Former Juventus president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli discussed tomorrow’s Derby d’Italia between the Bianconeri and Inter in an interview with Italian media outlet Passioneinter earlier today.
First, Cobolli Gigli spoke about what kind of game he expects tomorrow.
“There will be no fans. For Juventus they were fundamental. A small but big handicap for the Bianconeri and a less difficult situation for the Nerazzurri. Inter are well trained, with a very determined coach who is able to stimulate the players in the short to medium term. Then, maybe in the long run, it will tire them a bit, even if by ‘long’ we mean several years. And he has a high-level team. Handanovic is back, and there are two high-performing strikers up front.”
The former Bianconeri president touched on Juventus’ season so far and their tactics.
“They’ve scored a lot of goals this year, I hope they set up proper defensive patterns. The Bianconeri haven’t shone in the recent games. Neither the critics nor the management liked the game. The midfield has an endemic weakness, Pjanic is no longer able to hold it on his shoulders. The defence commits too many mistakes. It was a tougher game for Juventus than it was for Inter, who did everything they could to shorten the distance in the standings. 50-50 chance, but because my heart is Juventus. Otherwise I’d say 51 to 49 for Inter.”
Cobolli Gigli discussed the battle between coaches tomorrow, Antonio Conte against Maurizio Sarri, and who has the advantage.
“Certainly Conte. He’s got the players in his hands a lot more than Sarri does, so they’re more capable of scoring. Sarri has shown he can’t handle the players, he doesn’t have the team in his hands.”
The 75-year-old Italian discussed the work of both clubs’ executives, Fabio Paratici for Juventus and Beppe Marotta for Inter, and which executive is doing better at planning for the future.
“Well, Marotta has a set of numbers that Paratici doesn’t have. He’s a manager who’s not old, but mature, full of experience, who did very well at Juventus, where he had a deputy, Paratici, who helped him. It seems it was premature to take him to the levels where Marotta previously worked. It’s a shame that Juventus decided to get rid of him. Even if it’s judgements I make from the outside, clearly.”
Cobolli Gigli discussed the difficulties at facing Inter and their president Massimo Moratti in the derby when he was in charge.
“More than Moratti, I’d say Mourinho! It was the team that then won the Treble and at that time it was very difficult to win the matches against them. Juventus had ended up in Serie B, fortunately returning to Serie A, they also performed well in the other two years I was president, playing the Champions League. But it was the time when Mourinho’s Inter was practically unbeatable, a bit like Conte and Allegri’s Juve.”
The former Juventus president spoke about whether the Serie A calendar situation could have been better dealt with.
“It had to be as firm at the start as it was in the end. At first it seemed clear that it would be played behind closed doors. Then, on the basis of the pressure coming from the presidents, who from their point of view would have lost important revenues like Juventus for the match against Inter, it seemed that it would have to be played behind open doors instead. Then came the current directive from the government that playing behind open doors would have been a serious mistake. Now, if, unfortunately, a player got sick, the problems would become even more complicated and perhaps insurmountable.”
Finally, Cobolli Gigli discussed the comments made by current Juventus president Andrea Agnelli, who suggested that only teams with a history of competing in Europe should be allowed to compete in the Champions League.
“Perhaps the mistake was to name Atalanta, I’m convinced that Agnelli has great respect for what Percassi and Gasperini do. In my experience I’ve seen similar speeches when it came to moving from television revenues collected directly by the clubs to those managed by the league. In deciding the division of this ‘cake’ of revenues, the team’s performance in the short term was taken into account, but also taking into account the club’s badge, history and the contribution made over time to keep the value of Italian football high. I think he meant something like that.”