Sampdoria completed the double over Juventus with an incredible 3-2 win at Marassi with goals from Eder, Lorenzo De Silvestri and Mauro Icardi. Juventus travelled to Genoa to face Sampdoria in their final Serie A fixture of the season with seemingly little to play for on both sides with the Doria safe from relegation and the Bianconeri having successfully retained their title. However there was a motivation for Juve to win this game as Sampdoria won the previous meeting between [...]
Juventus missed the chance to set a new record points total as a great solo goal from Victor Ibarbo held the Champions to a 1-1 draw in Turin. Juve had already clinched the Scudetto title last week with a win against Palermo but were now targeting the 91 points record set by Fabio Capello’s Juventus team in the 2005/06 season, despite this title later being stripped from the club during the Calciopoli scandal. Cagliari meanwhile had little to play for [...]
Juventus wrapped up a late win over Torino in the Derby della Mole with goals from Arturo Vidal and Claudio Marchisio. Victory over their city rivals means Juventus only need one more point to clinch their second consecutive Scudetto next Serie A matchday. Besides local bragging rights both sides went into the game with a lot to play for as Torino looked to further pull away from the relegation zone and Juventus continuing their relentless march towards the title. Had [...]
In the pick of the Quarter-finals Juventus have been drawn against last years finalists Bayern Munich. The Old Lady who are a resurgent force in the Champions League will first travel to the Allienz Arena before hosting the four-time winners. Juventus are unbeaten in this season’s Champions League. They overcame Celtic comfortably in the second round 5-0 on aggregate and will be hoping to progress further in the competition. Bayern on the other hand beat Arsenal on the away goals [...]
Juventus take on Bologna on Saturday, learn who their opponent in the Champions League on Friday, and are always a discussion in the media. Here are five things to expect from Juventus on the weekend. Conte to field a near best XI With no midweek action, Antonio Conte will most likely start the best eleven players Claudio Marchisio, Arturo Vidal, and Andrea Pirlo will start in the midfielder with Andrea Barzagli, Leonardo Bonucci, and Giorgio Chiellini in the back, and Kwadwo [...]
Italy won their third straight match Tuesday night as they dispatched Denmark 3-1 in a sparsely filled San Siro. Manchester City striker Mario Balotelli proved to be the decisive figure yet again for the Azzurri, assisting on the first goal and scoring one himself to seal the three points for Cesare Prandelli’s men. Prandelli deployed the same formation that he used last Friday against Armenia, eschewing the 3-5-2 in favor of his tried and true 4-3-1-2 but not without a [...]
Saturday’s Italian Super Cup match between Juventus and Napoli saw the Bianconeri emerge as 4-2 winners in a hotly contested match. The most significant absence for the Serie A champions was manager Antonio Conte, who is currently serving a 10-month touchline ban for failing to notify authorities of purported match-fixing; Giorgio Chiellini was also missing in action with Lucio replacing the Italian international in a three-man defense alongside Leo Bonucci and Andrea Barzagli. New signing Kwadwo Asamoah played in an [...]
Before the start of the European Championships this summer, many in Italy were feeling pessemistic about the Azzurri’s chances, not only with regards to the knockout stages, but towards getting out of the group itself, needing to navigate through the likes of a seemingly invincible Spain, a Croatia team that has always given Italy fits, and an Ireland side managed by the wily Giovanni Trappatoni. Between the difficult group, the exploding match-fixing scandal at home, and the departure of Cesare [...]
When Juventus are strong so too are the Italian national team, as the old calcio legend goes. And when reviewing past tournaments it is hard to argue with that. Juventus have provided the most World Cup winners of any club, with 22 of the 24 champions Italian. In 1934, amidst the golden Quinquennio era, Juve has nine players in the squad as Italy defeated Czechoslovakia in the final. When Italy finished fourth in Argentina 1978, Juve contributed up to nine [...]
Alessandro Diamanti stepped forward to take the final penalty kick which would secure Italy’s semi-final berth and end England’s dreams. It had taken over 120 minutes to separate Italy and England and it came down to the lottery of a penalty shoot-out. After Diamanti had successfully converted the winning kick, England knew that history had repeated itself. It was to be another tale of tragedy for the English, but Italy could look forward to facing old foes Germany in the [...]
Italy were pegged back for the second consecutive match as they drew 1-1 with Croatia in their Euro 2012 Group C encounter in Poznan. A vibrant Italy took command of the opening 45 minutes and were rewarded when Andrea Pirlo curled in a free kick, only for Mario Mandzukic to equalise with 20 minutes remaining. The result leaves Italy in a must-win situation against the Republic of Ireland. Italy started brightly, with Mario Balotelli and Claudio Marchisio each having chances [...]
Admittedly this is a late preview, but with all the tumult going on both inside the Azzurri camp and in Italian football as a whole, now is a good time to look at how Italy may fair at Euro 2012, what to expect and how Prandelli’s men compare to their group competitors. First up is the injury problems Italy is facing, particularly in defense. Giorgio Chiellini is just coming off an injury suffered in Juventus’ last home game of the [...]
