Covid won, for one night. He won on football and on Milan, in particular against whom he was too relentless depriving him in the morning of two pieces that would have been very useful for Pioli. Therefore the defeat against Juve, which lost Caudrado and Alez Sandro positive, must not make any noise. Indeed, on the contrary, it must confirm all the good things we have said, written and sustained in these long 27 days of the championship, between the old and the new. Pioli, for example, has nothing to blame for. He remained with a halved team and managed for an hour to contend with Juventus for the primacy of the game and the effectiveness of his actions. He had only one, unexpected failure: that of Theo Hernandez who for the second time (after Hakimi in the derby) lost the technical and physical duel with Federico Chiesa in a conspicuous and sensational way. He has never “attacked” him, he has always suffered and left him the necessary space in the second goal to be able to catch Donnarumma’s far post. Milan did not even have the necessary strength (unlike Pirlo and Juve who drew useful resources from the bench to create the 3 to 1) to find some help on the bench. Diaz joined, then Conti, Kalulu and Daniel Maldini: the confrontation with the Juve substitutes is very evident, on the Juventus side.
This is why at this point the reference to the club’s transfer programs is very topical. Paolo Maldini responded to the pressure of the fans on Sky’s microphones before the match against Juve. He said succinctly and effectively: “It is not easy to improve this group but we will try”. Which means then that Elliott has seized the opportunity given by this lead in the standings, which has remained intact thanks to the success of Sampdoria over Inter. In short, at the first fall, he did not lose the command of Serie A. It is true that Ibra, Bennacer, Tonali, Rebic and Krunic will soon be back but it is equally true that one cannot always count on Conti, Hauge or Daniel Maldini when the bar rises to the level of competition for the Scudetto. Of course it is difficult to improve this group, especially if you follow the same path as always, that is profiles of young promises of European football, perhaps coming from the French league, spending reasonable amounts. But we must do everything possible and something more.
There is another lesson that Milan and Juve have given to Italian football, to Coni and to those who continue to support the correctness of the sentence of the college of guarantee that canceled the 0-3 with Napoli and the penalty point. It is shown that there is a championship that respects the protocol, also risking to present itself with a decimated squad, and there are instead those who stay in the warmth of home, covered by an email from a friend ASL, set in motion by the political authority of reference. If you don’t take note of this double track, then yes, the concept of a regular league is jumping.
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