With nothing at stake, on a dull day for Juventus, interest in the clash against Monza, another team with nothing to contend with, focused on the farewell of Álex Sandro, equaling Pavel Nedved as the foreigner with more matches for ‘ Vecchia Signora’ and also bid farewell to one of the goals of the duel.
The result, a final 2-0, was the least important thing about the game. All eyes are on Sandro, who, at 33 years old and after nine seasons at Juventus, announced his farewell at the end of the season. He still has one last mission in his last match: to reach 327 official matches for Juventus and equal the legend Pavel Nedved.
The ‘top 5’ of foreign players who have worn the Juventus shirt the most are completed by Luis del Sol (295 games), Paulo Dybala (293) and the club’s current interim coach Paolo Montero (278). And, of course, Montero didn’t want to be the bad guy and gave the starting job to Sandro, who managed five consecutive games without playing between substitutions and injuries.
The Brazilian full-back responded to his coach’s gesture with a great game. The last one, in front of his fans, to match Nedved and say goodbye with dignity. His goal, at half time, after a header from a corner centered by Nicolò Fagioli, gave rise to a special celebration in front of his fans and surrounded by his teammates.
This is the worst image of a crash without more history. Federico Chiesa, moments before Sandro’s header, managed to put Juventus ahead with a well-constructed play. Chiesa, who is leading Italy’s squad for the Euro Cup, scored his second goal in a row after a terrifying streak of eight consecutive official matches without celebrating a goal.
He scored against Bologna the day before and repeated it against Monza. Good news for Italy. One of their best players will be inspired at the big event in Germany. In total, he would close the season with ten goals, his best statistic after two consecutive campaigns in which he celebrated just four goals in each of them. However, this was on the back of his best season, 2020/21, where he amassed 14 goals and was proclaimed Euro Cup champion.
That was the whole story of the match. There is not much more. Juventus won and finished third behind Inter and Milan, as expected. Of course, they have gone four seasons without winning Serie A. After losing nine titles (2012-2020), they had a short trip to the desert. Certainly, neither Chiesa’s great goal nor Alex Sandro’s emotionality at his farewell helped to ease the sadness of the ‘Vecchia Signora’ fans.
match lineup
36
22
17
12
24
6
26
twenty-one
14
7
fifteen
23
19
13
33
22
4
32
6
47
28
twenty-one
Allianz Stadium
Four.
Alessandro Sorrentino23
Samuele Birindelli19
64′
Pedro Pereira13
73′
27′
73′
Danilo D’Ambrosio33
Pablo Mari22
Armando Izzo4
Matteo Pessina32
78′
Roberto Gagliardini6
Four.
72′
Dany Mota47
25′
Andrea Colpani28
Four.
62′
87′
Valentin Carbonitwenty-one
37′
80′
Replacements
Michele DiGregorio16
Four.
Andrea Mazza62
Stefano Gori66
Giulio Donati2
Luca Caldirola5
73′
Andrea Carboni44
Giorgos Kyriakopoulos77
73′
Jean-Daniel Akpa Akpro8
Warren Bond38
Four.
87′
Lorenzo Colombo9
78′
Gianluca Caprari10
72′
Milan DjuricEleven
Four.
Alessio Zerbintwenty
64′
66′
89′
Andrea Ferraris61
80′
Samuele Vignato80
coach
Paolo Montero
Raffaele Palladino
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
