Juventus Turin - Real Madrid
Clash Of The Titans
Juventus and Real Madrid have met a total of 13 times before in this competition. The most recent meeting was the Round of 16 battle in 2005 when the Serie A giants overturned a 1-0 first leg deficit away from home to claim a 2-1 victory on aggregate. Since then, both clubs have gone through immense and almost unrecognizable transformations.
Juventus, ofcourse, have been to hell and back following the Calciopoli debacle. They had to rebuild their squad nearly from scratch while playing their football out of Serie B afte
r numerous key figures decided to jump ship.
Madrid, meanwhile, had a glimpse of their own personal hell after watching the Galácticos dynasty crumble to a shambolic end a little over a year after that 2005 encounter. Like Juve, many of their superstar players were forced out of the establishment, although most of them were thrown off the ship, rather than jump off it.
Juve have now gone five games without a win in all competitions. By the time the opening whistle blows in Turin, they would have gone exactly a month without a single victory to show.
Yet amazingly, their coach Claudio Ranieri is still occupying the hotseat, one that must surely be reaching hellish temperatures by now. Many expected the defeat at home to Palermo a fortnight ago to be his curtain call. He survived. A 2-1 defeat at Napoli last weekend seemed certain to be the final straw, but so far, there has yet to be any hint that anyone else other than the 57 year old will be giving the team talk prior to kick-off.
The 1-2 in away at Zenit St. Petersburg on Matchday Two was Los Blancos’ first victory on the road in the Champions League in seven attempts. It could not have come at a better time and another huge triumph on their travels last weekend, at fierce crosstown rivals Atlético Madrid, have boosted their confidence even more.
But the capital superpowers have a rather dreadful record in their trips to Italy. In 25 visits, they have chalked up only four measly wins and five draws, while they have gone on to lose a staggering 16 times.
However, Madrid will have a special motivation to do well this time around. They can all but seal a spot in the knockout stages if they pick up a win in Turin. With the reverse tie at the Santiago Bernabéu to come in a fortnight, Los Merengues could potentially launch themselves to an unassailable eight point lead ahead of their closest rival in the group by the time Matchday Five rolls around.
If they can pull that off, coach Bernd Schuster will then have the ultimate luxury of allowing his team to take their foot off the gas in the final two group games and shift the focus momentarily to La Liga as the campaign approaches the critical halfway stage.
That will be the idea in theory but on the football pitch, things rarely go according to script in such big games. But if ever there’s a time to get one over their bitter rivals in Europe and avenge recent defeats, it would be now.
Juventus almost have enough players out injured to make up separate team. Christian Poulsen is the latest to join the infirmary after suffering a thigh strain in the 2-1 loss at Napoli at the weekend. Gigi Buffon, Mauro Camoranesi, Tiago and Cristiano Zanetti are all sidelined with thigh ailments, Jonathan Zebina has an achilles problem, while David Trézéguet and Jorge Andrade are recovering from long-term knee injuries.
The good news for Ranieri is that Nicola Legrottaglie, Olof Mellberg and Vicenzo Iaquinta have all returned to normal training and they could make their comebacks, or at least play some part, against Madrid pending a late fitness test.
Probable Starting XI (4-4-2): Manniger – Grygera, Knezevic/Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Molinaro – Salihamidzic, Sissoko, Marchisio, Nedved – Amauri, Del Piero (c)
Arjen Robben, who was left out of the Atlético Madrid game to regain full fitness following a hamstring problem, has been included in the squad to travel to Turin. Guti, who also failed a late fitness test prior to the Atleti clash, has been omitted again as he continues to nurse his right calf tear.
Fellow midfielder Mahamadou Diarrà will also be unavailable after picking up a knock in his right knee in midweek international duty but Fernando Gago and Wesley Sneijder made their successful comebacks at the weekend following their respective injuries and they should retain their places in the starting berth.
Miguel Torres has been left back in Madrid to recover from a muscle tear in his thigh while Míchel Salgado and Javier Saviola have been overlooked for technical reasons.
