Weekend Update - Foolishness at the Allianz Stadium, Rose's Ruhr Revenge and Boca triumphant in Superclassico
This Weekend saw Juventus face Salernitana, Marco Rose return to Dortmund with Leipzig, Bilbao face Elche and the most important match in Argentina, the Superclassico.
Welcome to Played on Paper’s Weekend Update. With the absence of the Premier League this week, this is a mainly continental affair, with a trip to Turin for a crazy ending to Juventus - Salernitana, Germany for a grudge match, Spain for a Basque battering and even a jaunt to Argentina for the Superclassico. So let’s get straight into it:
Juventus 2-2 Salernitana
Juventus vs Salernitana can be summed up by one major question - Why is Max Allegri still in a job?
Italian Journalist Matteo Bonetti offered some explanation on Twitter: “Juventus can’t sack Allegri because that would mean paying him until 2025. They are stuck in this mess.”
The mess in question sees Juventus 8th in the table with 10 points. Allegri’s suffer-ball is painful to watch but if it got results then maybe it would be worth it, but he’s not. The Bianconeri are struggling to create chances, score goals or keep clean sheets and this was on full display against Salernitana.
Antonio Candreva opened the scoring for the visitors in the 18th minute as the Italian winger slot in a chance at the far post. Krzystof Piatek doubled their lead late in the half with a penalty.
Juventus have been hit hard by injury and this is reflected in their team, but even so, their midfield is made up of too many water carriers. Leandro Paredes, Weston McKennie and Fabio Miretti started in the centre of the park, all fine midfielders but mainly when they are played with much more technical and specialised teammates.
(Personally, a trio of Locatelli, Pogba and one of these water carriers would work well when fit, but only if Allegri gave them the freedom to perform their roles)
This combined with the manager misusing of Filip Kostic has left Dusan Vlahovic starved of service and he was incredibly quiet during this match.
Juventus would get a goal back through Gleison Bremer in the 51st minute, but they could not find the equaliser. As I said there is a lack of creativity in the Juventus midfield and they couldn’t cut through the Salernitana defence.
To just give Salernitana some credit for a second, their turnaround has been exceptional. Their 2021/22 campaign was a circus that nearly saw them liquidated, but they survived relegation, made a number of great signings and now look like a side who could finish safely in midtable.
They played well, it wasn’t just Juventus who played bad. So they would have felt incredibly disappointed in themselves when they gave away a penalty in the 93rd minute.
Leonardo Bonucci missed… Hooray. He converted the rebound… Boo. The score was 2-2, but that’s the boring part of the match done, now onto the foolishness.
94th minute, Juventus think they’ve got their winner. The ball is swung in from a corner and Arkadiusz Milik heads it in to score what he thinks is the deciding goal (Milik has been great since his move).
He runs over to the corner flag to celebrate, ripping off his shirt in the process. The issue is the Polish striker is already on a yellow card, so for his actions, he receives a second yellow and is sent off.
It’s fine because Juve are winning right? Well, that’s where VAR comes in (gestures to the door like the scene from Casa de Papel).
As Milik heads it towards the net and Bonucci makes an attempt to nod it on. VAR says that the Italian defender has done this from an offside position (not taking into account the Salernitana player stood near the corner flag who was playing him onside) and so he has affected the play.
The goal is rescinded and Juventus are furious. Both teams’ players begin arguing on the touchline. Federico Fazio starts barging through the Juventus players like a freight train while Juan Cuadrado seems to be riling himself up and looks close to throwing a punch. Both are sent off by the referee.
And then to top it off Allegri who is still raging on the touchline also gets sent off, meaning that he’ll have to watch his awful brand of football from the stands for the next few games. It’s a perfect encapsulation of how sometimes Serie A can devolve into absolute foolishness.
Yes the football is great and there are a number of talented players, but just like Wrestling, sometimes you’re not there for the match itself but the drama surrounding it. And if that isn’t an endorsement to watch Italian football then I don’t know what is.
RB Leipzig 3-0 Borussia Dortmund
Welcome to the thing everybody expected to happen. Marco Rose unceremoniously lost his job as Dortmund manager this summer and was replaced by Edin Terzic.
Rose hadn’t done badly with Dortmund but it seems that the club and squad preferred Terzic, who had been Lucien Favre’s assistant during the Frenchman’s spell and then taken over as interim when he was sacked. During Rose’s reign, he was technical director.
Terzic’s start at Dortmund has been shaky, they’ve got the results but they don’t seem to have a clear identity. The team doesn’t create many shooting opportunities but have been converting the chances they do, which is good for now but probably unsustainable in the long term.
In the meantime, Rose has been a free agent on the manager market. So when RB Leipzig parted ways with Domenico Tedesco they of course turned to the former Salzburg man.
And within two days of his appointment, taking the field against Dortmund, Leipzig looked more a Rose side than Dortmund ever had. Goals from Willi Orban, Dominik Szoboszlai and Amadou Haidara earned the German manager his first win at his new team.
For Dortmund, it seems like a decision they may be left ruhr-ing in the future.
Elche 1-4 Athletic Club
Athletic Club Bilbao scoring more than one goal is a rarity, but for them to score four goals in two matches over a fortnight is like spotting a unicorn under a double rainbow.
Four goals in one half of football; even writing it now doesn't seem real. Yes, there was an own goal and a penalty in there but Athletic Club will not complain about that. Nico Williams finally opened his account in La Liga as well.
Re-appointing Ernesto Valverde was always going to be the right decision, he just gets Bilbao and he is a great manager even if he struggled at Barcelona. They probably won’t set the world alight this season but they already seem to be going in the right direction.
Last season they only scored 43 goals, let’s see if they can improve on that this year.
Boca Juniors 1-0 River Plate
The Superclassico, the biggest game in Argentina and the best derby in football. Even watching it on TV (well my laptop because no channel shows it), you can feel the tension and emotion in the stadium.
The match itself wasn’t great. River Plate dominated possession but couldn’t make the most of their chances. Marcelo Gallardo’s side had started the season poorly but have found their feet in recent weeks.
Boca Juniors however sucked up the pressure well and then in the 65th minute, Dario Benedetto got the only goal of the game. As the ball crossed the line the crowd exploded.
There was pandemonium in the stands, the Boca fans celebrating raucously while the River fans were angry that they were losing. But that’s how the game ended, 1-0.
The only other notable event was that in the 97th minute Marcos Rojo got sent off; shocking I know. The Argentinian got a red for a high boot which ended up firmly planting itself in the opposition player’s chest, accidental but reckless.
Thanks for reading this Weekend Update. I am currently looking for work so if you are reading this and have any paid writing opportunities, feel free to drop me a message on Twitter. On Friday we will be back with the World Cup series covering France so if you haven’t already, hit subscribe to get this straight to your inbox. See you then!