Reggina put one over on a stuttering Old Lady to grab a bit of
relegation relief. Some brilliant
touches and some shoddy play in an odd game that ended in fireworks.
The Granillo in Febuary, both
teams well represented and neither bolshily optimistic nor dreadfully
pessimistic. Juventus wanted to leapfrog
Roma and Reggina needed to mount another last ditch fightback from the gaping
maw of Serie B.
Amaranto manager Ulivieri feared
for his job as he picks the team.
Campagnolo keeps goal behind a back three of Lanzario, Valdez and Aronica. Defender Cirillo is put in midfield to help
shore things up alongside Cascione, Barretto and Vigiani; wide on the left to
provide an attacking option is Modesto. Brienza operates forward and mostly right
with Vigiani sitting between attack and midfield, Amoruso is the target
man. Kind of a 3 4 1 2.
Ranierii is hit by a back virus
and other injuries and has to select a makeshift team with little on the
bench. Belardi keeps goal with a back
four of Gygera, Legrottaglie, Chiellini and Molinaro. Camoranesi, Zanetti, new signing Sissoko and Nedved
are strung across midfield with Del Piero and Palladino in attack.
Reggina come out hard but quality
soon tells and Juventus dominate the early going with an impressive array of
touches, the lack of much goal threatening action doesn’t stop the Bianconeri
from mostly dominating the first half hour.
Amoruso selfishly shoots when a
lay of to the left would have found the open man.
Del Piero’s chance comes at him
too quickly and is cleared.
Camoranesi is floating around and
causing the Amaranto a lot of problems.
Belardi saves well from Modesto.
Sissoko flails at a half chance
and pokes the ball over.
Although Ranierii’s men dominate
they seem disjointed somehow, the lack of a penalty box striker could explain
it. Seems as though it will be only a
matter of time before their neat build up play actually forges a chance that
someone will bury in the net.
Mentally Juventus step off the
gas, passes go astray and Reggina claw their way back into the game. Some sloppy defending leads to a corner;
Sissoko half clears the second one and Legrottaglie; not on his best form of
the season; is slow to step up which leaves Belardi one on three with the
Amaranto attack, Brienza accepts the gift and finishes well past the stranded
‘keeper.
Hardly galvanized into action
Juventus still look out of sorts and only reassert their obviously better skill
in the final five minutes of the half.
Again Camoranesi is at the heart
of everything good for Juve.
Neither side changes at the
half.
Backs to the wall, ten men behind
the ball kind of effort from the Amaranto are on the cards and duly
delivered.
Juventus look frustrated and unlikely
to force the equalizer as the well drilled home side defend deeper and more
resolutely as the half wears on. What
they lack in skill they more than make up for in grit and determination.
Valdez makes a late and well timed tackle to
rob the ball off Sissoko as the Mali International gets a run into the
box. Camoranesi has a go from distance
as does Nedved.
Grygera comes on for the more
attack minded Salihamidzic and Ulivieri brings on Tognozzi for Cascione.
It all goes horribly wrong for
the home side a nothing shot without much power behind it finds Campagnolo
asleep, he wakes up in time to fumble over the ball as Del Piero wheels away to
celebrate another Serie A goal. Really
really poor ‘keeping.
For the rest of the game it’s
more Juventus attacking and more Reggina defending, Reggina tire first although
late on even Juventus start to fade a little.
Costa gets a rough Serie A debut
and a little while later Makinwa is thrown on to replace the injured
Brienza.
Juventus threw it all forward and
did very little defending, Reggina clearances allowed them to mostly control
possession. A late break by Amoruso did
need Belardi to be alert and quick off his line, n o mean feat for a virtual
spectator.
Injury time and it all
exploded.
Camoranesi’s header comes off an
arm and Juve expect a spot kick, the ball is cleared well as the referee
ignores the pleadings and Reggina attack on the right. A more hopeful than stunning cross finds
Sissoko and Amoruso as favourites for the ball, Sissoko needlessly pulls off
some flying kung fu kick which misses the ball and catches Amoruso. The referee is well places and point to the
spot amidst howls and begging please from Juventus.
Amoruso duly ####s the penalty
past his old team mate and Reggina win.
Tough loss for Juventus. Great win for Reggina. The ref played the game well enough. Seemed to get most things right amidst all
the diving and play acting.
How he only gave Legrottaglie
only a yellow when the Juventus defender wanted a wrestling match only he will
know, he even gave a card after the whistle for a cheap and girly kick by
Zanetti.
Juventus:-
Belardi
Grygera (Salihamidzic 61)
Legrottaglie
Chiellini
Molinaro
Camoranesi
Zanetti
Sissoko
Nedved
Palladino
Del Piero
Goals:-
Del Piero 71
Bookings:-
Grygera
Legrottaglie
Zanetti (R )
Reggina:-
Campagnolo
Lanzario
Valdez
Aronica
Cirillo
Cascione (Tognozzi 63)
Barretto
Modesto (Costa 82)
Vigiani
Brienza (Makinwa 86)
Amoruso
Goals:-
Brienza 32
Amoruso 93 (P)
Bookings:-
Lanzario
Amoruso
Brienza
Referee:-
Dondarini
Does it surprise that FSC got the
team sheets wrong again?
Inter####onale are in top spot. Consistently winning; even whilst playing
poorly; is a feature of most of their campaign to date. The title is theirs to lose. The restart of European competition will have
a big impact on the UEFA Cup and Champions League places. Juventus, Udinese and Palermo don’t have any European football to
look forward to or provide a distraction.
Inter, Milan
and Roma have the Champions League and Fiorentina have the UEFA Cup as a
distraction.
SERIE A TRANSFERS
ATALANTA
Out: Zampagna (A, Vicenza)
CAGLIARI – some
strengthening of their goalkeeping and looking for goals in order to avoid
Serie B next season.
