Sabtu, 01 Maret 2008

Preview Match : Juventus vs Fiomerda

Serie A Preview: Juventus - Fiorentina

What: Serie A, Week 25
Who: Juventus - Fiorentina
When: Sunday, March 2, 15:00CET
Where: Stadio Olimpico, Turin

Old Lady Meets Old Rivals

This game is perhaps one of the most fierce in terms of rivalries in the Serie A calendar. Forget about Inter-Juve, Milan-Juve or Juve-Roma. Juventus-Fiorentina is the game any fan should watch for a number of reasons. It’s perhaps one of the most anticipated games in the fixture list for both fans and neutrals and the game on Sunday afternoon promises to live up to all the hype.

Back in 1982 Juventus and Fiorentina were fighting each other for Lo Scudetto, it was a long fought and hard season which went down to the wire. The Viola were in first place by a point, but they drew their last game of the season where as Juventus won their match in injury time and thus claimed their 20th Scudetto by a solitary point which also earned the club two stars on their shirts.

Since then, Fiorentina have hated the Bianconeri more than any other club and things got even worse when the Old Lady lured a young Roberto Baggio away from the Artemio Franchi and towards the Delle Alpi in 1990. Several years ago the Juventus team bus was smashed to pieces by Viola Ultras whilst the players were on it making their way into the ground. So it’s obvious that the game on Sunday will have a fiery element to it. But it won’t be the rivalries which will keep the fans on their toes, this game could also be a potential decider for the last remaining Champions League place.

Juventus have been slipping up recently, losing to relegation struggler’s Reggina and drawing with Torino midweek. The Bianconeri have been blowing hot and cold. Whilst they have matched the “Big” teams around them in the league, they have not been able to gain a regular winning formula against the teams lower down in the table. This could be a good thing though given the fact that they will be playing a very decent Fiorentina side who, perhaps, are just as good as the Bianconeri.

Claudio Ranieri’s men are only too aware that they need to start racking up points and there would be no better place to start than at home against their bitter rivals from Florence.

Purple Hearts Would Love The Champions League

Florence, as many will know, is a beautiful city, perhaps the richest in terms of Italy’s fine art and culture. The historic town was at the heart of the Italian Renaissance, Michaelangelo, Da Vinci and Botticelli all spring to mind. However on Sunday, the name Fiorentina and Cesare Prandelli will be the topics that so many will talk about as both club and coach will be designing a cunning plan to go to Turin and play some artistic football in order to paint a shadow over Juve’s season and try to make their Champions League place a little more secure.

There is nothing more that the Viola fans would want than a place in Europe’s greatest club competition. In recent seasons Fiorentina have just missed out on playing in the Champions League but this term they have displayed all the signs which suggest that Prandelli’s men are a good wager for some top European calcio next season.

The Gigliati are currently in fourth place and only two points behind their bitter rivals. A win over Juve will all but guarantee their place amongst the Calcio hierarchy. Many will argue that the Viola deserve to be up with the upper echelons of football. Look at the club’s emblem for example, the fleur-de-lys, a symbol of royalty and richness. This is the Viola’s chance to prove that they to can be kings of the Italian game.

Fiorentina have only lost twice away from home all season and thus they will be going to the Olimpico in confident mood. It will not be easy against a Juve side looking to bounce back from some poor results but if anyone can go to the home of the Bianconeri and get three points it will be the Viola. Adrian Mutu will be out from this game through injury, how he would have loved to put one over his former side. However, Prandelli will be hoping former Bianconero Christian Vieri can fire his side to glory.

Form Guide

Juventus

26/02 (Serie A): Juventus - Torino 0-0

23/02 (Serie A): Reggina - Juventus 2-1

16/02 (Serie A): Juventus - Roma 1-0

10/02 (Serie A): Udinese - Juventus 1-2

03/02 (Serie A): Juventus - Cagliari 1-1

Fiorentina

27/02 (Serie A): Fiorentina - Livorno 1-0

24/02 (Serie A): Roma - Fiorentina 1-0

21/02 (UEFA Cup): Fiorentina - Rosenborg 2-1

17/02 (Serie A): Fiorentina - Catania 2-1

14/02 (UEFA Cup): Rosenborg - Fiorentina 0-1

Team News

Juventus: Ranieri will be without Cristiano Zanetti, Pavel Nedved and Giorgio Chiellini who are all out through suspension. Jorge Andrade is still out with injury but David Trezeguet returns after recovering from flu. Guglielmo Stendardo is likely to start in defence.

Fiorentina: Andrian Mutu and Franco Semioli are in the treatment room and this gives Vieri the chance to start up front. Apart from that Prandelli has a full squad to choose from.

Players to watch:

David Trezeguet, Juventus: The Frenchman was top scorer until Marco Borriello overtook him in the scorers chart. The Juve striker has a habit of scoring against the Viola and he will be looking to regain his place at the top of the Capocanonieri rankings.

Riccardo Montolivo, Fiorentina: One of the best midfielder’s in Serie A, Montolivo is able to provide the killer pass or the fatal finish and he will be looking to do just that in order to fire his team further up the league.

Prediction: All eyes seem to be pointing to a draw. However Juventus will make life hard for the Viola but Prandelli’s men have enough quality in their side to breach the Bianconeri defence.

Juventus 1-2 Fiorentina (taekkkk..wkwkwkwkwk)

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