Ranieri: «We want the semi-final»

Ranieri: «We want the semi-final»

With the championship put aside for a while it is once again time for the Coppa Italia. On Wednesday night, Juventus will once again be playing a knock-out match. This time the opponents are Napoli and the bianconeri will be seeking to win a place in the semi-final against Lazio.

After having eliminated Catania on the 14th of January it is once again the Olimpico that is to be the stage of the match of Ranieri’s team. Another for the coach who had this to say: «For us the Coppa Italia is very important just like the other competitions. At the beginning of the season we said that it was our intention to advance on all fronts and then make the bills at the end. We know that we will be meeting Napoli ho will want to make it to the semi-final. We are counting on doing well and will try to win in all ways».

The competition is different but the uninterrupted series of matches proceeds. After the mid-week championship tie a week ago here comes another match, another test for the whole squad. Mr Ranieri will not be able to count on Chiellini and Zanetti but neither on Buffon and Marchisio (the goalkeeper is suffering from a fever, the midfielder to be rested) and not even Tiago who is also feverish. The options in midfield are diminished: «Poulsen who is recovering will play. Even Camoranesi is better. He does not have any problems with his calf and only needs to play to strengthen his legs. This goes also for those who are recvovering from Trezeguet to Zebina».

The match against Napoli comes after a not so positive week. The defeats against Udinese and Cagliari have slowed down the run to the championship title but will not prejudice the rest of the season. Ranieri concluded: «The match against Napoli is important irrespective of the moment we are going through. The two defeats were different from one another. In Udine we weren’t ourselves while against Cagliari we played an excellent match but lost. We were too careless when we were winning. We continued attacking in search of the 3-1 and were punished for our want to close the game».

*juventus.com