Milik Juve, a goal worth its weight in gold: from Empoli to Lazio, Arek’s redemption. Will he be Allegri’s extra man in the season finale?
January 27, 2024, minute 15 of Juventus Empoli. Milik goes into slide up Cerri. The intervention is harsh and the referee Marinelli takes out the card yellow. The race director is called back by Varchecks and two minutes after the foul shows the red to the Polish striker. In the 50th minute Juve took the lead VlahovicThen Baldanzi equalized in the 70th minute in his last match as an Empoli player before moving to Rome.
A draw that for the Bianconeri, as the players have said on several occasions in recent days, has literally changed the season. After that match (22nd matchday of Serie A), in fact, Juve loses the direct clash withInter and from week to week it strings together a series of negative results. Without being able to recover. The team of Inzaghi takes advantage of this and flies solo towards victory 20th championship of its history (one of which is written).
Milik’s expulsion was literally one watershed of the team’s 2023-2024 season Cheer up. Until the match against Empoli, Juve was in full contention for the title thanks to a first round played at great levels from the point of view of results. With 10 men Vlahovic and his teammates were unable to bring home the goal 3 points fundamentals with a much weaker opponent on paper. And this he had inexplicable psychological repercussions on the certainties of a group that now seemed sure of itself and its abilities.
The red a Milik was a decisive moment even for the Polish striker himself. The former Marseille player, just a few days earlier (11 January), had scored one triplet in the Italian Cup in the 4-0 win Frosinone. For him those goals seemed like an opportunity relaunch after a first part of the season lived in anonymity. Milik’s only joys, before his exploits in the Cup, were in fact the two goals scored consecutively against Lecce (decisive for the 1-0) and the derby col Turin (2-0) between September 26 and October 7. For the rest, Allegri had almost always relied on him as the twelfth man to send onto the pitch in place of Vlahovic during the game, from the bench.
In reality, Juve expected something more from Milik this season after the good things he showed last year (9 goals in 39 appearances), so much so as to deserve the ransom for 6.3 million. The Pole, however, was unable to repeat himself and slipped back in the hierarchies of Allegri who often preferred him even Kean. The former Napoli player, after another long period of fasting, hit theAtalanta on March 10th in a 2-2 draw at the Stadium. Then he was stopped by a injury which kept him in the pits practically until the semi-final on Tuesday evening with the Lazio. Sent onto the pitch by Allegri, surprisingly, in place of Vlahovic in the 80th minute to try everything, after a minute, with the first ball touched, he signed the tap in on an assist from Weah which earned Juve qualification to the the final.
A worthwhile goal gold, therefore, the seventh scored by Milik in the season. Arek is now the top scorer solo in the Italian Cup with 4 goals. Allegri recovered it in one fundamental moment of the season in which Juve is awaiting a series of decisive matches in championship. The Bianconeri are playing everything to qualify for the next one Champions League and, thanks to the winning move of the Pole, the May 15th they will challenge Atalanta in the final. With the aim of bringing a trophy back to the J Museum showcase. The goal against Lazio is one of those that can turn a player’s season around. It will be Milik the extra man of Allegri’s Juventus?
