Rome (AFP)
With Cristiano Ronaldo, rid of the coronavirus, Juventus returned to victory this weekend but the return of the Portuguese is far from solving all the problems of his "coach-builder" Andrea Pirlo, before facing Ferencvaros on Wednesday night in the League champions.
The match against the modest Hungarians, in Budapest on behalf of the 3rd day of C1, must nevertheless allow this new Juve to find solutions to one of its current projects: offensive animation, specialty of the "Maestro" Pirlo when he was a player.
- "In construction" -
"We are in the construction phase", repeated Sunday the young technician (41 years) after the victory against Spezia (4-1), judging at "60, 70%" the progress of the work of his Juve .
"We are progressing, players are coming back, we will have time to work on some tactical situations," he assured.
The novice coach will have had to wait until November to have all of his offensive players available.
So far, he has had to juggle between late resumes (Paulo Dybala), transfers completed at the end of the transfer window (Alvaro Morata, Federico Chiesa) and Ronaldo's quarantine due to coronavirus.
This moment of practical work, Pirlo waited impatiently to try to give substance to his ideas, having theorized an offensive team, playful and in permanent movement.
A Juve in color after the sad version offered last season by Maurizio Sarri.
- Cristiano Ronaldo, the base -
"Cristiano is back!"
As always, it is around CR7, whose absence was particularly felt against Barcelona (0-2) last week in C1, that everything will be articulated: barely out of quarantine and the bench, Sunday , the Portuguese revived a struggling Juve with two goals against Spezia.
In three league matches played (he missed two Serie A matches and the two C1 matches), the Portuguese has already stacked five goals, enough to strengthen his personal ambitions to become top scorer in Italy after having been in England. with Manchester United and in Spain with Real Madrid.
The question now is how to properly surround the 35-year-old star.
If Ronaldo is more clinical than ever in front of goal, it is the others who must bring the speed and endurance to take the wings, press and fall back quickly.
- The tip and the legs -
In the absence of Ronaldo, Morata has slowly settled into a point.
He netted Juve's two goals in the Champions League (in Kiev) and two more in Serie A, although VAR denied him many more for offside (six in total, including three against Barcelona! ).
If speed is not his strong point either, the efficiency and experience of the Spaniard currently make him more than an understudy in this still muddled team.
Because some of the men responsible for boosting the attack are still running in: the explosive Dejan Kulusevski stalls a little after a fanfare debut, Federico Chiesa is still looking for his bearings on the left wing where Pirlo and Aaron Ramsey placed him. hardly approaching the goal.
Juan Cuadrado, in a role oscillating between right midfielder and lateral defender depending on the phases of play, is often the most dangerous to carry danger into the opposing area.
- The Dybala enigma -
Transparent - and often too low on the field - against Barcelona against Lionel Messi and not much more in his case Sunday against Spezia, Paulo Dybala has not yet really started his season.
The Argentinian, capable of strokes of genius, is still chasing form, after a last season concluded with an injury that prevented him from playing at his level against Lyon this summer, during the elimination in the eighth return of the Ligue des champions.
To the point that the association with Ronaldo, who was often Juve's only offensive insurance last season, may not yet be on the program on Wednesday night, pending better days, Pirlo has hinted.
© 2020 AFP