20 December 2023
"Leggo il giornale e c’è Papa Francesco e il Frosinone in Serie A."
The first match in Serie A between Frosinone and Juventus, dated 7 February 2016, has a soundtrack that we all remember, and came nine years after the first historic meeting in Serie B between the two teams - decided with a brace from Marcelo Zalayeta. The "Matusa" Stadium in Frosinone awaited the Bianconeri on that occasion in the hope not only of obtaining a revenge, but also of being able to earn precious points in their bid to avoid relegation. The match, however, immediately took the expected path, with Juventus dominating and Frosinone's defense somehow managing to withstand the visitors' attacks, keeping the score at 0-0 after the first 45 minutes of play.
CUADRADO-DYBALA STAR IN THE SECOND HALF
A match that was therefore resolved in the second half in favor of Juventus, thanks to the patience and insistence that only great teams manage to have: in the second half, the Bianconeri repeatedly attacked the opponent's goal, coming close to scoring several times from distance, finding the post with a superb left-footed shot from Paulo Dybala before finally breaking the deadlock 60 seconds later: Alex Sandro's low cross to the far post found Juan Cuadrado, who opened the scoring in the 73rd minute.
The goal broke Frosinone's resistance, leaving time in the closing stages not only for the entry onto the pitch of Daniele Rugani - who knows the Calcutta mentioned at the beginning of the piece well and chose it as the soundtrack for his special marriage proposal - but also for the second goal scored by Dybala: in injury time, Alvaro Morata's brilliant play provided the perfect assist for Dybala, whose finish secired the 2-0 victory.
Juventus thus managed to collect a 14th consecutive victory - an impressive streak that allowed the Bianconeri not only to recover the ground lost in the early stages of that season, but to also then conquer the Scudetto at the end of the season.
Now that Frosinone is back in Serie A and Pope Francis is still in the Italian and international newspapers, it is only the stadium that has changed, with Frosinone moving to the Benito Stirpe: a modern facility, located in a different area of the city, which no longer allows some lucky fans to look out onto the balcony and support Juventus as happened seven years ago. This time they will have to find a ticket in the stands.
