With all eyes falling in Turin on Sunday night, historic rivals Juventus and AC Milan played what was largely a calm 0-0 stalemate.
The chances we’ve seen during the first half came at a real premium, and former Chelsea star Christian Pulicich was handed the opportunity to steal center stage as former Newcastle defender Lloyd Kelly clumsyly knocked Santiago Zimenez down the box.
However, missing out on the chance to notch the season’s fifth Serie A strike, the Purisic flares out of the penalty spot just eight minutes after the break.
Despite the slow pressure, the return Rafael Leo wasted a pair of golden opportunities in the final 10 minutes, and former Juventus boss Max Alegri missed the chance to take all three points on his emotional return to Turin.
French shotstopper Mike Maignan may have created an epic point blank save to deny Federico Gatti’s moment after the interval, but Juve was unable to find any kind of fluidity in the final third and has now stalemate in all competitions in five previous appearances.
After not winning one victory on the board over the past six weeks, the old lady sacrificed her position in the Champions League location.
We’ve seen major topics from Turin in the heavyweight showdown where neutrals across the continent couldn’t produce the fireworks they wanted.
Milan expands with their star start
Having settled into an eighth place finish among Italian elites last season and missed booking European tickets of all sorts, AC Milan went on to a new era in the summer after Allegri arrived at San Siro.
Despite launching a new campaign at home on August 23rd against Serie A rookie Cremonese, Sunday’s guests were able to rove in a sensational way.
Rossoneri, who won a 2-1 victory over defending champion Napoli last weekend, won all five previous national appearances over all competitions ahead of Sunday’s trip to Turin.
AC Milan may be falling into a truly missed opportunity here as they waste both the Prithic and the Rio opportunity, but Allegri’s camp enjoys a dominant start to the proceedings.
Despite heading towards an international break in October, they have registered 13 points from their previous five outings, and the camping mood should be really high.
Yet another draw for Juve
With a 7-3 tally score winning all Serie A appearances in opening 3 and marking a return from an international break in September, with a 4-3 famous victory over Inter Milan, Juventus appears to have begun to be considered a real title contender.
However, despite popping out of the trap when launching a new campaign, the hosts on Sunday were unable to find similar levels in the past few weeks.
The Igor Tudor side was late heartbroken in Villarreal in Spanish costumes at the beginning of the week as they ultimately had to settle for a 2-2 draw in foreign soil.
Before heading towards the two-week interval in October, Juventus, who missed the opportunity to assert the heavyweight scalp, also sacrificed their spot in the top four.
Tudor’s Camp has shown many of the contradictions that bothered them last season, and will have to go back to the drawing committee for a few weeks to find a way to rekindle the campaign.
A night to forget for Leao
Leo may have returned from his muscle damage as he made a cameo appearance from the bench against Naples last weekend, but the 26-year-old is soon becoming a forgotten man in Milan.
Pulisic may have surprised his penalty at the bar with the Minuets alone after returning from the halftime break, but the former Chelsea ace quickly solidified his spot as Sanshiro’s new poster boy.
USA International has registered six direct target contributions in many appearances so far this season, so where Leao will fit this season is being questioned.
Only eight of last season’s Serie A strikes – his lowest domestic goal return since the 2020/21 campaign – Leao may need to accept that he takes a backward seat than this year.
Missing the opportunity to leave Turin as a Portuguese hero, Portugal International will face more backlash in the next two weeks.
Match Report
Juventus: Digregorio, Gatti, Lugani, Kelly, Karl, McKenny, Locatelli, Cambiaso, Conceño, Ildis, David
submarine: Openda, Thuram, Kostic, Vlahovic
AC Milan: Maignan, Tomori, Cage, Pablovic, Baltesagi, Salemy Cars, Fofana, Modici, Rabiot, Purisic, Gimenes
submarine: Leao, Loftus-Cheek, nkunku
the goal: n/a
Yellow Card: n/a
Red card: n/a
Judgment: Marco Guida