Napoli - Juventus
Napoli Looking To Bounce Back
The Partenopei have enjoyed one of the best starts to a season in years. Edy Reja's discipline, no-nonsense attitude as well as Pierpaolo Marino's buying powers has seen the club firmly establish themselves in Serie A and their 'relegation strugglers' tag has been replaced with a 'potential Scudetto challengers' label.However, Napoli will be hoping to make amends for their 3-2 defeat away to Genoa in week six and there is no better team to do it against than a Juventus side whose chips are down.Reja's men have won three, drawn twice and lost once in the league this term and they are still unbeaten at San Paolo.
There was a scramble for tickets this week when they went on sale and the atmosphere, as always when these tow lock horns, will be electric.Historically this game has always been a big one and it goes all the way back to the 1988/89 UEFA Cup edition. Juventus met Napoli in the quarter final.
The Bianconeri won the first leg 2-0 but Napoli overturned the result in the return with a 3-0 win at San Paolo. The Partenopei went on to win the trophy and the rivalry between these two teams has increased ten fold ever since. The Genoa defeat left the port-city club with plenty to think about as they threw away the lead after Ezequiel Lavezzi fired them in front. The Rossoblu went on to win the game but Napoli have had two weeks to work on their game and put things right as Reja designs a plan which could all but end Juve's Scudetto ambition.
Napoli will still remember the 3-1 last season and it was this result which threw Juve off the title chase. History may well repeat itself on Saturday night as the Bianconeri have a number of injuries to deal with and their minds will be on the Champions League clash against Real Madrid. The Azzurri have no such worries after their exit from the UEFA Cup against Benfica and thus all their efforts will be on causing more grief for the Old Lady.
Juventus Desperate To Win
The Bianconeri are winless in four consecutive games. Life is tough down at Vinovo and all the talk of an easy stroll to the Scudetto this term has evaporated. The heat is on for Claudio Ranieri and his contract could be torn up and thrown into the fire if his side fail to produce a win against their opponents this weekend. Speculation has been rife in Italy regarding the Tinkerman.
The club has tried to brush the hype under the carpet but, with serious title ambitions in Serie A and Europe, the directors at Corso Gallileo Ferraris are likely to run out of patience. Juve are four points off the pace and a loss at San Paolo will see their Tricolore run put on hold until next term. Crisis is a word which has been looming in the air at the club but a win against Napoli will put things in place, silence the critics and get their season back on track.
Napoli
October 5: Genoa 3-2 Napoli
October 2: Benfica 2-0 Napoli
September 28: Bologna 0–1 Napoli
September 24: Napoli 2-1 Palermo
September 21: Udinese 0-0 Napoli
Juventus
October 5: Juventus 1-2 Palermo
September 30: Bate Borisov 2-2 Juventus (CL)
September 27: Sampdoria 0-0 Juventus (Serie A)
September 24: Juventus 1-1 Catania (Serie A)
September 21: Cagliari 0-1 Juventus (Serie A)
Napoli -3-5-2: Iezzo, Contini, Cannavaro, Santacroce, Vitale, Maggio, Gargano, Blasi, Hamsik, Lavezzi, Dennis.
Juventus -4-4-2: Manninger, Knezevic, Grygera, Chiellini, Molinaro, Nedved, Marchisio, Poulsen, Marchionni, Del Piero, Amauri.
posted by Midnight Sun @ 23:20,
0 Comments: