GdS: Why everything has changed since Milan and Juventus’ first meeting of 2024-25

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·18 de enero de 2025

GdS: Why everything has changed since Milan and Juventus’ first meeting of 2024-25

AC Milan and Juventus will engage in their third bout of the season tonight, with both sides looking to take what would be a big step towards the top four.

As La Gazzetta dello Sport write, the first two clashes have generally smiled on Milan, who are undefeated against Juve and in Riyadh gained the satisfaction of being the second team to beat them after Stuttgart.

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Almost two months have passed since the San Siro meeting on November 23 and the memory of that 0-0 is still alive but because it was simply a dreadful football spectacle. Now the stakes are starting to heat up a lot, but what has changed since then.

The draw kings

For Juve, there have been 11 games and just three wins since that November challenge against Milan. They have been hit by the ‘drawitis’ virus and have lost the defensive solidity that they had shown up until then.

The only defeat in the last 50 days for Motta’s side was against Milan in the Supercoppa, but their only wins were against Monza in the league, Cagliari in the Coppa Italia and more impressively against Manchester City in the Champions League.

Rossoneri resurgence?

Fifty days are enough to change almost everything, in Milan’s case. On November 23, Milan were booed by their fans, with Fonseca’s approval (he said he would have booed too), for an embarrassing performance against Juventus, which ended without a shot on target.

The Portuguese coach was accused of being too defensive by naming Yunus Musah as a winger in a home game where a win was really needed against a team riddled with injuries. On the other hand, Fonseca launched the new centre-back pairing of Thiaw-Gabbia which became a rock at the back.

Almost two months later, a coach, a way of playing, the mood and the list of honours have changed. In the Champions League, two victories against Slovan and Red Star came, which have projected the Diavolo towards the top eight.

In the Coppa Italia Milan have reached the quarter-finals, beating Sassuolo 6-1. In the league, however, the stinging defeat against Atalanta and a dull draw at San Siro against Genoa on the day of the 125th anniversary celebrations didn’t help.

Photo by Marco Luzzani/Getty Images

The last match of the year against Roma was yet another disappointing performance that led to the dismissal of Fonseca and the arrival of Sergio Conceiçao. In just eight days he delivered the club’s 50th major honour by beating their two biggest rivals in the process. Not a bad start.

In addition, the Portuguese coach seems to have got more out of Rafa Leao and Theo Hernandez, and engineered comeback wins over Juventus, Inter and Como, making it three victories and a draw in his first four games.

Tactically, Conceicao has made the team more compact and more aggressive, asking for a greater effort in terms of running and sacrifice. Against Como, this perhaps contributed to the injuries that Thiaw, Pulisic and Morata got.

The next step for Conceiçao will be to improve the approach to matches against lower-ranking sides, and also the first half of games, the real Achilles heel of this Milan. Tonight provides a good opportunity to do that.