Lazio had big advantages in possession, free kicks, and corner kicks. Ciro Immobile, who leads Serie A in goals, entered in the 56th minute. Lazio didn't have any shots on target in the second half, and Immobile got one of Lazio's five yellow cards.
Juve have more points in the league at this stage than they did last year. They are still unbeaten since early November. They aren't first because Napoli are winning as many points as City have been in the EPL. Last year had Juve been without Dybala, Cuadrado, Barzagli, and a starting CM (Matuidi), they would have been screwed. The issue with Juve isn't talent. It's mentality. Spurs controlled the match *after* going down 2-0 and nearly 3-0 because Juve lack a killer instinct. The tie should have been over or at the very least 3-1. If Juve fail to advance, they have only themselves to blame for not putting Tottenham to the sword on multiple occassions. With that said, Juve will have Dybala, Matuidi, Barzagli, and possibly Cuadrado for the return leg. Tottenham are now favorites at rough 55% Also something to note is that when Bayern made their comeback in Munich, Costa tore Juve apart in the final 15 minutes.
Notice how Milan and Atalanta are the only two Italian teams in Europa League to have a positive result? Lazio's best bet for CL is through the league. Napoli didn't even start key players in the CL nevermind the EL. They only have the depth to try and win the league. Frankly, Napoli fans should be annoyed that Sarri even fielded any starters at all. Milan and Atalanta on the other hand have nothing to lose by going all out to win the EL. Milan actually have to or they might be in trouble.
Well lets remember, Juve’s first goal was well offside. The second was a penalty. If you count the actual valid goals, Juve should have lost.
I still see Lazio going through. While it was not a good result for Lazio's standards, they should be capable beating FSCB at home by 2 goals. If they cannot, then they don't deserve to go through. I think they maybe underestimated FSCB and fielded too weak of a team. I trust Lazio, and I do think they care about this competition. The way they performed in group stage was amazing. Napoli is out for sure. They got their wish. Ugh I really want Sarri out so badly. Half the team never plays and Sarri does not care about Europe. They need a better coach. Atalanta while they did lose, it is really a positive result for them. 2 away goals is massive, and especially they only lost by 1 goal and if you watched the game, the second was a huge mistake. I believe Atalanta can advance if they are just a little more solid and defense and clinical, which I am sure we will see more of in front of their fans next week. Milan are all but in the next round. I hope to see great things from Atalanta, Lazio, and Milan.
The tenure of the match would have been radically different. Plus you can do that sort of analysis with so many details. On the play where Costa surged past Auier, he would have been in position to set up a tap in if he wasn't hacked down. The fact remains that Juve played awful with a quarter of their squad injured and still could easily have been winning big had Higuain scored any of his clear chances. Juve only have themselves to blame. This isn't a lack of talent, but mentality. Imagine Pep with Higuain, Dybala, Costa, Mandzukic, Cuadrado, Bernardeschi, Pjanic, Matuidi, Sandro up 2-0 at home vs Spurs. Under him with this Juve in that situation, Juve would have destroyed Spurs. Allegri always plays with a handbreak or forces attacking players to play defense for long spells. You can also find so many instances in other matches too. In 2016 vs Bayern if Vidal was called for a handball or if Morata's wrongly disallowed goal stood or if Cuadrado made it 3-0 instead of hitting the post from a yard out, Juve would have been up 3-0 or 4-0 in Munich. Instead Bayern miraculously comeback in 15 minutes on the back of Douglas Costa.
I disagree with Atalanta. They're good in defending and countering/long balls but have their issues when they have to make the game themselves. BVB is best when they can play their counter attacking style too and the result of yesterday's game is exactly what they need. Atalanta will get pressed and countered without BVB going too much risk. I think Atalanta will have a hard time keeping BVB scoreless or to shoot more than 1 goal against them.
Well, that was sorta the point of my response. You said it could have easily been 3-0 or 3-1 and the tie could have been over. I guess. But its not like Spurs didn't have chances when it was 2-nil. Kane missed any easy chance that he almost always finishes. If you take an overall balanced view of the match, 2-2 was more than a fair result for Juve given how poorly they played, especially defensively.
