Juventus 2 - Bayern Munich 0: Initial reaction and random observations

Andrea Favilli is not going to be a Juventus player when the Serie A season begins. That’s not because he’s not very good; he actually does have a future and is coming off a very good season in Serie B. It’s the simple matter of Juve looking to take advantage of an in-demand youngster who could develop into something down the road.

But, in Juventus’ first friendly of summer 2018, Favilli made the most of his first time wearing bianconero in nearly three years.

Favilli’s pair of first-half goals ultimately held strong as Juve opened up their three-game stay in the International Champions Cup with a 2-0 win over German giants Bayern Munich on a rain-soaked Wednesday night in Philadelphia. Two solid goals from a player who is rumored to be on the move to a handful of Serie A clubs, most recently Genoa, according to reports out of Italy earlier in the day.

Favilli, 21, gave Juventus something we haven’t seen much of in the mid-summer weeks the past couple of years — and that would be an actual win in the preseason.

Just go ahead and put their name on the Champions League trophy now, why don’t ya.

OK, so Juve playing a solid game in late July was nice compared to there being complete slop and basically no interest on any of the regulars’ parts. I’m here for two main things come this time of year — nobody getting hurt and making sure that the main senior squad players get the necessary work in from one game to another to ensure they’re ready to go come the start of the Serie A season.

I’m not going to let this win go to my head.

Nope, not going to let it happen.

Just as long as we’re not reading any kind of injury report on Juventus’ website in the morning and we see Max Allegri with a smile on his face during training on Thursday morning, then I’ll be good.

The preseason schedule is always going to be tricky because it can create all kinds of optimism about things when there’s absolutely nothing at stake other than the health and conditioning of your team’s players.

But hey, Juventus won, they looked pretty good doing it and the medical report will probably just involve something minor, if anything at all.

That’s what I’d call a successful first night out. So, thanks for that, Andrea Favilli and Co., for making this a good first step forward.

RANDOM THOUGHTS AND OBSERVATIONS

• It’s the 88th minute, he’s been standing in the rain for going on two hours and Max Allegri is belting out commands to mostly players who won’t be on Juve’s senior squad this season. You can’t help but love the guy.
• It’s the final week of July and all that, but boy did Mattia Perin look good in goal against Bayern Munich. I don’t know when Wojciech Szczesny will be making his first appearance of the summer, but Perin is going to look like a damn bargain if he plays like that more often than not when called upon.
• Favilli’s first goal came courtesy of a Bayern defensive horror show, but also some classic pressing high up the field from Claudio Marchiso, who jumped on the loose ball and nicely dished in a cross to Juve’s new legendary No. 42 with his weaker left foot. Marchisio getting some run during the United States tour is one of the things I’m looking forward to most over the next two weeks, and this was definitely a good showing by Claudio.
• I’m going to think that Joao Cancelo playing as a winger tonight was more out of necessity rather than Mad Max being Mad Max, but he definitely has the skill to do what Alex Sandro did last year and playing a more advanced role if need be. Tactical flexibility sure is nice.
• Speaking of Alex Sandro, that was fun to see him look more like the Alex Sandro of old again rather than the Alex Sandro of the 2017-18 campaign. More of that, please.
• Typical Allegri. We get all excited for the possibility of Daniele Rugani and Mattia Caldara playing alongside one another in this game and then he goes and starts one and replaces him with the other in the second half. I guess we’ll have to wait until Saturday against Benfica .. or beyond.
• Not Mattia De Sciglio’s best game. Good thing it’s July against Bayern Munich rather than February or March against Bayern Munich.
• Emre Can was supposedly subbed off just before halftime because of cramping. Seeing what the weather was and that it’s July 25, that’s fine with me.
• WHO NEEDS CRISTIANO RONALDO WHEN YOU HAVE ANDREA FAVILLI?
• Gonna need a buyback clause in that rumored deal with Genoa just in case, Beppe. Just wanna throw that out there as a service from me to you.
• Where Sami? He here or on holiday?
• I don’t care if it’s just a preseason friendly in a competition called the International Champions Cup where there’s no actual trophy handed out, having Juventus games to talk about again is a nice thing to have back in my life. Just imagine what it’s going to be like when Ronaldo, Paulo Dybala and Douglas Costa jump into the fray.