Serie A Preview: Milan - Juventus

FerrariTifosi27 · Post by **FerrariTifosi27** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 8:48 pm

Serie A Preview: Milan - Juventus

Who: Milan (9th, 17 points) vs Juventus (2nd, 25 points)
When: 19:30 UK, Saturday December 1
Where: Stadio Giuseppe Meazza

Milan Looking To End Home Hoodoo

Milan come into this game knowing that anything less than a win will effectively rule them out of the Scudetto race.

The Rossoneri have made their worst start to a Serie A season since Silvio Berlusconi took over the club more than two decades ago.

Despite last Sundayâ€™s 2-1 win at Cagliari, Milan remain a whopping 11 points behind league-leaders and city-rivals Inter.

Languishing in a disappointing ninth position, they also trail Saturdayâ€™s opponents Juventus by eight points.

The main factor in this poor start has been Milanâ€™s awful home record. In six league games at San Siro this term, they have yet to win, drawing four, losing two, and scoring just three goals.

This in direct contrast to their away form where they have won four and drawn one from six matches, scoring 17 goals and conceding just five.

The European Champions have received a blow however with the news that Ronaldo has been ruled out of the game after picking up a calf injury before the Champions League game with Benfica in midweek.

Juventus Flying High

Claudio Ranieri's men travel to San Siro brimming with confidence following their magnificent 5-0 thrashing of Palermo last week.

That scoreline proved that Juventus have a quartet of strikers that only Inter can match in Serie A. David Trezeguet has made the best start to a club season in his entire career and is way ahead at the top of the scorers charts with 11 goals in 13 games.

Vincenzo Iaquinta, who like Trez also scored against Palermo, has made a brilliant start to life in Turin following his summer move from Udinese. The 28-year-old has already hit the back of the net six times in just nine appearances.

Alessandro Del Piero came off the bench against the Rosanero and put in a magical cameo performance, scoring twice and creating another. The Golden Boy now has five goals this campaign. Finally Raffaele Palladino is also in excellent form, having recently made his debut for the Italian national team.

The Bianconeri certainly have enough firepower to worry Milan on Saturday, while in midfield, which has been a weak-point at times, Pavel Nedved is looking sharp again.

Juve were expected to struggle this season following their post-Calciopoli promotion from Serie B, however they have surprised everyone to launch themselves into second in the table.

Indeed had it not been for a string of controversial refereeing decisions in the games against Napoli and Parma, they would probably be top of the table now.

An intriguing clash awaits us at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza on Saturday evening.

FORM GUIDE

Milan

Milan 0-1 Roma

Sampdoria 0-5 Milan

Milan 0-0 Torino

Shakhtar 0-3 Milan

Cagliari 1-2 Milan

Benfica 1-1 Milan

Juventus

Napoli 3-1 Juventus

Juventus 3-0 Empoli

Juventus 1-1 Inter

Parma 2-2 Juventus

Juventus 5-0 Palermo

TEAM NEWS

Milan

The Rossoneri are certainly without the injured Ronaldo, Marek Jankulovski and Emerson. Pippo Inzaghi is suffering from tonsillitis but should be fit to return.

Clarence Seedorf picked up an ankle injury during Milanâ€™s Champions League game with Benfica but should pull through.

Milan (probable): Dida; Oddo, Nesta, Maldini, Serginho; Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini, Seedorf; Kaka; Gilardino

Juventus

Juve welcome back Giorgio Chiellini from suspension, however Jean-Alain Boumsong, Jorge Andrade and Zdenek Grygera are sidelined through injury.

Mauro Camoranesi is struggling with severe muscle fatigue but the Bianconeri doctors will do all they can to get him fit.

The big selection conundrum for Coach Claudio Ranieri is up-front as all four strikers, David Trezeguet, Alessandro Del Piero, Vincenzo Iaquinta and Raffale Palladino are in red-hot form. The Tinkermanâ€™s choice could hinge on whether he opts for a 4-4-2 or 4-3-3 system.

Juventus (probable): Buffon; Zebina, Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Molinaro; Camoranesi, Nocerino, Zanetti, Nedved; Trezeguet, Iaquinta

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Kaka (Milan)

The Brazilian superstar is set to be crowned as the new European Footballer of the Year on Sunday evening and will want to put on a show against Juventus before he heads out to Paris to collect his prize.

Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus)

The Golden Boy looked fitter and leaner than ever during his magical cameo performance against Cagliari last weekend. The 33-year-old could again be an important trump card from the bench in this one too.

PREDICTION

Milan may have one eye on the upcoming Club World Cup in Japan, which could be good news for Juve. I predict a 2-1 win for the Bianconeri with goals from Nedved and super-sub Del Piero.

Milan 1-2 Juventus

barbarez01 · Post by **barbarez01** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 8:55 pm

milan will win.

Missing Post Count · Post by **Missing Post Count** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 8:56 pm

To quote Kevin Keegan:
Either side can win or it might be a draw

FerrariTifosi27 · Post by **FerrariTifosi27** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 8:58 pm

Would be nice if we win, we have our Champions League match on Tuesday against Celtic before the squad travels to Japan to play in the Club World Cup.

Forza Milan!

Juventino · Post by **Juventino** » Sat Dec 01, 2007 9:48 pm

Juve to win 1-0. Trezeguet goal.

Chiellini to shut Gilardino out of the game, Zanetti to do likewise to Kaka.

# 9 · Post by **# 9** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 8:33 am

thats one thing thats 99% impossible, like noone can shutdown kaka, he always finds a way.

milan to win 1-0, pirlo to score a cracker again

FerrariTifosi27 · Post by **FerrariTifosi27** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 8:51 am

Milan 0-0 Juventus fulltime score plenty of chances for both sides just couldn't find a way.

BAGGIO 15 · Post by **BAGGIO 15** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 10:17 am

Not a bad game although the ref gave Kaka way to many free kicks.

# 9 · Post by **# 9** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 10:19 am

yea hes not a strong/built player, he get toppled sumtimes by bigger guys. thats where the refs sway towards givin him the free kick

Pimpong · Post by **Pimpong** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 10:30 am

13_aliaksandr_hleb wrote:yea hes not a strong/built player, he get toppled sumtimes by bigger guys. thats where the refs sway towards givin him the free kick

I beg to differ. kaka is one of the strongest attacking midfielders in the world. His speed and strength is what enables him to get passed defenders which was why he was so instrumental in last years champions league for Milan

# 9 · Post by **# 9** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 10:34 am

he may have core body strength but its nothin in terms with rio ferdinand, john terry, gerrard, puyol, stam. its his skill, speed and precision that beats defenders, in a strength contest hed lose to 9 outa 10 players

Vaguely · Post by **Vaguely** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 10:44 am

13_aliaksandr_hleb wrote:he may have core body strength but its nothin in terms with rio ferdinand, john terry, gerrard, puyol, stam. its his skill, speed and precision that beats defenders, in a strength contest hed lose to 9 outa 10 players

Of course when you compare him to ferdinand, terry, puyol etc he wouldnt be them but for a player of his speed he is very strong when running with the ball and outmuscling players

Caramelas13 · Post by **Caramelas13** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 11:19 am

BAGGIO 15 wrote:Not a bad game although the ref gave Kaka way to many free kicks.

You still get looked after in Serie A. Gila should have had a penalty in the 2nd half when he was pulled by the shorts which prevented him from connecting with Kaka's cross.

adriano10 · Post by **adriano10** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 11:30 am

HUGE chance for Inter now that they have a 2 point buffer over Juve with 2 games in hand.... Obviously they count for nothing unless we take all points but this is a wonderful position for Inter - they were the big winner with last night's result....

This is where we must be different to the Inter sides of recent years - we must make the most of big opportunities such as this which will benefit the team....

Credit must be given to Juventus, they've come back into SerieA competitively and have taken points from their biggest rivals... it's beoming clear that Juve will be Inter's biggest threat to the Scudetto...

BAGGIO 15 · Post by **BAGGIO 15** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 5:03 pm

Caramelas13 wrote:
BAGGIO 15 wrote:Not a bad game although the ref gave Kaka way to many free kicks.
You still get looked after in Serie A. Gila should have had a penalty in the 2nd half when he was pulled by the shorts which prevented him from connecting with Kaka's cross.

It was a nothing incident, the type you see over and over, plus he would never have got to the ball even if we pushed him towards the ball so keep clutching at straws. How often have you seen a guy get a slight tugg on his shorts and he falls over in a heap? what took his legs out? the wind? looked like he was shot and the replay shows bairly a tugg.

, I wouldn't of even mentioned it if it had happened to us.

