Maybe this is when they put it altogether. How many times has Dybala hit the post? How many near misses has Higuain had? I have a good feeling about this side. I finally feel as if we have the horses to win this thing. We'll also see what Allegri is made of. Up to now, he has met expectations, of course generally being the favorites. This time we wont be the favorites. Can he guide us to victory?
Back when Serie A dominated European football in the 90's and early 2000's, the accepted wisdom was that in order to win a knockout competition, you need a rock solid defense. Nowadays, it seems the most potent offenses drag their teams to victory. Let's hope Allegri has the courage to be bold against the Catalans.
You're right. With the number of chances that Juve create per game, you get the sense that it is only a matter of time before those opportunities start translating into goals. I said last summer that Higuain felt like the final piece of the puzzle. To my mind, he is the best centre-forward we've had since David Trezeguet left in 2010.
I think we might actually be able to win 3-0 if we are really lucky. Considering many missed chances in the past and their shaky defense. Last season we really should have put another goal past Bayern at the Allianz Arena. It was really close and that was in Bayern's home, without Chiellini, Marchisio, and Dybala. Mandzukic also was not really fit.
Busquets being suspended is really a huge boost for us. I hope we really take extreme advantage. The only fans that think MSN is all of Barcelona know very little about football and just look at every player individually. Real Barcelona fans that know about their team and football will all agree that Busquets is arguably their most important player (not best, but most valuable to the game). Could you imagine Barca without Busquets on how disorganized they would be? He is extremely crucial and this is really a huge boost.
Knock on wood, all our key men stay fit for this massive tie. You need an element of luck to do well in the Champions League.
I am very confident that this squad will have learned a massive lesson last year with the Bayern tie. They pressed Bayern into their own end in the 2nd half in Turin and for most of the away leg. It will require a massive physical effort, but I'd be surprised if this didn't happen again. In this 4-2-3-1/4-4-2 shape, Dybala, Higuaín, and Mandzu/Cuadrado should be positioned well to press a Barca backline consistent of Pique, Masche/Umtiti, Alba, S. Roberto. Juve should be able to get after them at least in Turin like PSG did in Paris. When Barca do break the press, Mandzukic and Cuadrado give Juve defensive solidity in the wide areas. Dybala and Higuaín will drop in to overload the midfield when necessary. It becomes a 4-5-1 when Juve sit deep. Juve will have to improve their finishing. Higuaín MUST score. I'm not sure if this well happen, but I'm certain that this team will play with a great attitude and personality. Barca will face a team of animals.
May the best team win But we have huge pressure to win the first game at home and hopefully not concede any goals. It'll be tough playing in Camp Nou. Luis Enrique sucks. Im hoping Allegri can out coach him.
I was thinking about this today just because I was reminiscing. Our defense was similar; Chiello in better form and just off his peak, Bonucci not quite at his yet and Barzagli was at his best. Our depth wasn't there though cause Benatia and Rugani are >>>>>> Caceres and Ogbonna. In mid Pirlo>Pjanic, Vidal > Khedira, Marchisio 2015 > Marchisio 2017 (injuries and all that), Pogba > our bench. In offense Tevez and Morata might not have been as prolific as Higuain and Dybala but they were absolutely clutch when we needed them. Llorente and Matri probably provided more goals than Mandzu tbh, but half the work rate. So it's a write off on offense. Our biggest advantage now is depth outwide with Sandro (especially Sandro), Alves, and Cuadrado coming in. We also have EuroMax with more experience both in Europe and with this squad than last time around, though less squad familiarity with our current formation than when we played then. All in all I think we are a worse team as far as the all around threat of our squad on the field. Though it is probably more complete as far as a whole roster. We used to have a top 5 defense and mid, now its a top 3 defense and a top 10 strike force. It will be an interesting match up for sure but I'm not overly optimistic. The good thing is so are Barca are worse. They are about 80% offense at this point.
Let's hope that Chiellini is actually available for an important KO tie for once. Losing him days before the 2015 final on a team that played much more often in a back three was a big blow. This Juve are far more evolved in a back four and have players out wide that are far more equipped to deal with Barca's left side. That area killed Juve in the final. There is also more familiarity with Barca's players. I'm curious as to how much insight Alves can provide Allegri. Juve paid 90m for Higuaín to win these matchups. He has to come through if Juve are to advance.
