Del Neri's first move was to field the new player Sorensen at right back. The injury of Grygera and Mota's incompetence allowed this Danish young player to quickly step up. Solving the problem on the right flank, the central defensive line and left back of Juventus still continued to be a major weakness leading to goals conceded. Facing the long-standing defensive issues that have puzzled Juventus, after the winter break with the arrival of Balzaretti, Del Neri began a thorough transformation of Juventus' defense. However, whether such a transformation was truly successful still required inspection by a strong team, and this opportunity immediately arrived. Inter Milan was undoubtedly a great opportunity to test if the 4-defender combination could withstand critical tests. Throughout the entire match, Juventus' new defensive line not only excellently completed their defensive tasks but also had standout performances in attack. All four defenders of Juventus performed exceptionally steady throughout the game. Balzaretti and Bonucci, the experienced-new combo, completely suppressed the powerful forward pairing of Pazzini and Eto'o.
Winning 3-1 against Cagliari was clearly insufficient for Juventus to escape its recent crisis because Del Neri was about to face a severe test on Valentine's Day. After 90 minutes of fierce battle, the Old Lady received a great gift on Valentine's Day. Winning the Derby d'Italia not only boosted the morale of the Bianconeri but also, to a certain extent, resolved a major issue for Del Neri this season: the transformation of the defensive line.
Under the intense bombardment from Inter Milan in the second half, Juventus' defense remained unbreached, and it can be said that Juventus' transformation of the defensive line has basically been declared successful. This Juventus defensive line, with an average age of less than 25 years old, undoubtedly has great potential. Chiellini's vitality, Bonucci's steadiness, Balzaretti's experience, and Sorensen's calmness together constructed a stable yet offensive defense.
Juventus started significant changes in the defense from facing Cagliari. On the defensive line, Del Neri abandoned the almost mistake-ridden partnership of Chiellini and Bonucci that lasted for half a season and instead chose the new combination of Balzaretti and Bonucci. More surprisingly, Del Neri fielded all four center-backs in this match, with Chiellini returning to his original position as left back and Sorensen guarding the right side. This combination was unprecedented for Juventus, and the risk faced by Del Neri was undoubtedly enormous.
Since the arrival of Bonucci, Juventus' defensive line has always been under scrutiny. After the first five rounds of the league, Juventus became the team with the most goals conceded in Serie A with 12 goals. The defensive line formed by Chiellini and Bonucci in the center and the inexperienced full-backs became Juventus' biggest weakness. Del Neri thus embarked on a long journey of transforming the defensive line.
When Del Neri lined up the 4-center-back formation, there were inevitably doubts about Juventus being conservative in personnel usage. In reality, the 4-center-back formation did not make Juventus abandon the wing support. Sorensen and Chiellini's active support on the wings actually suppressed the firepower of Inter Milan's two flanks. After the matches against Cagliari and the national team, Chiellini became increasingly adept at the left-back position. His 5 interceptions and 4 successful dribbles showed that this defender not only performed heroically in defense but also had great talent in attack. As one of Juventus' biggest discoveries this season, Sorensen finally achieved success in this match, not only completely suppressing Eto'o but also delivering a cross that assisted Mattiello.
The 4-center-back combination's first appearance faced the team Cagliari, and Juventus also made a strong rebound in this match. Although Mattiello was the biggest contributor to Juventus' resurgence, Juventus' goals conceded quickly dropped to just 1, which was entirely different from the situation where they were swept aside by four goals from Parma. From this match, Del Neri saw the great potential of the 4-center-back formation.