Probable Starting XI (4-3-3): Casillas – Sergio Ramos, Cannavaro, Pepe, Heinze – Van der Vaart, Gago, Sneijder – Higuaín, Van Nistelrooy, Raul
goal
Juventus and Real Madrid have met a total of 13 times before in this competition. The most recent meeting was the Round of 16 battle in 2005 when the Serie A giants overturned a 1-0 first leg deficit away from home to claim a 2-1 victory on aggregate. Since then, both clubs have gone through immense and almost unrecognizable transformations.
Juventus, ofcourse, have been to hell and back following the Calciopoli debacle. They had to rebuild their squad nearly from scratch while playing their football out of Serie B afte
r numerous key figures decided to jump ship.Madrid, meanwhile, had a glimpse of their own personal hell after watching the Galácticos dynasty crumble to a shambolic end a little over a year after that 2005 encounter. Like Juve, many of their superstar players were forced out of the establishment, although most of them were thrown off the ship, rather than jump off it.
The two clubs seem to have this uncanny and unspoken kinship, like conjoined twins separated at birth. Whatever one is forced to endure and experience, the other has to share it miles and miles away. The other striking similarity in question is that both are trying to re-establish their supremacy in the continent after dominating the competition so thoroughly from the mid 90’s to early 2000.
The Old Lady made three successive finals between 1995 and 1998 and then added a fourth in 2003 while the Men In White actually won the crown three times in the space of five seasons from 1998 to 2002. Ever since then, neither have come close to getting their hands on Europe’s top prize.
The Old Lady made three successive finals between 1995 and 1998 and then added a fourth in 2003 while the Men In White actually won the crown three times in the space of five seasons from 1998 to 2002. Ever since then, neither have come close to getting their hands on Europe’s top prize.
Rainy Days For Ranieri
Juve have now gone five games without a win in all competitions. By the time the opening whistle blows in Turin, they would have gone exactly a month without a single victory to show.
Yet amazingly, their coach Claudio Ranieri is still occupying the hotseat, one that must surely be reaching hellish temperatures by now. Many expected the defeat at home to Palermo a fortnight ago to be his curtain call. He survived. A 2-1 defeat at Napoli last weekend seemed certain to be the final straw, but so far, there has yet to be any hint that anyone else other than the 57 year old will be giving the team talk prior to kick-off.
But there have already been rumours that a defeat to arch adversaries, Real Madrid on Tuesday will bring the axe down closer to his head and another poor performance against neighbouring nemesis Torino this weekend will all but seal his fate.
If the pressure wasn’t on before, it certainly is now. But on the flip side of the coin, a victory over their Spanish counterparts could be exactly what Juve and the Tinkerman need to jump start the season.
As the cliché goes, the form book flies straight out the window on nights like these. Motivation supersedes everything else and as soon as I Bianconeri hear the Champions League anthem, they would have forgotten about their results and performances of the last 30 days.
If the pressure wasn’t on before, it certainly is now. But on the flip side of the coin, a victory over their Spanish counterparts could be exactly what Juve and the Tinkerman need to jump start the season.
As the cliché goes, the form book flies straight out the window on nights like these. Motivation supersedes everything else and as soon as I Bianconeri hear the Champions League anthem, they would have forgotten about their results and performances of the last 30 days.
All Smiles For Schuster
The 1-2 in away at Zenit St. Petersburg on Matchday Two was Los Blancos’ first victory on the road in the Champions League in seven attempts. It could not have come at a better time and another huge triumph on their travels last weekend, at fierce crosstown rivals Atlético Madrid, have boosted their confidence even more.
But the capital superpowers have a rather dreadful record in their trips to Italy. In 25 visits, they have chalked up only four measly wins and five draws, while they have gone on to lose a staggering 16 times.
