[Review] Juventus fell into the "Goddess Curse" and the front line mystery

Sports Weekly All Media Reporter in Italy Shen Tianhao

Bergamo is 200 kilometers apart from Turin, but the showdown between Atlanta and Juventus is also a city derby in a sense - 47-year-old Igor Tudor and 50-year-old Ivan Yulic were both born in Split, the Adriatic coastal city. The second largest city in Croatia, located in the Dalmatia region, was once the territory of the Republic of Venice and part of the "Greater Italy" imagined by fascists. However, on the football level, Italy has almost never defeated Croatia, and the coaches of the four teams participating in the Champions League this season are Croatians.

Having said that, it is only in recent years that Croatian coaches enter the mainstream Italian football world. There have only been three Croatian coach matches in history in Serie A, with the protagonists being Yulic and Tudor: in 2019, the two coached Verona and Udinese respectively, and their first encounter ended 0-0; after that, Yulic picked up the Turin coaching stick, and the successor was his fellow villager Tudor. The two met with Yulic's victory in the next two matches. In these 3 games, Tudor's team failed to score even a goal. Is it enough to rely on Yeldes alone?

After the fight again this time, Tudor became the advantage on paper, but in addition to facing his "Yuric Curse", he also had to challenge Juventus' "Goddess Curse": in the mid-to-early 2010s, Atlanta was once the points cash machine of the Zebras. However, since the 2018-19 season, Juventus has never defeated this opponent at home. Malinowski's world wave, Lukeman's solo show, Kop Minas's double score, and the 0-4 game this spring have all entered the collective memory of Juventus fans. What about this time? Juventus showed a strong momentum at the beginning and played out what Tudor said, "one of the best halfs since I coached", but was scored first by his opponent before the end of the first half, and finally tied the score hard. His unbeatable record against Atlanta at home has come to his 8th year.

He took office in Verona that year, and both Yulic and Tudor succeeded with a set of 3421. This time, facing the front, the two of them followed the routine, and the formations of both sides mirrored each other: Tudor arranged a new offensive combination: Before Oppenda, the two heroes of the national derby, Yeldez and Ajici, were supporting them later.

Previously, Juventus played a decisive role in fighting Inter Midote in three days and scored 8 goals in two games. In the last round of the away game between Verona in the league, the Turkish star and the team's offense were at the same time. The situation in this game was generally similar: Yeldez held the ball in large numbers and tried various offensive methods. He had a very high presence on the court, but his condition was not at his best. He lost a total of 22 ball rights in the game - too many. Yeldez's condition declined in the second half, and Juventus's team immediately lost its direction, and they played in a daze until the equalizer arrived, and "Yeldez's dependence" became more and more obvious.

Where did the others go? Juventus bought out Koncesan this summer, leaving Vlahovic behind, and introduced David, Oppenda and Gergrova. There are 6 star players on the front line, which is a configuration that makes all other strong teams in Serie A envious. However, for Tudor, such a rich and complex front line combination is not easy to control. Kosésan, who scored in the world last round, was absent due to injury, and Gegrova's physical condition is far from the best. Juventus's frontcourt has only "look beautiful" so far. In terms of personality, the one with the most protagonist temperament is Ajiqi, who has the smaller name. He repeatedly launched attacks in the first half, but unfortunately the effect was not good. He was cut off after a retreat and received the ball, which directly led to Atlanta's goal. Can the three centers rotate in rotation?

Yulic brought Southampton's old subordinate Kamaldin Suleimanna this summer, flashed around the penalty area line, and then scored with his left foot, making a Martins-style continuous somersault celebration. Such a wonderful personal show made the "Goddess" fans not know whether to remember or forget Lukeman. He only scored 5 goals in the club field in the previous three years, but now he has scored consecutive goals in Atlanta, proving the power of such impact wingers in the Serie A field. In contrast, there is no such player in Juventus: Oppenda, who has the strongest impact, is the center on the court, but his performance in this game proves that he is neither the Classic No. 9 nor a powerful fulcrum, and the positioning of a "special actor" may be more appropriate.

Vlahovic made three substitutes and scored 4 goals and 1 assist, but failed to make a name for himself, which seemed to confirm the position of "bench killer". But this time he played in the second half and failed to achieve anything. Perhaps what is more important for him is the support level, not the starting point or not. David sat on the bench for 90 minutes: he was originally the last weapon Juventus took out from the bench, but because Bremer felt uncomfortable and was replaced by Kaval, Tudor was forced to leave the substitution quota to the defense.

Caval, who appeared on the bench, really played the job of center: Joao Mario sent a pass from the right, Cosunu made a missed ball, and was picked up by the Colombia defender in front of the goal. This time the goal was opportunistic and quite skillful, making it almost difficult to believe that this was just his first Serie A goal. Kaval joined Juventus last season and performed amazingly at first, but soon suffered a serious cruciate ligament injury. He did not return to the court until two weeks ago. His performance under the Tudor three-center-back system is worth looking forward to.

But the real center has become Juventus' problem. The arrogant Vlahovic is unwilling to be the second choice, but it is difficult to perform continuously; David is diligent and has no problem with his attitude, but his effect on playing the right-side inside forward against Dortmund is very poor; Oppenda has not had any highlights in joining Juventus, and his style currently looks out of place with the team.. On the economic level, Vlahovic's annual salary is ahead of the team at a disconnect, David ranks second alone, Oppenda is also a member of the top five Hi-Tech club. Juventus paid three strikers an annual salary of more than 40 million euros before tax, but the current effect is "1+1+1

Of course, Tudor still has time to debug changes, David and Oppenda still need to adapt to the new environment, Vlahovic may leave in the winter window, which may also make the situation simpler. "The cup is always half full," Tudor said after the game, but his team failed to surpass Napoli again with one more game, and was destined to be unable to sit on the best-scenic platform and watch the tiger fight (AC Milan vs. Napoli). Next, does his team still have a chance to return to the top?