Imagine Kane scores the header and Higuain scores the two missed chances in the 1st half. In that case the score is 4-2. In the 56th minute Mandzukic sent a header straight to Lloris from 5 yards out (just as close as Kane). It would have been 5-3 in the 2nd half. Forget about Bernardeschi's curling shot from inside the area that Lloris tipped wide or Vertonghan's near own goal. Obviously both sides could have finished better, but for all the possession Tottenham had Juve were by far the ones with the worst finishing. Juve had the ball for 25 minutes and despite that had 7 clear chances to Tottenham's 4. On Juve's 7 attempts inside the box, they only converted 2. That is awful and let Tottenham off the hook. Tottenham's performance was aesthetically pleasing especially for an away side, yet it was Juve's lack of killer instinct that made the difference.
@Italy-Azzurri-Fan no one gives a fcuk about the coefficient anymore man. The top 4 leagues all get 4 spots so who fcuking cares, if we win the EL we get a UCL spot which is what we're gonna get anyways in the league, why not just focus on the league. "I really want Sarri out they need a better coach" Just lmfao get out kid
Take it off and if Higuain still scores those two easy chances it would have been 3-2. If Kane and Mandzukic score their headers it's 4-3. Either way, Juve should never have allowed it to be 2-2. Stupid mentality. The point is Juve had the ball for only 25 minutes with a quarter of the squad injured and still should have scored at least 3-4 goals. Awful finishing is why Spurs are big favorites now.
You still don't want to finish 4th if you're the Serie A or the Prem. Imagine all the talk of bribery and corruption.
Well I do see BVB scoring, but I expect like a 2-1 win for Atalanta, or maybe 3-1. Atalanta are much stronger at home, so it will be a lot tougher. It is really 50-50 honestly. I have confidence in Atalanta, but at the moment this could really go either way.
But also a bit lucky for Juve that Higuain even scored one of the penalties. Both kicks were poor, the first one was at the perfect height for the ‘keeper to stop it. The second one fooled nobody.
That's what happens when your primary PK taker and probably most important attacker is injured. Juve's medical staff needs to go. The amount of muscle injuries is inexcusable. Dybala has missed nearly as many games for Juve as Messi/Ronaldo have for Barca/Real. Higuain is an incredible striker when he relies on his instincts. His build up play is also very underrated. The way he spreads play at times or turns with the ball to dribble forward shows how technically solid he is when on his game. That isn't surprising since he is an Argentine CF. In that first half, he was pretty unplayable and the best player on the pitch. However, there is just something in those key moments that deprives him from reaching Suarez's level. They both have very similar tools, yet one scores on the big occasions while Higuain doesn't.
I believe Pjanic can take penalties really well. He should be next in line after Dybala. Bernardeschi can as well.
Bernardeschi possibly out for a month with ligament scare. With these insane amount of injuries over two legs, it really is Tottenham's to lose.
http://www.espn.com/soccer/juventus...in-federico-bernardeschi-injuries-not-serious says Higuain's and Bernardeschi's injuries aren't serious.
Yeah, the order of the top 4 doesn't really matter. Except as an indicator to whether the quality of the league is improving or not. The UEFA coefficient still matters though. The most meaningful battle is for 6th (3 teams qualify versus 2). Also the battle for 10th, 12th and 14th is important. If you're outside the top 14 chances are none of the league's teams will play in the CL group-stage. With 4 teams qualifying automatically for each of the top 4 leagues, it means it is very difficult to qualify for the group-stage through the "league path" (i.e. the qualifying playoffs for non-champions). Only 2 out of 11 teams involved qualify.
I agree but I was talking about the co-efficient in terms of Napoli/Serie A. Serie A won't drop to 5th in terms of the leagues and Napoli won't finish below 2nd place in Serie A
As someone who I assume doesn't follow the Serie A, what part/team(s) seem corrupt? Just curious to see what the English think about the league