Theo Hernandez is getting ready to face a familiar foe tonight in Denzel Dumfries, while Sergio Conceicao has begun a mission to get him back to his best.
As La Gazzetta dello Sport recall, Conceicao did not give any of his players much affection during half-time of the Juventus game, but the image circulating of the hug with Theo at full-time after the 2-1 win have struck a chord.
After the full-time whistle, there was a huddle in which Ismael Bennacer spoke. Conceiçao arrived when the players were lined up and he chose to stand next to Theo Hernandez. He gives him a pat, a friendly tap, then hugged him and held him close.
The recovery of Theo Hernandez is Conceiçao’s ‘great mission’ and he can have a greater impact on him than on anyone else. Theo was the negative protagonist of two key episodes against Juve: the mistake on Yildiz’s opening goal and a shot over the bar in the second half, wasting a chance to level.
The final is a great opportunity for the Frenchman. Stefano Pioli worked hard on Theo for five years, both psychologically and from a technical standpoint. The defender doesn’t talk much, in the dressing room he keeps to himself, yet he is among the undoubted top players in his position.
For some time, however, he hasn’t shown it. The relationship with Paulo Fonseca was complicated, even if it never totally disintegrated. The most important conversation, after the match with Red Star, came in the week of harsh criticism from the coach to the team.
Thus, Conceiçao starts from scratch with him. In the Supercoppa semi-final he gave the captain’s armband to Mike Maignan, a choice that Theo can’t be happy with because – according to the old hierarchies – it should have been his. However, the impression is that it doesn’t count for much.
Theo is happy at Milan and would be more than happy to stay at a place where he has already written history. Speaking of which, his ‘good friend’ Dumfries is waiting for him on the field in the derby and there is a ‘triple motivation for Theo’.
First: to win another trophy with Milan after the Scudetto. Second: to beat a major rival in Inter. The third: to get revenge on Dumfries, with whom Theo has had physical and verbal clashes. Dumfries is the player who, during the Scudetto parade at the end of April, raised a banner with a photomontage: him holding Hernandez on a leash.
The Dutchman apologised on social media, but the memory remains. As do the previous episodes. Pushes and shoves in the April derby, with a double red. The derby in February 2022, with Theo sent off for a foul on his opponent, then the double yellow in September of that year.
Football, sometimes, is simple, it can be summed up in two sentences. Inter know that Theo, more than anyone, can cause them difficulty. Milan know that, without the best version ofTheo, they will find it hard to win.