Overall Tevez might have been better than Dybala is now, although I am not sure. But Tevez was very anonymous in the final. His only great contribution was when he shot with power and Morata got the equalizer. Vidal performed horrible in the final. Pirlo was good, but he was slowing us down a lot. Marchisio as well was not at his best at all in the final. I agree that I think our lack of pace in defense killed us in the final. Also remember Chiellini wasn't playing and Barzagli was not 100% fit, and we just threw him on there half injured because Ogbonna was way too risky. Allegri probably won't do it, but I actually wonder if we should use Rugani. I think after Bonucci he has been our second best CB all season.
I'd drop Cuadrado for him even at 40+. We can rearrange the others depending on if he wants out wide or Central.
I am really not afraid of this match-up at all to be honest. Barca have been extremely reliant on masterclass performances by Messi or Neymar all season. Their midfield has been pitiful and their fullbacks lack any skill going forward needed to beat us on the flanks. Suarez has been poor considering how good he was in 2015 (he misses very easy chances right now). Our team right now is better and deeper than 2015. Vidal was in poor form that year. Pirlo was past it. It came down to Pogba and Marchisio and Pogba was anonymous in the bigger games. Pjanic is more forward thinking than any of the other midfielders and Khedira/Rincon provides some glue to support Pjanic and Marchisio. The attack is greatly superior and Dybala should have a field day running at the Barca full backs. It will come down to us finishing the chances we will generate versus making sure we keep Messi/Neymar from impacting the game too much. It's a winnable 2 games.
This is going to be the toughest tie we've ever had. In a one game match we proven we can go toe to toe with them and were a non pk call on Pogba from beating them, beating them in 2 matches is tough as PSG seen. The question is are we a better team now then we were then? IMO I think it's hard to say since we all know it takes a lot luck to get to the final and we sure had it 2 years ago. Chielini should have been red carded vs BD and wasn't and we got very lucky drawing Monaco when we were missing many guys for both legs. Experience- we had Buffon, Pirlo and barzagli and Evra (can we really count Morata?) that knew how to win in big matches. We still have all of BBBC, marchisio and SL plus now Dani Alves and MM. My only concern is Higuain has a history of choking in big matches and Dybala misses chances often. Defense- BBBC is still there, we got Rugani and also Alex Sandro who reminds me so much like a Zambrotta, clearly we are better there. Midfield- This is honestly tricky since we havent seen them really all play together yet. Vidal was a tough loss and so was Pogba, but we forget Pogba didn't score a CL goal for us until the 2nd match vs Bayern last year, disappeared vs Portugal in the Euro final. Marchiso needs to be the Pirlo of that group now and we will get to see if Pjanic was really worth it. Attack- Hard to argue that we aren't better on paper now especially when you got a proven winner in MM. Apache was a beast for us and all Morata did was score clutch goals, PD and GH need to come through.
Everyone is questioning whether were better than 2015 or not. Just shows management failed to truly improve this team. Were better in some spots but not so great in other spots. To me this team is much better. That final was a weird one. All our players had an off game. Only Marchisio and Pogba were good. But in all honesty FUKK Barca and their hype. Its time we end it and truky stamp ourselves as an elite team.
People are questioning whether we are as good as we were in 2015. How about questioning whether this Barca side is as good? They are just a few games removed from a 4-0 thumping. I think this is the first time in a long time that we can look at a Juve-Barca fixture and say it's going to be a toss up.
It's not just managements role since father time has a say too. Tevez and Pirlo were immense. Pirlo felt like he couldn't continue (signs were there in that final season that he was right). Tevez mentally didn't want to continue. The same goes with Evra. Buffon, Chiellini, and Barzagli are two years old at an age where it's tough physically to play the same volume of matches they did. For as good as that Juve team was, it lacked depth. The wing play was also limited. This Juve team is more complete in that sense. Allegri has also improved the technical quality of the side. The club has supported him by saying that this was needed if Juve are to win the competition. We will see whether Juve can do it vs Barca. It's going to be an EPIC match. I expect 180 minutes of intense and beautiful play. We will see a great Juve.
The way I see it playing out it may be intense,but I don't expect beautiful. Barca are a possession team, I would expect us to play good old Italian counter attacking football. I don't see us playing a very free flowing 4-2-3-1. It'll end up being a pseudo 4-4-2 with Mandzu defending at LM, and Cuadrado/Dybala/Higgy on the counter being the main goal scoring threat. Neither team has the midfield strength it did back in 2015. We had a great midfield and defense in 2015, they had a great midfield and offense. We now have a great defense and good offense, they now have a great offense and that is it. It will be an interesting match up for sure.