All I have to say is the Bianconeri are damn lucky that Brescia can't finish. Juve had nothing out wide on either side, Brescia had a few key saves, and the forwards had little service to work with. Someone(s) needs to wake up fast or i Giallorossi is going to walk away with the next one.
Across the back, Of Blacks started Storari, Grosso, Gio, Leo, and Motta. Storari had a few shaky moments but was blameless for Brescia's goal. Grosso was terrible (as was his facial hair) and got a yellow.
Motta was also terrible and also got a yellow, which means he is suspended for Roma and there will be no big homoerotic reunion. :(
Gio returned, and he did well, bailing out his comrades more than once. For a while early in the match, Grosso tried to run the back line (as if), but Gio straightened him out and took charge before anything disastrous happened. Leo had some good moments and some bad moments.
Pepe and Marchisio started out wide in the middle. They switched sides a few times, so I had trouble keeping track of Claudio, who seemed fairly quiet to me.
Pepe gave a lot of effort, as always. He also gave up the ball a lot and contributed little to the offense. And he got another yellow. And he was one of the few players to get noticed by the photogs.
Ditto for Momo.
Albertino did all right, I spose, but he was unable to contain Alessandro Diamanti, who is a bit of a douche, but became one of mine last year when he played for West Ham. Mr. D kept saying "They're giving Diamanti too much time. They're giving Diamanti too much room. Diamanti is the danger man. They have to play Diamanti tighter." I eventually had to tell him to shut up because he was distracting me from my gloom and dread, but he was right, of course. Did Of Blacks not warn the zebes about Diamanti, or were they just unable to shut him down?
Albertino went out in the 76th for Lanza! But Lanza was ignored by the photogs, got nowhere, and got so little face time from the TV cameras that I never got a decent look at his hair.
The Old Guy started up top, but couldn't turn any of his usual magic into goals.
He was replaced by Vincenzo in the 58th.
Vince was non-magical.
proof of Claudio!
Quags was the other starting striker. He spent a lot of time being invisible, and then every now and again he'd show up out of nowhere and hit the post.
Or send it just over the bar.
However, there was one glorious moment when Juventus looked like a football squad. Quags bonked a shot off the post, but someone collected the rebound and sent it out wide to
Requisitie prancing....
....requisite power slide with the usual remora who wasn't involved in the play.....
.....manpile full of people I don't recognize except for Momo and Brazzo.....
....and celebratory fist pump. Yes, Fabio. You da man.
Do I sound cranky? That's because I know what happened next. Quags' goal was a huge relief. Brescia was slightly better the whole way through, had a little more possession, and got forward in attack a lot, and way better than Juventus did. I probably was not the only one expecting a nil-nil draw by minute 70. But then Quags scored and I took a big sigh of relief, and I thought, "Whew. Now I can relax."
My next thought was, "Uh oh. I hope the boys don't think they can relax."
And just about the time that my aging and shrinking brain formed a new sense of dread, oh man! do I really have to say it? *sigh* Diamanti happened and threaded a screamer through the defense and right past Storari into the net. I wish I could find a photo of Del Neri's face. I think he was about to cry.
Fortunately, everyone settled down after that and there was no more damage. Quags sent one just over the bar 2 1/2 minutes into extra time, but it was not to be. Oh well. A point's a point.
Next match, Roma on Saturday. And yes, everyone is still pretty much broken, but Krasic is supposed to be back, I think. *goes off to check*
Oh dear. Good news: Melo, Amauri, and Traore are back.
Bad news: Krasic is not. He must be injured. Crap.
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