Capturing the meaning of this day at Villar Perosa is the outpouring of passion from the Juventus fans present. An event that only we have, a moment to charge the batteries with positive vibes, after those from the US Tour, before the last summer trip, in Tel Aviv against Atletico Madrid and, above all, before season 22/23 official starts.
The match used to be called 'Juventus A vs Juventus B' - today it is First Team against Under 23, for a proper friendly, which, as always, lasts a little more than one half.
THE MATCH
Given the atmosphere and the setting, the rhythm should be relaxed and appropriate for a "friendly", but far from it. Massimiliano Allegri's team immediately pressed down on the accelerator, and in a quarter of an hour scored twice. The first arrived after not even 120 seconds, with Manuel Locatelli placing his shot into the left-hand bottom corner. The second came on 17 minutes when Leonardo Bonucci met a cross from a Angel Di Maria corner from the left, taking advantage of Dusan Vlahovic's block in the middle of the area to bullet an unstoppable header into the net.
Over the whole of the first half the First Team took the initiative and looked for opportunities - Vlahovic was particularly active, coming close more than once inside the area. The Under 23 set out to hold back their opponents, especially across the defensive line, a tactic that brought the first half to a close with the First Team two goals to the good.
SHORT LIVED RESTART
Only a few seconds after the restart, Nicolò Rovella came close to making it 3-0. The first action of the second period proved to be the last as a few minutes later a certain Villar tradition was hard to break - the peaceful and affectionate pitch invasion, which brought about the final whistle ahead of schedule.
JUVENTUS 2-0 JUVENTUS U23
Scorers: 2’ Locatelli, 16’ Bonucci
Juventus: Szczesny (30’ Perin); Danilo (46’ Barbieri), Bonucci (35’ Gatti), Bremer (46’ Rugani), Alex Sandro (43’ Pellegrini); Zakaria (43’ Rovella), Locatelli (46’ Zuelli), Fagioli (35’ Soulé); Di Maria (46’ Cudrig), Vlahovic, Kean (46’ Rabiot).
Subs not used: Pinsoglio, Da Graca, Barbieri.
Coach: Allegri.
Juventus U23: Garofani (46’ Raina), Leo (46’ Cotter), Riccio (14’ Stramaccioni), Poli (46’ Nzouango), Verduci (46’ Gozzi); Sersanti (46’ Iling Junior), Barrenechea (46’ Rafia), Iocolano (46’ Mulazzi); Sekulov, Pecorino (46’ Bonetti), Lipari.
Subs not used: Turicchia.
Coach: Brambilla
Referee: Maggioni