Vidal vs Juventus: The Warrior's Homecoming

Vidal moved to Bayern with the desire to conquer a better team, and the confrontation with his old team in the Champions League today, February 23, is not known whether it will show him whether that decision was right or wrong.

* The Juventus - Bayern match takes place at 2:45 a.m. Wednesday, February 24, Hanoi time.

When leaving Juventus for Bayern Munich for nearly $50 million in July 2015, Arturo Vidal certainly did not think he would reunite with Juventus so soon. While winning with Bayern and saying that the value of the "Gray Tiger" was higher than the "Zebra", perhaps Vidal did not expect that just two weeks later, the draw of luck would bring Bayern to meet Juventus in the 1/8 round of the Champions League to verify his words. Vidal - Juventus is therefore like a fateful date. It stood there waiting for this guy since he left, to tell him "You were wrong to leave Juve, or you were right not to stay there".

Vidal was a symbol of victory at Juventus during the four years the club dominated Serie A.

Entering Serie A 2012-2013, Antonio Conte's second year and the season in which Juventus had just won their first scudetto after the Calciopoli scandal of the century, their biggest rival AC Milan suffered a serious loss due to the simultaneous sale of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Thiago Silva to PSG. Very quickly, Conte's army raced to the finish line with the championship three rounds early. But the biggest highlight of that season was the explosion named Vidal with 10 goals in 31 matches.

The Chilean midfielder has become a new star at Juventus Arena. He andAndreaPirlo and Marchisio formed a formidable midfield trio. They were the backbone of Juventus's second consecutive scudetto-winning season, from interceptions, assists to goals. This trio was praised by the nickname "MVP" - a play on words when combining the first three letters of Marchisio, Vidal, Pirlo to form the title of MVP - Most Valuable Player. At the end of the season, Vidal was included in the best team and was voted "Player of the Year" by Juventus fans.

Since then, Vidal has also become a big star of world football. The image of Vidal at Juventus and Yara Toure at Manchester City in the same season has recreated a concept that is no longer seen much in modern football: box to box - the classic versatile midfielder model only found in players with special qualities. And Vidal is a rare person like that.

With Vidal, Juventus has a player who is good at attacking, good at supporting defense, and knows how to score goals regularly while still ensuring the ability to steal and recover the ball well. Vidal runs all over the field, attacking and defending in a wide area, covering the "director" Pirlo with strong fighting power. It can be said that in the past four successful years of Juventus, if Pirlo represents artistry, then Vidal represents the strength of a warrior. The Bianconerri letting Vidal go to Bayern is like they gave the "Old Lady"'s bodyguard to their opponent.

Compared to when Juventus fell to Bayern three years ago, Vidal has now improved a lot, reaching the level of one of the best central midfielders in the world.

On the day Vidal left, journalist Maurizio Crosetti of La Repubblica made a striking comparison: "If you have lost your brain (Pirlo), your arm (Tevez) and your lung (Vidal), your only hope is to put it all in the surgeon's ability to reattach it." And it was true, it took Massimiliano Allegri four months to get Juventus back on track after their early season struggles, so tragic that the once-famous striker Christian Vieri exclaimed, "If Juventus are still champions this year, the rest of Serie A should commit suicide." But now there is no one to distract Juve anymore, 15 consecutive wins have put Juve at the top of the rankings, and last weekend's 0-0 draw with Bologna showed how formidable Juve are when they let loose - they no longer care about domestic records, so they can comfortably face important rivals Bayern in Europe.

In the 2012-2013 season, the season when Vidal exploded, Juventus also met Bayern and quickly lost 0-4 after two matches. At that time, Conte brought the 3-5-2 formation to Europe. Jupp Heynckes saw the weakness of this system and played a "diversionary" tactic by sending troops to attack strongly on the two wings. Conte fell for the trick and immediately sent Marchisio and Vidal to support. The gap in the middle of the field was left open, with no one to protect Pirlo from the attacks of Mueller and Martinez, making it impossible for Juve to advance and quickly lose the match.

Three years later, the coaches of both teams have changed, with Pep Guardiola and Allegri in the hot seat. Allegri has shown that he is better than Conte in the Champions League, but Guardiola has shown that he is not as good as Jupp Heynckes. Even if Allegri uses a 3-5-2 formation, Guardiola cannot use the old tactic. Because Juventus today no longer lives with the breath of Pirlo. They have another person who is younger and ready to penetrate deeper: Paulo Dybala.

Vidal is one of the weapons Guardiola needs to upgrade his Champions League aspirations with Bayern.

Tonight, February 23 (local time, 2:45 a.m. on February 24, Hanoi time), the image of Vidal in red, serving the very opponent who defeated him and his teammates, is just like the cruel nature of professional football. The world turns, the flow of people continues, the emotions and passion that Vidal once brought still resound loudly on the Juventus Arena lawn. Now, the warrior turns his spear to attack his beloved "Old Lady". Does the warrior remember that moment? In his most beautiful years, Vidal hugged Pirlo, Marchisio, Buffon and raised his hands to form a heart towards the Juventini who were screaming his name?

According to VNE