However, Madrid will have a special motivation to do well this time around. They can all but seal a spot in the knockout stages if they pick up a win in Turin. With the reverse tie at the Santiago Bernabéu to come in a fortnight, Los Merengues could potentially launch themselves to an unassailable eight point lead ahead of their closest rival in the group by the time Matchday Five rolls around.
If they can pull that off, coach Bernd Schuster will then have the ultimate luxury of allowing his team to take their foot off the gas in the final two group games and shift the focus momentarily to La Liga as the campaign approaches the critical halfway stage.
That will be the idea in theory but on the football pitch, things rarely go according to script in such big games. But if ever there’s a time to get one over their bitter rivals in Europe and avenge recent defeats, it would be now.
Juventus
Oct 18 Napoli 2-1 Juventus (SERIE A)
Oct 05 Juventus 1-2 Palermo (SERIE A)
Sep 30 BATE Borisov 2-2 Juventus (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)
Sep 27 Sampdoria 0-0 Juventus (SERIE A)
Sep 24 Juventus 1-1 Catania (SERIE A)
Oct 18 Napoli 2-1 Juventus (SERIE A)
Oct 05 Juventus 1-2 Palermo (SERIE A)
Sep 30 BATE Borisov 2-2 Juventus (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)
Sep 27 Sampdoria 0-0 Juventus (SERIE A)
Sep 24 Juventus 1-1 Catania (SERIE A)
Real Madrid
Oct 18 Atlético Madrid 1-2 Real Madrid (LA LIGA)
Oct 05 Real Madrid 2-2 Espanyol (LA LIGA)
Sep 30 Zenit St. Petersburg 1-2 Real Madrid (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)
Sep 27 Real Betis 1-2 Real Madrid (LA LIGA)
Sep 24 Real Madrid 7-1 Sporting Gijón (LA LIGA)
Oct 18 Atlético Madrid 1-2 Real Madrid (LA LIGA)
Oct 05 Real Madrid 2-2 Espanyol (LA LIGA)
Sep 30 Zenit St. Petersburg 1-2 Real Madrid (CHAMPIONS LEAGUE)
Sep 27 Real Betis 1-2 Real Madrid (LA LIGA)
Sep 24 Real Madrid 7-1 Sporting Gijón (LA LIGA)
Juventus
Juventus almost have enough players out injured to make up separate team. Christian Poulsen is the latest to join the infirmary after suffering a thigh strain in the 2-1 loss at Napoli at the weekend. Gigi Buffon, Mauro Camoranesi, Tiago and Cristiano Zanetti are all sidelined with thigh ailments, Jonathan Zebina has an achilles problem, while David Trézéguet and Jorge Andrade are recovering from long-term knee injuries.
The good news for Ranieri is that Nicola Legrottaglie, Olof Mellberg and Vicenzo Iaquinta have all returned to normal training and they could make their comebacks, or at least play some part, against Madrid pending a late fitness test.
Probable Starting XI (4-4-2): Manniger – Grygera, Knezevic/Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Molinaro – Salihamidzic, Sissoko, Marchisio, Nedved – Amauri, Del Piero (c)
Real Madrid
Arjen Robben, who was left out of the Atlético Madrid game to regain full fitness following a hamstring problem, has been included in the squad to travel to Turin. Guti, who also failed a late fitness test prior to the Atleti clash, has been omitted again as he continues to nurse his right calf tear.
Fellow midfielder Mahamadou Diarrà will also be unavailable after picking up a knock in his right knee in midweek international duty but Fernando Gago and Wesley Sneijder made their successful comebacks at the weekend following their respective injuries and they should retain their places in the starting berth.
Miguel Torres has been left back in Madrid to recover from a muscle tear in his thigh while Míchel Salgado and Javier Saviola have been overlooked for technical reasons.
Probable Starting XI (4-3-3): Casillas – Sergio Ramos, Cannavaro, Pepe, Heinze – Van der Vaart, Gago, Sneijder – Higuaín, Van Nistelrooy, Raul
goal
I think that Real has a much stronger side. The absences of Juve will count. Real to win
posted by Midnight Sun @ 19:51,
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