Ranieri believes in Juve Scudetto

Ranieri believes in Juve Scudetto


Claudio Ranieri believes Juventus are in the Scudetto race, although he bows down to Inter. “They are superior.”

The Bianconeri could become the first side in Serie A history to win the title straight after promotion and held the leaders to a 1-1 draw in Turin.

“Inter are superior to us, we are not arguing with that. We want to compete for the title, though,” smiled the Coach.

“We have pride and now Mauro Camoranesi is back, so you can see that when he is on the field there is music and a new harmony.

“The important thing is to be up there, as we have said from the start that we want to be the pain in the backside of Serie A this season. I think many fans around Italy supported us tonight.”

Juve are in the top four and fought back from Julio Cruz’s opener just before half-time.

“The offside trap is a tactic we do well and of course we should have done better on Cruz’s goal, but it is a very difficult system and we’ll study the situation to improve.”

Camoranesi came off the bench to snatch a late equaliser and Ranieri explained why he could not risk him for 90 minutes.

“The last time I tried Camoranesi from the start he tore a muscle and was out for two months. He’s only played 12 minutes, so I preferred to have him fresh when Inter were tired.”

“I’ve only had Camoranesi for practically one half at Cagliari and he gave us the victory. He is a sublime player.

“Vincenzo Iaquinta in his best period of form got bronchitis and had to stay out, so he is also slowly getting back to full fitness. We are not yet as fluid and well-organised in attack as we are in defence or midfield.”

In the meantime, Raffaele Palladino impressed on the right side of midfield, a change for the Under-21 international Trequartista.

“Let us not forget Palladino is a forward, but he is finding his feet on the flank and I am very satisfied with the way he is adapting to this position,” continued the former Chelsea boss.

“It is tricky to find a fault with Inter, especially with Cristian Chivu at left-back hermetically sealing their defence. They are a humble side and you see when they lose the ball that they all come back to defend and put pressure on the opposition.

“When Alessandro Del Piero got the ball he was always closed down by two or even three defenders, so we weren’t quick enough in releasing it and passing it around.”

There were fears over this notoriously bitter grudge match, especially in the wake of Calciopoli, but Ranieri hailed official Gianluca Rocchi.

“Rocchi was excellent. Incidents will always happen, as will errors from players, Coaches or referees. I have never complained about their mistakes and always accept what happens on the field. A referee is the most difficult job in the world, especially if you are in Italy.”

There was a heart-warming moment when Ranieri and his players convinced the referee not to book Inter goalkeeper Julio Cesar for time-wasting.

“Next to me was Christian Molinaro who was asking for help from the physio, the Inter players saw him but the referee didn’t, so it was only right to explain Julio Cesar was not at fault.”

(channel4)