The match on matchday 16 between Turin and Verona ended with a comeback draw: the final score was 1-1 thanks to goals from Djuric at the end of the first half and Miranchuk in the 64th minute.
For the first official match of 2023, Juric confirms the scheme but opts for a light attack, with Vlasic a “false nueve”. In fact, in the 3-4-2-1, Milinkovic Savic is in goal; three-man defence with Djidji, Schuurs and captain Rodriguez; in midfield Lukic and Ricci in the middle with Lazaro and Vojvoda as wingers; up front, Radonjic and Miranchuk as attacking midfielders behind the lone striker Vlasic.
After the touching minute of silence to honour the memory of the great Pelé, we finally return to the football played here in Turin, after a 52-day break from the World Cup.
The grenades keep the ball in the game right from the start, taking advantage of the usual pattern: ball to Milinkovic Savic to cut off the entire opposing midfield and put the offensive trio into action. Verona, for its part, tries to play with the weapon of pressing.
In the first half detached from actions worthy of the name, it was Djuric who found the advantage in the 45th minute with a header following a corner kick. A goal where the entire grenade defence was not free from faults, especially Schuurs.
And between the whistles of the Marathon, the first half ends, where Toro held the ball but fell in the only shot (header) by Verona.
The second half begins with no changes on either side. Juric decides to start again from the same 11 of the first half: after all, error aside, Toro made the game.
And the first shot on goal for Toro was by Radonjic who, in the 46th minute, tried his usual play (shooting after a centre), but his shot was easily saved by Montipò.
But it was always Verona that even touched the point of 0-2 with De Paoli, in the 59th minute, with a header.
An episode was needed and it arrived in the 64th minute, with a bomb from Miranchuk that scores below seven, where Montipò can’t do anything.
Juric changes and a few seconds later Sanabria enters for Radonjic. And Taurus now believes it.
In the 89th minute, the second change for Toro: Linetty in for Ricci. The first “maxi recovery”, as requested by the head of the referee Rizzoli, was six minutes.
At the last second, Lukic’s header goes just wide, choking the scream of the fans in the stands. And the first game of the new year ends in a draw.
