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[red]

Good thing Roma sold Samuel.

He's a great marker in the box and he certainly isn't shy about getting in about an opponent.

Still, better to have someone nice and ineffective who doesn't do anything mean.

[red]

Cavani overstepped the mark with the elbow, but the two of them were basically giving each other as good as they got, which is fine by me.

That Cavani was prepared to fight back against Chiellini is one of the reasons he's so good. Compare that to the number of forwards who wilt and disappear from games when faced with Chiellini's physicality.

[maro]

[Bagg10]

Monday March 4 2013

Juventus changes for Celtic
By Football Italia staff

Juventus boss Antonio Conte could rest some of his first team regulars in this week’s Champions League game against Celtic.

With a 3-0 first leg advantage, Conte is pondering changes to his usual starting XI for Wednesday’s return in Turin.

Stephan Lichtsteiner, Claudio Marchisio and Arturo Vidal are candidates to be ‘dropped’ given that they are one yellow card away from suspension.

Giorgio Chiellini, scorer of the goal in the 1-1 draw at Napoli on Friday, may also be given a breather after just returning to full fitness.

Mauricio Isla is being tipped to start on the right of Conte’s 3-5-2, while Paul Pogba may net a place in the middle.

Kwadwo Asamoah, who didn’t start in Naples, will return to the line-up, as should Alessandro Matri in attack.

http://www.football-italia.net/31466/ju ... ges-celtic

[Bagg10]

I would definitely start Vidal since he's suspended for the Catania game over the weekend. Lichtsteiner could use a breather too, but if I were Conte I wouldn't make too many changes going into this game. We're only half way through the tie, and even though we're up three, anything is possible. This is what I would go with.

--------------------------Buffon
--------------Barzagli---Bonnuci--Caceres(?)
Isla-----------------------------------------------Peluso/Padoin
---------------Vidal----Pirlo---Asamoah
-------------------Matri-----Quags

If Caceres is still out, I'd probably go with Peluso at the back, even though I like the idea of giving Marrone some time in CL. If Peluso is at the back, I'd move Asamoah to LWB, and start either Pogba or Marchisio.

So Conte definitely has a lot of options, which is one of our strengths this season. But he might have to choose between starting his preferred players or letting them start the game and bringing them off early. Knowing Conte, he'll probably make just a couple changes. He's pretty conservative when it comes to rotating his squad in the league and CL, unlike coppa.

[red]

Vidal is a booking away from missing the next CL game, so even though he won't play at the weekend I might still leave him out.

Don't think Caceres will be fit, so would expect Peluso to play in defence, though I see GdS is mentioning that Marrone might play.

[Bagg10]

Gazzetta probable line-up: Buffon; Barzagli, Marrone, Bonnuci; Isla, Pogba, Pirlo, Giaccherini, Asamoah; Matri, Quagliarella

[red]

Meh.

Job done.

Tempo was a bit higher than it ideally would have been, but that was always likely due to the conditions meaning the ball was going to zip around at high speed.

Thought Marrone did well and the strikers moved quite nicely at times.

Not much else to say about it since it was just a case of Juve going through the motions and not doing anything monumentally stupid.

Still, I'm not going hide my delight that Juve have well and truly put those horrible cunts in their place.

[Bagg10]

We avoided injuries, second yellows, finished off the tie, haven't been scored on in 490 mins in CL, AND we rested some key players.

We qualify to the quarter final for the first time since 2006.

So all in all nothing to complain about.

[red]

Poor performance, but Juve probably did just about do enough to merit winning the game.

All seemed very slow and lethargic - much as you'd expect after a European game, but I'm reluctant to allow that as an excuse when half the players didn't play that game and the ones who did didn't exactly have to fully extend themselves.

Didn't understand Juve focusing the play through the middle of the pitch so relentlessly. Even if you don't think the wingback are going to do anything really productive, you still need to get them wide and high up the pitch to stretch the opposition to facilitate the plan of trying to play through the middle.

Don't know why Conte continues to field Vucinic and Giovinco together. They just don't work as a pair and the whole team looks worse when there is nothing resembling a genuine CF on leading the line.

Still, the back three were very solid, so even when Juve didn't look like getting the goal, there was never any real prospect of Juve losing the game.

Think the second half has to rank right up there with the worst 45 minutes of football I've seen from Pirlo.

[red]

Going to need a pretty spectacular collapse from Juve to not win the scudetto from this position.

