Gone is the memory of that Barça that landed in a European city preceded by its good reputation. Turin received Ronald Koeman’s team with some indifference. Few curious people waited outside the stadium defying the cold that every autumn begins to descend from the Alps to the Piedmont capital. Few games have the sign of a Juve-Barça (21h / Movistar Champions), but this year of hardships both teams try to lick the wounds as they can. Juve continue to pursue the dream of breaking a drought of more than 25 years without the Champions League. And Barça, without a president, want to feel important again, because after nights like those in Rome, Liverpool or Lisbon, they no longer respect Europe. Traveling across the continent lately is waking up ghosts that scare a fragile club.
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Koeman, aware of all this, asks for calm. “When I spoke to Barça I knew it would not be easy because of the changes we want to make, the issue of the coronavirus and the economic situation. The challenge is so great that I just ask for peace of mind and time because we are changing a lot of things “, he explained in the press room of a stadium where he has not yet won. History is cyclical, and from time to time Barça suffers such a violent crisis that their opponents rub their eyes in surprise. And so, Juve receive a team without a president, with the staff wondering with whom they will negotiate salaries. A Barça that has just won one of the last four games. Things about football, Juve are not very happy either. Andrea Pirlo, in his first season as a coach, breaks his horns to rebuild a team that, as happens to Barça, also has no central defenders, due to the injuries of Chiellini and De Ligt, as well as Bonucci’s doubts. Usually high clubs, Barça and Juve meet again crossing a desert. And it does not help them to have in their ranks Messi and a Cristiano Ronaldo who will finally be low, after giving positive again for covid-19. Koeman, who does not seem nervous, will opt for a defense formed by Lenglet and the Uruguayan Araujo, because he has no more central players due to the casualties of Piqué, Umtiti and Mínguez, the only central defender in the Champions League. Coutinho’s absence should allow Griezmann a chance to redeem himself, after two consecutive games on the bench.
Pjanic wants a chance
One of the doubts will be whether Koeman gives a chance to Miralem Pjanic, protagonist a few months ago of a controversial transfer between the two clubs, when Arthur left for Turin and the Bosnian for Barcelona. For now, neither plays much, because Koeman prefers a double pivot with Busquets and De Jong. “There is a lot of competition in the big clubs. I’m here to play, to help. And of course all three [Busquets, De Jong i ell] we can play together. The only thing I can do is train well and then wait for the coach to decide “, explained Pjanic in a press conference at the stadium that until recently was his home. Arthur, meanwhile, will try to get his head out of the starting lineup, although Pirlo seems to prefer Rabiot, Rodrigo Bentancur, with Colombian Juan Guillermo Cuadrado and Federico Chiesa on the wings.
Koeman, who continues with his crusade against Spanish refereeing, faces a second level exam after suspending the classic, aware that a new defeat, just now that the president is leaving, would shatter the calm of a club he hopes to find on the lawn the peace lost in the offices.
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