My 3 Thoughts on Milan-Juventus
Here are my three thoughts on Milan and Juventus’s 0-0 draw on Sunday:
• This looked like a Serie A game from the old days. In a chippy game with 35 fouls and four yellow cards (there probably should have been more), Juventus locked things down and came away with a point despite not having a single shot on goal. It extended Juve’s unbeaten streak to nine games in the league and left Milan in third place (behind Inter and Napoli, the latter on goal-difference). Neither team had any golden scoring chances, and it was a bummer to see Zlatan Ibrahimovic come off in 28th minute with what appeared to be a muscle injury. Juventus (42 points, one behind fourth-place Atalanta) has gotten back into the Serie A top four conversation over the past month and has been scoring goals at a decent clip, but it withdrew into itself during a difficult away game and will probably feel the better of the two teams afterward. Serie A hasn’t been your father’s defensive-minded Serie A for many years, but this game was a bit of a throwback to those days.
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• Weston McKennie didn’t stay smoking hot, but he was fine overall. The U.S. midfielder was coming in on a two-game goal-scoring streak, and he did have a decent headed shot late in the game, but ultimately a decisive moment evaded him. McKennie played higher on the field than he typically does for the U.S., and it was a good sign that he played all 90 minutes in a big game. He has been in the best form of his career and should bring a lot of confidence into the USMNT World Cup qualifiers starting this week. The stage is set for him to have a significant impact in the three U.S. games.
•Italy still has a title race. Dropping two points is a bummer for Milan, which could have stayed within two points of league leader Inter, but things are still pretty tight in Serie A, with just 11 points separating first and fifth place. For me it’s still the best title race in the top five European leagues, even though things have gotten a bit closer lately in Spain (where Real Madrid’s lead over Sevilla has closed to four points) and Germany (where Bayern Munich’s lead on Dortmund is six). I understand why the Premier League is so popular, but I would encourage U.S. viewers who consume mostly Premier League to give Serie A a look in the coming weeks if you haven’t much before. This game was actually an anomaly in a highly-entertaining league.
What were your thoughts on the game?
Hi Grant, where did you watch this game?