At 1:30 a.m. Beijing time on January 10, the 21st round of Serie A ushered in a focus battle: Roma, coached by the world's top coach Jose Mourinho, faced Serie A hegemon Juventus at home.
Among the top four teams in the Serie A table in this round, AC Milan beat Venice 3-0 away, Napoli beat Sampdoria 1-0 at home and Atalanta beat Udinese 6-2 away. Roma and Juventus must both fight to win.
In the pre-match Serie A table, AC Milan ranked first with 48 points in 21 games, Inter Milan ranked second with 46 points from 19 games, Napoli ranked third with 43 points from 21 games, Atalanta ranked fourth with 41 points from 20 games, Juventus ranked fifth with 35 points from 20 games, and Roma ranked seventh with 32 points from 20 games.
In this game, no one can win in the top four, but Juve wins, in order to catch up with the top four without dropping the chain; if Roma wins, the points will equal Juve.
In the campaign, Juventus started 433, Keane Jr. formed a forward trident with Chieza Jr. and Dybala, Bentancourt, Locatelli and McKenny trios, four defenders DeSilio, Rougani, De Ligt, Cuadrado, and goalkeeper Szczesny. The total value of the starting eleven is 340 million euros.
Roma started 4231, Tammy Abraham topped the centre-forward position, with Gian, L. Pellegrini and Mkhitaryan on the forward line, double backs Veretu and Christant, four defenders Viña, Ibanez, Smalling and Niles, goalkeeper Patricio. The total value of the starting eleven is 210 million euros.
Mourinho coached the team, has always focused on defense, Allegri is also a "1:0" expert, coupled with the departure of Ronaldo after the team's offensive firepower decreased sharply, but who would have thought that Roma vs Juve will be a goal battle?
After the game began, the two sides attacked and defended each other. In the 10th minute, Roma broke the deadlock and scored with a set-piece, Veretto took a corner kick and Abraham's header broke the goal. In the 13th minute, Pellegrini's shot hit De Ligt's hand, but the referee did not say anything.
In the 17th minute, Juve equalised, Chiesanne Junior crossed and Dybala hit the goal, which was a dead end.
In the 30th minute, Chiesa Jr. left the field injured and Kulusevsky came off the bench.
In the second half, Roma grabbed the start again, and in the 48th minute, Mkhitaryan's long-range shot bounced off Desilio and gave Roma a 2-1 lead over Juve.
In the 51st minute, De Ligt fouled Roma for a free kick in front of the field, Pellegrini scored directly, and Roma extended the score to 3:1. But after taking the lead, Roma did not hold on and had bad luck.
In the 70th minute, Locatelli's header broke the post and a cross from Morata assisted. Juve chased the score to 2:3.
In the 72nd minute, Kulusevsky scored a goal, which was first ruled invalid by the referee, but after being confirmed by VAR, the goal was ruled to be valid. Juve equalised.
In the 77th minute, Roma's defence made another mistake, with Smalling's header assisted and Desilio breaking the ball. Juve reversed Roma 4-3, scoring three goals in a row, just 7 minutes before and after.
In the 81st minute, Juve suffered a crush and De Ligt had another handball, this time the referee showed a second yellow card to a red card to send the Dutch centre-back off, and then confirmed by VAR to award a penalty. Pellegrini's penalty was saved by Szczesny, and he did not play well when he seized the opportunity to make up for it. Roma missed a great opportunity to equalize. Thereafter, until the end of more than 6 minutes of stoppage time, Juve did not give Roma any chance.
After the battle, Juve accumulated 38 points in 21 games, still fifth in the Serie A table, three points behind the fourth-place Atalanta most round, and it is still early to reach the top four. Roma still have 32 points in the 21st game, still seventh in the Serie A table, and the top four have gradually drifted away, but after consecutive games against AC Milan and Juventus, until the 28th round of home to Meet Atalanta, Roma will not meet a strong team, and there is still a chance to improve the ranking. In the 18th round of Serie A years ago, Roma won 4-1 away to Atalanta.