Rome (AFP)
Reserved and reservist, replacing Matuidi then presented as a "striker", Adrien Rabiot has long remained behind for his first season at Juventus. But the post-confinement has changed everything and at the time of facing Lyon on Friday in the Champions League, it is one of the few guarantees of the Turin club.
After the last day of the championship on Saturday, another loss in Turin against AS Roma (3-1), the Gazzetta dello Sport considered that Rabiot was "the only good news of the moment with the rapid recovery of Dybala".
The former Parisian indeed offered a decisive pass to Higuain and, above all, he was once again one of the few bianconeri elements to have breath and light legs. "Athletically, he is a cut above. The confinement has done him good," said the Gazzetta.
The daily commentary on the pink pages is not lacking in irony when we remember that, precisely, the end of confinement was the lowest point of Rabiot's stay in Turin.
While his teammates returned one after the other to Turin to resume training with individual and optional sessions, he still had to work solo on the Côte d'Azur.
The attitude of the former Parisian did not necessarily please his leaders very much but it was especially harshly criticized by the Italian press, the daily La Stampa even speaking of a "strike" and assuring that Rabiot was in fact protesting against the decline of wages decided to limit the economic effects of the coronavirus crisis.
Rabiot joked about it on social networks and continued to work, quickly chaining the tenures while Blaise Matuidi, first choice for months on the left of the midfielder, settled permanently on the bench.
- 'A very strong player' -
Every day before a match, the three Italian sports dailies announce the probable compositions of the teams and add "ballots" to them where there remains a doubt. For a long time, they systematically turned in favor of Matuidi: Matuidi-Rabiot 70% -30% or Matuidi-Rabiot 60% -40%.
Then the trend was reversed, Rabiot-Matuidi 60% -40%, Rabiot-Matuidi 70% -30%, then there was no more waivers. The holder is now Rabiot and his incredibly neutral performances at the start of the season, static and full of side passes, are forgotten.
A fantastic goal against AC Milan, fouls obtained in shambles, the game and races forward, a feeling of power regained while the others stick their tongue out in the face of the repetition of matches in the heat: the "Duke "has become an asset again.
All his body language has also been transformed and we can now see him smiling, at ease with his teammates and fully integrated into moments of celebration and celebration.
"Rabiot is a player with rare qualities. After going through big changes, he is in the process of revealing himself. He has a bit of a reserved character, he changed teams and football and it took him a little more time to digest. But it's a journey that many foreign players have experienced when arriving in Italy, "said his coach Maurizio Sarri, who has always defended and protected him two weeks ago.
"Now I see him playing with a lot of personality and security. We are talking about a very strong player," also recalled the Italian technician.
At the start of the season, Sarri was asked what Rabiot should think, who only played very exceptionally at the time. "That Matuidi is very strong," he replied. Today, the logic has been reversed.
© 2020 AFP