[RomaShield27]

Classy club.

Dear Juventus, Please End This Disgusting Racism
March 11, 2013 by Adam Digby

By now you’ve seen and heard it, and we will not show it here. Sunday afternoon at Juventus Stadium saw a number of racist chants directed at Mario Balotelli. Yes, on a day when the Milan striker was not actually playing football anywhere, let alone in Turin, a section of the club’s fans chose to sing songs about the colour of the man’s skin for nothing more than their own amusement.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, Monday saw a video uploaded to YouTube of those same fans. Filmed as players were introduced to the crowd, it contains yet more clearly audible racial slurs including a reference to a banana as Paul Pogba’s name is read out and Kwadwo Asamoah being labelled ‘a piece of shit.’ Other players such as Andrea Pirlo and Sebastian Giovinco are also insulted but frankly that is merely the norm at football these days and is not the issue.

What truly needs to happen now is for Juventus – so often the leader when it comes to tackling issues in Italian football – to once again demonstrate how a club should act when faced with such problems. The club has been fined numerous times in recent years, and has always had the punishment reduced because of its willingness to work with police and the authorities in order to eradicate such elements from the stadium.

Now, however, the issue has gone too far.

No player, no matter who he plays for, or how he acts at Juventus Stadium, deserves to suffer racial abuse. None. There is no excuse. As a regular at the stadium, I am today – for the first time ever – embarrassed to be a Juventino. I am ashamed at the behaviour of my fellow fans, whose conduct I will not excuse or cheapen by referring to them in quotation marks or by questioning their fandom.

These people are Juventus fans, they love the club as we all do but now is time for Juventus themselves to draw a line in the sand, and do that on our behalf. Indulge in racist chanting or even just shouting insults? Then you are no longer welcome. Do not come to the Stadium, do not associate yourself with the club. Revoke their privileges, remove their platform and deny them the right to support OUR club.

At a time when the club is dominating Serie A, and has secured a place in the last eight of the Champions League, these people do not represent me, you or Juventus. It is time for it to stop, time for the club to show us the famous ‘lo Stile’ still exists. Please Juventus, make us proud once again to be Juventini.

[red]

A firm but fair punishment...

http://www.gazzetta.it/Calcio/Squadre/J ... 5923.shtml

[red]

So, Bayern...

Tough draw, but there was always a fair chance of that.

Not a team I'd say Juve are particularly well suited to playing. 3-5-2 against 4-2-3-1 is awkward and Bayern's main weakness is their CBs, but Juve may well not have the forwards to take adavantage of that.



Martinez is suspended for the first game, so Gustavo will play.

[red]

I'd look for Juve to sort of twist their shape towards 4-4-2 a little - like they did in the game away to Shakhtar.

That would involve Chiellini and Lichtsteiner playing more like fullbacks than they normally so, so that they can directly take on Muller and Ribery.

That would then leave Asamoah free to play higher up the pitch to take on Lahm and Barzagli and Bonucci to deal with Mandzukic.

Kroos v Pirlo is an awkward one. Kroos is a dangerous player, but he isn't going to close Pirlo down as well as certain others might, so you have to look for Pirlo to assert himself like he did against Kroos when Italy beat Germany in the summer.

[juventino_italiano]

[red]

Arsenal only got close against Bayern because of a ridiculous level of complacency from Bayern in the second game.

Bayern are really good. I would take them rather than Barca, but would much preferred to draw Real Madrid than Bayern.

It's by no means an unwinninable tie. Bayern have to be considered favourites going into it, though.

[Bagg10]

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1568 ... -nightmare

[Bagg10]

I have feeling this match up is going to end up being decided by away goals/et or penalties. Either way it should be an exciting 180(+) minutes of football.

[red]

Thought Juve were very good there.

Don't know if it was the Juve's intention going into the game to sit deep, but it was apparent from early on the Bologna were intent on attacking and pressing, so Juve did the appropriate thing and took a step back instead of being drawn into an open game.

Taking the step back allowed Juve to slow the tempo of the game and draw Bologna forward before hitting on the counter-attack - which suited the Vucinic-Giovinco front pairing much more than Juve dominating the game usually does.

Aside from the one early cock-up, where the defence tried to hold a line when they ought to have gone with Gilardino's run, there weren't any major issues.

Only criticisms would be that Juve weren't as clinical as they could have been and that they gave away a few more freekicks in dangerous positions than was strictly necessary.