Open conversazione

[DCGweez]

Best game i've seen Chiellini play in a long time. Thought he was the best player on the pitch by a large margin.

Vooch played well but he's painfully slow. There were about 4 balls sent through to him where the CBs simply ran past him and kicked the ball wide.

[Bagg10]

Conte's back, tell a friend.

[Bagg10]

[red]

Decent enough performance all things considered.

Slow start, but started to find spaces after about half an hour.

Palermo did pretty well to keep things tight in the first half. Didn't really understand their attacking chance at halftime.

Juve were then able to find space much more easily and the goal was pretty inevitable - even if it was brilliant play that brought it in the end.

Thought it was remarkably stupid of both teams to keep playing down the wet side of the pitch in the second half, and even stupider to try and dribble and pass the ball down that side.

Still, Juve saw the game out comfortably enough. It's only a matter of time until Juve pay for not finishing teams off with all the chances they get once they are ahead, though.

Very impressed with Juve's fitness levels. They were still going pretty strong at the end, despite playing a tough game in European game in midweek and then playing on an energy-sapping pitch today.

[Bagg10]

Yeah the field didn't help us, and we didn't make it easier on ourselves.
Still we cant complain about the result, especially coming off a do or die game against Shakhtar.

[RomaShield27]

[DCGweez]

Whatever Ed. Saying that was a dive is like saying Calciopoli had merit.

Just glad Bonucci is ok. Ujkani should be banned. To think he could have seriously injured a classy player like Bonucci with that reckless challenge is infuriating.

[Bagg10]

We need to hope Caceres, Marrone, or Lucio recover for our next game. With Bonucci suspended and Vidal looking like he might miss the next game because of injury, we only have two centerbacks available for our next Serie A match.

Coppa Italia match this week against Cagliari.

[red]

Would hardly be a disaster if Juve have to play with a back four against Atalanta.

[juventino_italiano]

[Bagg10]

[RomaShield27]

http://sport.sky.it/sport/calcio_italia ... a_web.html

[red]

Anyone watch the game?

Any of the back-ups impress?

See there are some injury concerns off the back of the game.

[Bagg10]

I saw the second half. Prett boring game.
Giovinco had a decent move before scoring, but most of the credit of that goal goes to the Cagliari defenders.
The Coppa Italia draw has been quite friendly to us. Inter, Roma, Napoli and Fiorentina are all on the other side of the bracket. We'll almost certainly play Milan next, and probably Lazio after that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012%E2%80 ... ppa_Italia

[red]

Thought Juve were flattered by the scoreline at the point they went 3-0 up.

At that point, both teams had basically had one clear chance each and Juve's defence wasn't looking particularly comfortable with the movement of Moralez and Bonaventura.

Makes a change, I suppose, from Juve being completely dominant and wasting a bunch of chances.

Vucinic and Giovinco are showing signs of developing an understanding, but still only look effective together in relatively open games.

Didn't understand the way Atalanta approached the game.

Was expecting them to show up with their normal 4-4-1-1 and keep things compact. Instead they sort of half adjusted towards matching up to Juve's 3-5-2 and were far more willing to be bold in possession and commit men high up the pitch than I anticipated.

They just aren't anything like athletic enough to try and take on Juve in an open game.

[Bagg10]

Celtic it is...

[Bagg10]

Thursday December 20 2012

Happy Nedved respects Celtic
By Football Italia staff

Pavel Nedved admits the Champions League draw went well for Juventus, but he has underlined his reverence for last 16 opponents Celtic.

“Celtic are a side to be respected,” the club official told Mediaset Premium. “I’ve played against them in the past and they have beaten Barcelona this season.

“They will be hard to face away from home. Saying that, it could have gone worse for us…”

Despite winning their group, the Old Lady could have been paired with Spanish giants Real Madrid this morning.

“We have a lot of players who had never played in the Champions League before,” added the former midfielder.

“This is all part of our growth and we have to give this Juventus side some time to do well in Europe, but they are all professionals.”

Juventus and Celtic have met four times in the past, with both clubs collecting two victories each.

[red]

Probably the easiest draw Juve could have got.

I'll have to have a look to see if there's any chance of me getting into the Juve end.

No way I'll go and mingle with the minks in the home end.

[p_maldini_3]

lucio leaves and chiellini gets injured the next day. fate can be beautiful.

[red]

Fairly typical game of Juve not playing very well, but creating and missing plenty of chances.

Cagliari never threatened and it was stupid of Vidal to try and tackle from that angle to give the ref the chance to give the penalty.

Cagliari seemed to have the gameplan of denying Juve fluency by consistently coming through the back of the forwards when they came short to get the ball to feet.

Obviously, you can only do that so many times before the cards start coming out.

Once the red card came and Cagliari had amassed enough booking that they couldn't just foul their way through the game, things opened up and it was just a question of whether time would run out before the goals came for Juve.

Thought both penalties were pretty soft.

Wouldn't have given a penalty for the jostling between Astori and Quagliarella, but it should have been a penalty and a red card for the push on Asamoah that caused him to miss the open goal.

Nice to see Matri get a couple of goal. Would be mighty handy for Juve if he could play the second half of the season like he played in the first half of last season.