Now it’s ‘a completely different Juve’

“Juve in a completely new light”. This is the title of today’s edition of Tuttosport, exactly one week before the Derby d’Italia against Inter, reflecting on the first leg (1-1 the final result on 24 October), when the bianconeri showed up at the growing Meazza, after a shocking start to the championship, but in a form still not well defined, as confirmed by the two knockouts against Sassuolo and Verona.

“The Juventus turning point”. Tuttosport adds again: “The average points per game grew to 2.25 in the second round versus opponents from the first eight matchdays, and in this case, it is also the outcome of the finalisation phase (1.87 goals per match)”. And once more: “It is interesting to note how the improvement in goals scored and conceded is reflected in the data relating to shots when comparing the first eight match days to those from 10 to 30 match days (12.6 shots per game; opponents’ shots dropped from 12 to 10), but not when comparing the first eight days to the matches with the same opponents on the return leg.

In this case, Juventus scored more while shooting less (11.25 shots vs. 12.1) and surrendered fewer goals despite their opponents shooting more (13.37 per game against 12). Through Szczesny’s saves and the defenders’ denials, negating the opponent’s conclusions. “Numbers alone will not suffice to foretell what will happen on Sunday evening at the Allianz Stadium.” Certainly, in terms of awareness, Juve is very another.