Genoa – If a new championship begins with the second round, so they say, Andrea Pirlo seems to be reliving the “old”. The first leg was almost constantly affected by absences, including suspensions and injuries. Today we start again from the away match in Venice with 8 absent: Gonzalez disqualified, Esposito, Borini, Pedrola, Vieira, Ferrari and Conti in the infirmary, plus Kasami in the double role of disqualified and injured. Excluding Conti, the others all have the stature of the owner. Even today an exodus away match, with around 2,000 fans, in the away section there will be 1,732.
Yesterday Pirlo on the one hand tried to diplomatically downplay it, «we don't want to talk about alibis. However, we know we have a competitive team, whoever is there, is there. So we have to adapt with those we have, confident. We have lost important players at the moment, but there are others ready to take over, even someone who has played less so far and will have the chance to demonstrate his value.” But on the other hand, the coach was unable to completely hide some understandable opposition: «We don't have a very precise idea (of the cause) of the injuries. Maybe when you return from a break there may be some fatigue… Esposito at the end of a completed training session, out of concern for himself, wanted to be seen, he didn't have much pain but there was a small injury. Unfortunately, injuries happen to all teams, they are killing us. But we have to be positive. We hope to recover them soon, we have many important players out who can help us for the second round.”
Today against a fourth-placed Venezia team who haven't won since December 2nd (3-1 at Ascoli at home) Pirlo has problems especially going forward, Pedrola and Borini have been out for a while now, Esposito was the game-breaker. Faced with this emergency state, the technician does not touch the module. But he moves the pieces by exploiting the tactical versatility of some of the Blucerchiati. And changing the chains. Murru returns to central defender after three months (the last one in Ascoli), Giordano in the defensive line (the last one in Brescia) giving up his place as left midfielder to Ricci, the new player in the lineup. He hasn't played for three and a half months, since the defeat against Catanzaro at Ferraris, and it is precisely him that Pirlo is referring to when he talks about “footballers who will have the chance to demonstrate their value”. On the right, Stojanovic low and Depaoli in midfield. Esposito's place will be taken by Benedetti, for the first time since the beginning in that position, with different characteristics. In addition to La Gumina, there are two Primavera players on the bench, the already seen Ntanda and Leonardi, his first call-up.
Venezia coach Vanoli has almost zero problems, only two outs, Jajalo and Idzes. In attack he relies on Pohjanpalo and Pierini, the footballer with the turban, now more superstitious than essential.
If the first round for Samp started at -2, a penalty immediately absorbed with Terni's victory, the return starts from -5, the distance from the eighth place occupied by Modena and Brescia, victorious yesterday in the direct clash. Nothing impossible, even if Pirlo clearly said yesterday that he wasn't counting on the market. For the rest, «one lost match is enough to go back down and one win to go up. We need balance and concentration, we no longer have time to make mistakes. Now the points are all fundamental and you have to get them every day and in every field. We know that at the slightest mistake we can find ourselves in a difficult situation, but that if we win two it will be better. Let's not be influenced by the ranking, let's look at every match as if it were the decisive one, only in this way can we move forward.” And then: «I asked the team to be competitive until the end, trying to raise our bar. What has been done so far is not enough. We can do much more. It is in our abilities, qualities, why we wear an important shirt. The goal is to improve ourselves in general and compared to our current position. We will face strong teams, but we also have an important specific weight.” First indication today in Venice.
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