Ranieri Applauds Juventus Spirit

Ranieri Applauds Juventus Spirit

Ranieri was pleased with their last-gasp win over Catania and insisted that the Bianconeri are in good form, in spite of their lacklustre performances in recent weeks.

Midfielder Christian Poulsen gave Juventus a late victory against Catania at the Stadio Massimino to close the gap on Serie A leaders Inter to seven points.

“Despite being reduced to ten man, we had a good game against a very determined Catania,” Claudio Ranieri said after the match.

Vincenzo Iaquinta opened the scoring with a towering header, but saw red for a second bookable offence just 12 minutes into the encounter.

“The second yellow card was fair, but it’s unacceptable for our players to be booked after scoring a goal. However, Iaquinta has already apologized.”

Juventus have been stuttering of late and were stunned by Cagliari at home last weekend.

“This is not our best moment and we are not doing as well as we did back in November and December,” mused the tactician, “but I think we are in good shape, otherwise you would not be able to play 120 minutes in midweek and then face another battle today.”

Catania could have been awarded a spot-kick during the second half, with the result still poised at 1-1, when Marco Marchionni seemed to handle the ball inside the penalty box.

“The referee could have given that penalty, but his vision was probably blocked by the Catania player,” noted Ranieri.

Captain Alessandro Del Piero and striker David Trezeguet were benched, as Ranieri opted to start with Amauri and Iaquinta up front.

“Trezeguet just came back from injury and played for an hour on Wednesday,” he explained, “while Del Piero was coming off two positive games and with an important series of matches coming up, I feel it’s important to keep everyone on their toes.”

Vince Masiello