Cristiano Ronaldo, Luciano Moggi: "Juventus, we need a test of strength", the council to Sarri

Sooner or later it had to happen and there had already been little encouraging signs in the previous home matches with Bologna and Genoa, when the success with the least difference had arrived only in the final and with a little luck.

This time luck, however, did not help and Sassuolo forced a lazy, slow and even wasteful Juve into a draw, despite the fact that before him there was one of the worst defenses in the league (25 goals conceded). It is true that the Bianconeri lacked a penalty for a dramatic retention in the area on De Ligt, but they would not have deserved the victory for the game shown.

Sarri's team drew against young and inexperienced opponents, even if of a certain quality, missing among other things from their best player (Berardi) and with debutant Turati, 18-year-old goalkeeper, to defend the poles. Opponents who, following the teachings of Mr. De Zerbi, were able to show off at least the courage to impose their game, not succeeding completely in the intent only for the obvious inferiority of level with respect to the samples available to Sarri.

Sassuolo still played better than Juve in the first half and often surprised him, as on 23 minutes with Boga, who scored for the draw by mocking Buffon with a lob worthy of the best Maradona. Then even the advantage, at the beginning of the recovery, of Caputo who took advantage of a mess between Cuadrado, De Ligt and Buffon.

These boys are truly worthy of praise, who, without awe, approached the race with a great desire to play, unlike the Bianconeri who evidently thought they were dealing with an easily tameable team.

Sarri, on the other hand, probably did not carefully assess the state of his form, since only Bonucci, Bentancur and Dybala were saved. And this time not even Dybala has succeeded in the miracle of reassembling the pieces: he still deserves the credit for having changed the game from his entry into the field and provoking Ronaldo's penalty which brought the teams back into a draw. There is no doubt that at this time Paulo, paired with Higuain, is the best solution for the advanced Juventus department. So it's not clear why he and Higuain should go to the bench, and then almost always replace his own Gonzalo during the race, with the result perhaps of demotivating both. You can also understand how difficult it is for a coach to send Ronaldo to the bench or replace him during the race. However, when the shape is not equal to fame, a test of strength is also needed to stimulate the champion who is struggling right now, not to make him sit down and also to make him understand that in the field they need to go the best. At this moment, also due to these continuous changes, the game is not visible and above all the identity of the team is not visible: for example, we do not know which midfielders are the owners or what the playmaker should do. It is up to Sarri to explain it, not to the writer, but the players themselves at times seem confused like those who see the games.

Inter, thanks to the two goals of the wild Lautaro, prevails at S. Siro on the Spal and jumps to the top of the table. With an exceptional first time he secured the result and showed the great agreement existing in the Lautaro-Lukaku attack duo.

The Argentine, who with the typical determination of a defender goes to steal the ball from the opponents going then to sign; the Belgian, less goal scorer, but certainly valuable in creating inviting spaces and balls.

In short, we can glimpse Conte's hand which led the Nerazzurri to win 12 games in the 14 days. It will be a good sight to contend for the title with the two diametrically opposed game methods: in order to excel, Inter will continue to win, always taking advantage of the team's choral game; Juve instead will continue to win always with the great plays of its champions, in spite of the beautiful game that Sarri would like. Napoli is in crisis, goes to the St. Paul with Bologna under the whistles of the fans as never happened.

Ancelotti loses his temper and brings everyone into retreat when he himself said he was against withdrawal promoted by President De Laurentiis: there is undoubtedly confusion in the environment. The Atalanta immediately resumed and went on to win at home to Brescia, returning to fifth place. Rome dominates and wins with merit in Verona, while Lazio shows with Udinese (3-0) with Luis Alberto, prompter and Immobile goleador: two more goals for Ciro, confirming him as top scorer with 17 goals.

by Luciano Moggi