Juventus 1 – Lazio 0: Initial reaction and random observations

The defense didn’t falter this time, and Juventus is in the Coppa Italia semifinals because of it.

For the opening 45 minutes Thursday night, Juventus put forward the kind of performance that had to have you thinking at least some sort of encouraging thoughts — which is not exactly prevalent these days surrounding the club.

For the second 45 minutes, though, it was a grind, a total sit-back-and-defend kind of grind.

But unlike the multiple examples of things from January in which the defense folded under unrelenting pressure and tossed away any chances of winning, Juventus made its slim one-goal that came courtesy of Bremer’s impressive header right before halftime lead hold. Because of that, Juve topped Lazio 1-0 at the Allianz Stadium to advance to the Coppa Italia semifinals yet again and giving them a meeting with arch-rival Inter on what has been the chalk side of the bracket. (As compared to, you know, the other side where Cremonese and Fiorentina will vie for the other spot in the Coppa final.)

This wasn’t necessarily a Max Allegri special, but it was a 1-0 win.

And you know what? Based on how Juve has defended over the last couple of weeks, getting back to something that was the team’s strength during their eight-game winning streak was a pretty welcome sight. There were no stupid defensive mistakes that clearly led to a goal being scored. Mattia Perin, Mr. Coppa Italia in goal, didn’t really have many saves to make and wasn’t really challenged all night.

It was, especially in the second half, leaning on the defense to ensure the lead was held while doing what Allegri has done a large majority of the season — play on the counter and try to get add to his team’s lead that way.

As much as he screamed and raged on the sideline, that is what this team will default to because that’s how they play so often. Is it good to see? No, especially not with the likes of Dusan Vlahovic and Federico Chiesa on the field leading the line.

But even with Lazio having twice as many shot attempts in the second half, Juventus held strong. They bent a few times but they never broke. That’s something we haven’t been able to say much lately whether it’s been against Napoli, Atalanta or Monza as Juve has failed to win their last three league fixtures. This was a return to what Juve did well in late-October and early-November. This was also a departure of what they did wrong to finish out the month of January.

So now Juventus heads into the Coppa Italia semifinal, the competition in which their best chance to get a European place next season. That certainly not what we were thinking at the beginning of 2023, but that’s what happens when your season gets thrown upside down and objectives are basically forced to change.

At the very least, it will provide an extra boost no matter what the state the 2022-23 season is in come April when Juve line up against the team that beat Juventus in the Coppa Italia final last season.