FIORENTINA – even more depth in attack to
maintain their UEFA Cup spot.
In: Cacia (A, Piacenza)
GENOA – help at the
back and in attack, to help push for a UEFA Cup place.
In: Criscito (D, Juventus), Masiero (A, Central
Espanol), Wilson (A, Corinthians)
INTER – bolstering the injury hit midfield
with creativity and experience.
In: Maniche (M, Atletico Madrid)
Out: Adriano (A, Sao Paulo)
JUVENTUS
Out: Criscito (D, Genoa),
Olivera (M, Penarol)
LAZIO
LIVORNO – strengthening the
defence to avoid relegation trouble.
In: Sidny (D, Nautico)
MILAN – bagging the
most talked about Brazilian eighteen year old in years to help them in Europe and take them to a Champions League place.
In: Pato (A, Internacional)
NAPOLI
Out: Gatti (M, Modena)
PALERMO
Out: Brienza (M, Reggina)
PARMA – last season he
bagged 20 goals for Livorno, he’ll help them
avoid becoming embroiled in a relegation battle.
In: Lucarelli (A, Shakhtar Donetsk)
Out: Cardone (D, Cesena), Paponi (A, Cesena)
REGGINA – defensive help and proven young
goalscorer in their battle to stay up.
In: Cirillo (D, Levante), Stuani (A, Danubio)
ROMA
SAMPDORIA
Out: Foti (A, Messina)
SIENA – two more
attacking options, to help balance their goal difference.
In: Porta (A, River Plate Montevideo),
Rigano' (A, Levante)
Out: Bucchi (A, Bologna)
TORINO
UDINESE
Out: Sivok (M, Sparta Prague)
FIXTURES
Fiorentina V Torino
A midweek cup trouncing might not get any better in Florence. La Viola is strong and coming of####ood win and
with Europe coming up and the European spots
up for grabs they have plenty to play for.
The manager also seems to be right back in the game. The Gigliati are at full strength and Granata
are struggling with injuries. Last week
Fiorentina won and Torino lost.
The Nerrazzurri scraped a win last week but expect a
different side at the Stadio Meazza.
Maniche is unlikely to get an outing as will Parma’s new signing Lucarelli. Expect a home win but don’t be surprised if
Lucarelli returns to Serie A with a ####.
Parma hasn’t
won away from home yet and a loss won’t help their slide into the relegation
quagmire. Both sides are at less than
full strength but Mancini’s charges have plenty of depth. Last week Inter won and Parma lost.
Genoa V Atalanta
Great result for Genoa
last week and they’ll need to play just as well to leapfrog Atalanta in the
race for a UEFA Cup place. Expect a home
win but this could be a cracking game. Genoa loses their top
Honduran and Doni is back for Atalanta.
Last week Genoa
won and Atalanta lost.
Juventus V Sampdoria
A draw for the Bianconeri; a lucky one at that; will need to
be erased by a home win. Juventus can’t
lose their position but they will not want to slip any further behind Roma or allow
Udinese and Fiorentina to catch up. Sampdoria
were on fire last week and will relish this tough away challenge despite having
a less than stellar form on the road.
Sampdoria don’t have a full compliment of strikers and Juventus are a
touch short in defence. Tiago may
start. Last week Juventus drew and
Sampdoria won.
Livorno V Empoli
Already a relegation six pointer and a local derby will make
this fixture shine (although last season it remained goalless). Livorno is
unbeaten in five and playing well under a new manager and Empoli are
struggling, with their last win coming in 2007.
Empoli are at less than full strength and poor on the road. Last week Livorno
won and Empoli drew.
Napoli V Lazio
Napoli needs to regain
their early season form if they are to mount a challenge on a European
place. The strikers and goalkeepers are
kept busy in Naples
so expect a few goals; from either team.
Lazio continue their poor form.
Gargano will be a loss to Napoli but
Lazio has plenty of injury worries. Last
week both teams lost.
Palermo V Siena
Palermo
come off an erratic run of form but are still riding high in Serie A, another
loss will dent their UEFA Cup ambitions and could see them drop places. Siena
are in deep trouble and really struggle on the road; one win in eight. This must be the start of the Bianconeri’s
relegation dogfight, particularly as they showed so well against Inter last
week. Expect goals with both teams
wanting the win. Last week Palermo and Siena
lost.
Reggina V Cagliari
Reggina are struggling but Cagliari is awful. A huge game for both teams. Another loss and Cagliari will be playing for pride, a Reggina
loss helps them not a jot. Amaruso will
be the difference maker and will want to shine so as to stake a place in another
Serie A side next season. History is
with the home side and the visitors have their share of injury woes. Last week Reggina grabbed a point and Cagliari lost;
again.
Roma V Catania
Second place needs defended and the visit of Catania is an almost certain three points, last season Catania got thrashed
7-0. Catania hasn’t won on the road this season
and nothing is likely to change here, Mancini is in a good run of form and
Spinesi is wearing his shooting boots.
The result against Juventus will give the Sicilians heart for this
fixture. Last week Roma won and Catania were robbed of
three points.
Udinese V Milan
Possibly the biggest game of the weekend. Milan is
certainly going to be tested by a very strong Udinese side that has only lost
once in Udine. Milan’s
away form is better than their play in the Stadio Meazza though. Pirlo’s absence will be a tough blow to
overcome; Gattuso is fiery but doesn’t have the ball skills that Pirlo
has. The three Brazilians will face a
tougher test against a tough Udinese back line than they did against Napoli. The Azzuri
have some injury and suspension problems but Quagliarella is in form, history
favours the Rossoneri. Last week both
these teams won and will be looking to continue the trend to solidify their
European aspirations for the home side and to climb the table for the
visitors.
