Perhaps the best performance of the season, no doubt. To beat one of the best teams in the world, on their own sacred turf, is a great accomplishment no matter our standings in the table. However, this victory makes it even more sweeter considering just a few hours ago we were level with Milan on points, and now we regained our three point lead at the top of the table. We might not have had as convincing of a season as Milan this year, however when we faced off against each other we cleary came out on top.
The concentration level and fight our team displayed earlier in Milan was at the highest level all season. Everybody was thinking Juventus would come to Milan for a draw, sitting back for most of the match like we frustratingly did months ago in Turin, however we came out attacking Milan, forcing them to deal with our attacks on the wings. Milan must have been surprised we decided to attack them from the start, and when they saw Trezeguet finish the brilliant Del Piero cross they knew it was going to be a long night. Capello certainly got the better of Ancelotti on this occasion.
After the goal we started to sit back a bit, however it was good to see that we were still creating some chances against Milan, keeping them on their toes. In the second half we came very close to scoring again, however Milan had the better run of play for most of the second period. Our defense did a great job of forcing Milan to play out on the wing, something they are not entirely adept at. Emerson and Appiah were brilliant in stopping Kaka and Pirlo from getting involved with the match, and without those two Milan were running out of ideas. The overall display from our defense was great facing perhaps the "best overall team in the world." But what set us apart from the two was Capello's tactics in attacking Milan, our great level of concentration throughout the entire match, our forward's ability to finish off one of a few chances, and our spirit and determination to earn us a win. And yes, that win was well-deserved. Grazie Juventus.
As for the player reports, every single Juventus player out there served us proud, however..
Del Piero was really up for this match and without him we wouldn't have won. The way he set up Trezeguet's goal was pure class and he almost grabbed a goal for himself, striking the ball off the crossbar. Our Captain really stepped it up tonight and that was great to see, especially against our arch-rivals.
Trezeguet is one of the most natural finishers in football and he showed it today, scoring after weeks on the sideline with injury.
Emerson came back after injury as well and really played hard, shutting down the middle of the pitch, making Kaka and Pirlo have a rather unpleasant outting.
Camoranesi was supurb as well today really causing Maldini and Stam some problems. Hopefully his injury isn't too serious..
The entire defense was great tonight apart from a few mistakes in marking Shevchenko. Good thing the latter really had a tough time getting his shots on target.