano Allegri after the last whistle. And he added: – In Europe there are ten teams better than. And that’s no shame, it’s just a fact.
Patrice Evra also shared his views. – Allegri works wonders anyway, considering the quality of the staff it has. Juventus’ second line only exists theoretically. In my time there was Claudio Marchisio, Arturo Vidal, Paul Pogba and Andrea Pirlo. Now there’s … Arthur, who didn’t even play a single opening pass today. He can’t make a difference – said the Juve defender in 2014-17.
The midfielder was also traditionally criticized by Fabio Capello. The Italian coach accused Arthur of failing to pass forward, just like after last year’s blame in Porto. “He was playing like a rugby player again,” said the legendary Italian coach.
Arthur recorded as many as 105 passes on target, but in fact: how many of these balls accelerated the game?
The sluggish second line has been a problem for Juve since 2018. And although the club hired the European champion Manuel Locatelli in the summer, and in the winter they brought in the renowned midfielder Denis Zakaria from the Bundesliga, it is still not enough to count in Europe. In the perspective of the entire season, the most complaints are directed at Adrien Rabiot and Arthur, who lack a hit.
The scourge of injury
Of course, it should be noted that Allegri had neither Alex Sandro, nor the Giorgio Chiellini & Leonardo Bonucci duo, nor Denis Zakaria, nor Weston McKenni, nor Federico Chiesa, at his disposal, and Paulo Dybala, returning from an injury, did not have the strength to play from the first minute. . But is that excuse enough for a club that is much richer?
Juventus has an annual budget of EUR 440 million, more than three times more than the Spanish. And Juve has not been able to advance to the quarter-finals since 2019, when they sensationally dropped out with Ajax. Today, shades in Europe have become the norm for Turinians. Two years ago, Lyon turned out to be better in the 1/8 finals, and Porto a year ago. Now they are kicked out by Villarreal, the seventh Spanish league team and winner of the Europa League.
Allegri was eliminated with Ajax, further mishaps were found in the accounts of Maurizio Sarri and Andrea Pirlo. Moments after Allegri returned to Turin, Giorgio Chiellini warned that the coach found a worse team than the one he was leaving in spring 2019.
Despite Wednesday’s defeat, Allegri cannot be denied that the team has made progress in recent months, especially in defense. But again there was no fire in the offensive, actually only Juan Cuadrado was able to make an advantage, to pass the rival. Without buying a creative midfielder who will show off a successful dribble or out-of-the-box play, Juve will not make a step forward. Only Agnelli should have known it for several seasons.
The defeat hurts especially because Juventus seemed to be slowly back on track. Counting league results from September 22, they are the top scoring team in the league, although they are fourth, losing seven points to Milan, the leader.
The disappointment is all the greater as in January an unexpected EUR 75 million was spent on Dusan Vlahovic, which on Wednesday went out completely in the second half.
Agnelli would like to close the gates
Neither Ajax nor Lyon nor Porto nor Villarreal. Neither of these clubs are worthy of playing in the Super League, according to Agnelli. The Italian didn’t even like the performances of his compatriots from Bergamo.
– I have respect for everything Atalanta does, but they got into the LM Elite thanks to one great season without any international history. Should it be like that? Do you think it is fair? Roma has played in Europe many times, but for one weaker season, she lost LM and ruined her finances. We have to find the right balance between a longer contribution to European football and one good European season – said Agnelli in 2020, during whose term Juve was able to dominate Serie A (nine championships in a row), but not Europe anymore.
Today these words come back like a boomerang. Especially since Juventus has been waiting for a triumph in the Champions League since 1996. In the meantime, he lost as many as five finals, the last one in 2017 (1: 4 with Real).
No wonder that where the richest clubs will be privileged, since Juve has not been competitive for four years. Anyway, like the whole Serie A. In the last three seasons only one representative of the Apennine Peninsula reached the top eight. And it was … Atalanta, whose annual wage budget at the time was about the same as Juventus was paying Ronaldo annually (about 34 million euros).
Agnelli shouldn’t break the ban in the stadium and smoke cigars. At most, it can burn with shame.
Source: Sport
Tristin is an accomplished author and journalist, known for his in-depth and engaging writing on sports. He currently works as a writer at 247 News Agency, where he has established himself as a respected voice in the sports industry.
