FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Juventus will face Galatasaray in the Champions League play-offs. The draw in Nyon brings back old ghosts for the black and whites, but also for Luciano Spalletti.
The first thought that comes to mind for fans of the "Old Lady" goes to the match played in the snow in Istanbul. It was the final round of the group stage of the 2013-2014 season and Antonio Conte's Juventus were playing the round of 16 against Roberto Mancini's Galatasaray. The match scheduled for December 10 of that year was interrupted due to heavy snowfall and continued the next day.
A draw was enough for the Bianconeri to advance to the knockout stage, but a goal from former Inter player Wesley Sneijder, 5 minutes from the end of the match, sent Juventus to the Europa League.
Going back to more recent times, Spalletti will reunite with two old acquaintances in this match. The first is Victor Osimhen, with whom the Tuscan coach won the Serie A title with Napoli 3 years ago. Relations with the striker have always been characterized by great mutual appreciation and collaboration, to the point that Osimhen defines Spalletti as a 'genius'.
But the debates between them have not been lacking. During the summer preparations in 2022, the coach sent the Nigerian to the locker room because he complained about not giving a foul in a training match. Osimhen moved to Galatasaray in September 2024, where he is also showing in Turkey that he is a striker that every team would like. Since then, he has 50 goals and 8 assists in 60 matches. In other words, the black and white defense has been warned.
If the relationship with Osimhen is good, this cannot be said for another opponent. Against Galatasaray, Spalletti will also face Mauro Icardi. Due to dynamics outside the playing field, the relationship between them was finally broken in the 2018-2019 season, Spalletti's second year at Inter and for both it was the last season with the Blues.
The Argentine was in negotiations for a contract renewal and Wanda Nara, who was the player's wife and agent at the time, made some statements that caused quite a stir. On the one hand, she emphasized that Icardi was wanted by important European clubs and on the other hand, she stated that Inter did not have players who could highlight his ballistic qualities and therefore reinforcements were needed to enable Icardi to score more goals.
The club and the coach could not tolerate such a situation and unanimously decided to remove the captain's armband from Icardi and give it to Handanović. Years later in his autobiography Spalletti wrote: 'I understood that the weak point of our captain was called Wanda and it risked sinking the whole group. There was only one way to avoid the fight in the dressing room; Mauro Icardi's apology that never came. So in order not to lose the team, I lost Icardi as a person and a footballer.'
So, in February, Spalletti and Icardi will face each other for the first time as opponents in a challenge that promises to be exciting.
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