Finally making the starting lineup, Brazilian defensive midfielder Fernandinho gave a thumbs-up to the cara with a smile!
His big mouth stretched almost to his ears.
Watching their antics, Kolarov, one of the three giants of the Italian Language Gang, also found it amusing.
Co on, are you guys not even pretending anymore?
On the second day at 7:40 PM Turin local ti.
In the ho team locker room at Juventus Stadium.
"Guys, there are only 5 minutes until kickoff. Get your heads up. I have a few words to say to you!"
Allegri pounded the tactics board heavily with his fist, drawing everyone’s gaze solely onto himself.
As the head coach of Juventus, he relished this mont.
"Last season, we, Juventus, successfully defeated AC Milan, Napoli, and Inter Milan, clinching the Serie A championship and continuing the club’s traditionally dominant status in Serie A!"
"But if you think I’m satisfied with just that, you are wrong!"
"The Agnelli family brought over from AC Milan at a high price not just for the Serie A championship!"
Allegri’s voice grew louder, his words echoing around the locker room.
"Champions League!"
"Juventus’s sole aim this season is the Champions League trophy!"
"Therefore, our first step in the Champions League journey is to secure the top position in Group B, which will greatly benefit us in the round of 16."
"In Group B, with Juventus, Manchester City, Sevilla, and Borussia Monchengladbach, the latter two are just making up the numbers. The top two positions will be decided between us and Manchester City."
"In this ho match against Manchester City, we can only win, not lose! If anyone dares to slack off or not fight hard, they’ll find themselves sitting on the bench when we get back to the league, understood?"
Juventus players responded in unison, "Understood, boss!"
Among the shouting players, Juventus’s two key players, veteran defender Chiellini and goalkeeper Buffon, yelled the loudest!
Last season, Juventus achieved one win, one draw, and one loss against Inter, which, results-wise, wasn’t unfavorable.
But in the last two matches, Chiellini and Buffon had setbacks against Inter, or more precisely, against Tang Long!
Buffon was twice fooled by Tang Long with Panenka penalties against Inter, causing the legendary Italian goalkeeper to lose face;
While Chiellini, in a match that was supposed to end 3-3, scored an own goal with a header in the last monts, allowing Tang Long to secure a last-minute winner!
After the match, then-coach Mancini sarcastically remarked, "A team always needs soone to step up in critical monts. For us, it was Tang Long, and for Juventus, it was Chiellini!"
The sharp sarcasm still lingers in their ears!
Therefore, this clash between Juventus and Manchester City appears on the surface to be a confrontation between a Serie A giant and a Premier League giant;
But in the hearts of Chiellini and Buffon, it’s a perfect opportunity to defeat Tang Long!
However, much to their disappointnt, they’ve learned from Allegri’s mouth that Tang Long isn’t starting this match but is sitting on the bench.
Due to the storm created by The Sun, Tang Long might just end up having a one-day trip to Turin without getting a chance to play.
In the pre-match press conference, Buffon, who attended alongside Allegri, responded to the dia’s question by saying:
"You ask what I think about Tang potentially not playing this match?"
"If he’s on the pitch, we’ll defeat him on the pitch; if he’s a coward sitting on the bench, we’ll let him sit there and watch Juventus puml Manchester City!"
Starting lineups for both teams:
Ho team Juventus: 433
Morata/Mandzukic/Cuadrado
Marchisio/Pogba/Sturora
Evra/Chiellini/Bonucci/Lichtsteiner
Buffon
Away team Manchester City: 4231
Agüero
Sterling/Silva/Nasri
Fernandinho/Yaya Toure
Kolarov/Ranocchia/Kompany/Sagna
Joe Hart
Reviews
All reviews (0)