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The Serie A has a long way to go before returning to the top of the continent, as the biggest game in Italy failed to deliver a quality match, but having Juventus regain some of its former glory potentially, as Claudio Marchisio needed a lot of luck to score two very late goal en route to a 2-0 win over a very weak AC Milan team.
Having this kind of atmosphere at a Juventus home game is something no one is used to. Years of the Della Alpi kind of made you forget this is the team with biggest support in Italy. Juve fans thrive in the new stadium, which seems to fit like a glove on Antonio Conte’s hopeful and fun to watch side.
It was far from perfect for the Bianconeri, as they look to figure out what is the strike force to finish for the very capabale midfield. Andrea Pirlo gives Juventus someone that pushes and distributes, organizes and just makes sense in the middle of the park. It also frees up Marchisio, with fantastic results in the closing minutes.
The champions went where Zlatan Ibrahimovic took them last season. He hasn’t shown up this year so far. Every decision he makes is bad, he can’t control the long balls sent to him and when given good opportunities in the box, created scarcley by Antonio Cassano and Clarence Seedorf, his minds seems to drift elsewhere as he botched up chances he usually clinically finishes.
Midfield? No creativity what so ever. Kevin Prince Boateng tries, but his temper got the best of him today. Clarence Seedorf has his days, but it wasn’t today. Alberto Aquilani was sorely missed and Pato even more. No speed, no surprise, no chance against a vastly improving Juventus side.
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Despite Juventus obviously being the better side, they still needed some luck and bad goalkeeping to get this very big win. Things tend to get complicated around 20 meters away from the Milan goal. True, it has a lot to do with Nesta and Silva, but Juventus were more to blame for their inefficiency when given the chance to score. Arturo Vidal made the wrong choice each time. Mirko Vucinic shot when he should have passed and vice versa.
The best thing out of this match is the obvious, Claudio Marchisio. The 25 year old, for the first time in his career, looks like he’s positioned in a way that maximizes his talents and abilities, somewhat similar to a young Antonio Conte. No more wide or flank positions, no more play making duties. Marchisio feels free to join the wingers and strikers while Pirlo basks in responsibility. Problem is, you never know when Pirlo will breakdown. For now,