Caramelas13 · Post by **Caramelas13** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 6:00 pm

BAGGIO 15 wrote:
Caramelas13 wrote:
BAGGIO 15 wrote:Not a bad game although the ref gave Kaka way to many free kicks.
You still get looked after in Serie A. Gila should have had a penalty in the 2nd half when he was pulled by the shorts which prevented him from connecting with Kaka's cross.
It was a nothing incident, the type you see over and over, plus he would never have got to the ball even if we pushed him towards the ball so keep clutching at straws. How often have you seen a guy get a slight tugg on his shorts and he falls over in a heap? what took his legs out? the wind? looked like he was shot and the replay shows bairly a tugg. , I wouldn't of even mentioned it if it had happened to us.

I must have been watching the wrong game. I didn't think Shorts stretch by themselves. Look at the penalty England got against Croatia??? That was far worse but was given. You'll be amazed how much momentum a player loses if he is being tugged. It was a clear pull and it should have been a penalty. I'm not clutching at straws. All i am saying is i've seen penalties given for FAR worse than that. Would have loved to have seen what the decision would have been if it were at the other end.

BAGGIO 15 · Post by **BAGGIO 15** » Sun Dec 02, 2007 7:25 pm

Caramelas13 wrote:
BAGGIO 15 wrote:
Caramelas13 wrote:
BAGGIO 15 wrote:Not a bad game although the ref gave Kaka way to many free kicks.
You still get looked after in Serie A. Gila should have had a penalty in the 2nd half when he was pulled by the shorts which prevented him from connecting with Kaka's cross.
It was a nothing incident, the type you see over and over, plus he would never have got to the ball even if we pushed him towards the ball so keep clutching at straws. How often have you seen a guy get a slight tugg on his shorts and he falls over in a heap? what took his legs out? the wind? looked like he was shot and the replay shows bairly a tugg. , I wouldn't of even mentioned it if it had happened to us.
I must have been watching the wrong game. I didn't think Shorts stretch by themselves. Look at the penalty England got against Croatia??? That was far worse but was given. You'll be amazed how much momentum a player loses if he is being tugged. It was a clear pull and it should have been a penalty. I'm not clutching at straws. All i am saying is i've seen penalties given for FAR worse than that. Would have loved to have seen what the decision would have been if it were at the other end.

And all I'm saying is there was little in it and I still beleive he wouldn't of got close if there was no contact.
I ask you whats the difference with the contact during corners?

Caramelas13 · Post by **Caramelas13** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 12:08 pm

BAGGIO 15 wrote:
Caramelas13 wrote:
BAGGIO 15 wrote:
Caramelas13 wrote:
BAGGIO 15 wrote:Not a bad game although the ref gave Kaka way to many free kicks.
You still get looked after in Serie A. Gila should have had a penalty in the 2nd half when he was pulled by the shorts which prevented him from connecting with Kaka's cross.
It was a nothing incident, the type you see over and over, plus he would never have got to the ball even if we pushed him towards the ball so keep clutching at straws. How often have you seen a guy get a slight tugg on his shorts and he falls over in a heap? what took his legs out? the wind? looked like he was shot and the replay shows bairly a tugg. , I wouldn't of even mentioned it if it had happened to us.
I must have been watching the wrong game. I didn't think Shorts stretch by themselves. Look at the penalty England got against Croatia??? That was far worse but was given. You'll be amazed how much momentum a player loses if he is being tugged. It was a clear pull and it should have been a penalty. I'm not clutching at straws. All i am saying is i've seen penalties given for FAR worse than that. Would have loved to have seen what the decision would have been if it were at the other end.
And all I'm saying is there was little in it and I still beleive he wouldn't of got close if there was no contact.
I ask you whats the difference with the contact during corners?

The difference is you have a cluster of players in one area jostling around. I agree you could point out about 10 penalties with all the shoving and pulling etc... BUT it is much easier to identify a shirt/short pull when a player gets into a position as Gilardino did. All the focus was on him. In a corner there are a number of battles being contested.

BAGGIO 15 · Post by **BAGGIO 15** » Mon Dec 03, 2007 3:47 pm

It's not hard to pick one infringment and award a penalty as only one foul is required for a penalty and Legre our old mate thought he was at a WWF convention and could of given Milan 3 penalties from corners and similar at the other end, thats why I think it was a very small incident that no milan players other the Gilardino and Ancelloti after the game mentioned the issue, didn't even rate a mention in may match reports.