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     Missing the Supporters Shield by only three points, Toronto FC revs up for the 2020 playoffs, with its eyes on a second MLS Cup. Rocco Fasano reviews the season that was and considers what TFC fans can expect from this playoff run March 7, 2020 was only 8 months ago, but it seems like a different dimension. As journalists and fellow writers crowded BMO Field's press box for Toronto FC's home opener familiar eyes catch one another. A nod, a quick greeting, or a handshake follows. The chatter is about a promising season, curiosity about new players and a passing mention of the epidemic (not a pandemic yet) that had moved its epicenter from Wuhan to Northern Italy and had called for the postponement of matches in the Italian top flight. "That could be us in a week's time" I remarked to legendary Canadian goalkeeper and broadcaster Dick Howard. A little over a week later, Major League Soccer suspended league play indefinitely. Lockdown ensued, following the stat...

    Photo Credit: Juventus.com In his second spell at Juventus the Spaniard has rocketed to the top of the bianconeri goalscorers in the UEFA Champions League and earning the honours of MVP for October. But his task is about to get harder, our Juventus Champions League specialist Rocco Fasano argues. In a torrid day of late June 2016, Alvaro Borja Morata Martin returned to his home, Real Madrid. He returned tearful, against his will, because in Turin he exploded as a footballer. After playing second or third fiddle and despite winning another Champions League with los Blancos, Morata left Real and became a journeyman of sorts first with Chelsea, then fulfilling his dream of playing for the club that rivaled his own, Atletico Madrid. But it never felt right. It never felt like Juve. For this reason, and as soon as he could, Morata moved mountains to return to Turin. And how the transfer took place is full of spice. No, better: pizza alla napoletana. In fact, Napoli president Au...

     Photo Credit: Juventus.com After Juventus' first defeat of the season, Paulo Dybala is the player who best embodies the delicate moment of a work-in-progress under new coach Andrea Pirlo. Paulo Dybala is hot on everyone’s lips. Paulino, as former Juventus coach Allegri used to call him, seems lost. Clunking, chasing defenders he never catches up to, he appears to be carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Paulo Bruno Exequiel Dybala is, to use military parlance, missing in action. A run, a missed trap, a touch too heavy, a run too slow, a poor free kick. Dybala is a shadow of the player who led Juventus to glory with “heavy” goals in key matches against Lazio, Milan, Atletico, Barcelona and more. What’s missing? Dybala was born a trequartista at Instituto AC of Cordoba, where he first began bending blades of grass in northern Argentina. At Palermo, he transformed into a forward and then learned the craft of becoming an excellent second striker when he move...

        Photo Credit: Juventus.com Alvaro Morata spearheaded Juventus to a 2-0 win over Dynamo Kiev, but the first match in the Champions League still leaves Andrea Pirlo with some unanswered questions. "From now on, we'll only switch the men and not the formation.” This sentence, uttered by Juventus manager Andrea Pirlo in his pre-game presser ahead of his men’s match in Rome,  turned out to be a ‘white lie’. His Juventus, in fact, has alternated not only men and formations but also convincing performances to questionable ones. An effervescent start against Sampdoria was followed by two come-from-behind draws on the field against Roma and Crotone, and now a convincing 2-0 win in Kiev, pointing to the fact that the ‘Juventus Project’ is quite the ‘Work in Progress’ for Mister Pirlo. Examining the first month of Pirlo as Juventus coach, one is left with the impression that there are several issues the man from Brescia is grappling with, some of which are se...

     Photo Credit: Major League Soccer Heading into Toronto FC’s home opener of the 2020 season, Reds fans can’t help but wonder what to expect to see this season at BMO Field. The departures of Sebastian Giovinco and Victor Vazquez were only partially addressed by acquiring Alejandro Pozuelo last year. TFC general manager Ali Curtis (who squeezed a 2019 MLS Cup run beyond expectations out of his men) has possibly addressed that gap with the addition of Espanyol’s Pablo Piatti. While in Barcelona, the Argentine attacking midfielder scored 14 goals and provided 19 assists in 95 matches played. GM Curtis gets his cake, and eats it too this season, since veteran and captain Michael Bradley penned a new contract at BMO thanks to Targeted Allocation Money, which freed up the Designated Player spot (now taken up by Piatti). In the season opener last weekend in San Jose, Piatti and Bradley’s steadiness might have helped the Reds secure all three points, which vanished as the Ear...

With a record of two wins, one draw and two losses in the last five home openers, Toronto FC looked to please a warm crowd on a cool March evening.  The site that christened Alejandro Pozuelo last season, who delighted fans by chipping the Revolution’s goalkeeper twice that game, was pleased once again by a late winner by Ife Achara. Vanney opted for a 4-4-2 formation with Westberg in goal, Auro and Morrow at fullback, Gonzalez and Mavinga as centrebacks, Achara and Gallardo on the wings, Osorio and Delgado in centre midfield. In attack, and no other option than the big guns Pozuelo and Altidore.   New York City FC lined up with a 4-1-4-1 that saw Johnson in goal, Tinnerholm and Matarrita at fullback, Callens and Sands in centre back, Ring sitting on top of the defence with Mitrita and Medina on the wings, Moralez and Parks in centre mid and Heber up top as the sole forward.   The match got off to a slow start, with VAR (Video Assistant Referee) as the main p...