MD23: Juventus - Roma 16/2/08 (19.30 UK

[hijjawi1]

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Juventus (3rd place, 44 points) v Roma (2nd place, 48 points)
Saturday, 16th February 2008, kick-off 20:30
Stadio Olimpico, Turin



:: Goals ::

1-0 Del Piero (Min 45)
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:: Extras ::

Nedved Shoot Hits De Rossi in The Face (Min 6)
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Del Piero FreeKick (Min 20)
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Del Piero Header (Min 29)
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Iaquinta Volley (Min 39)
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Mexès Header (Min 60)
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De Rossi Free Kick (Min 76)
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[Jager]

Really, Roma didn't do much at all to be honest. Full credit to Juve, and in particular, Alex Del Piero who took this game by horns with his play.

[dukeofdavinci]

wow ....im just glad that not ALL of our azzurri players are not from roma if this is how they play.we were shit, no where near like a team that belongs in a serie a'.


after almost more then 3 decades of being a fan i never seen such a roma side that played so obnoxiously, above their freaking snob noses .well done to juve they got the break and kept it.i mean what the hell we were doing???we played like we dont even want to touch the freaking ball.all half assed play.juve showed more determination even when their pinned down.

if this is how we gonna play in mid week i say iss good bye to cl and even top 4 finish this season.

im gutted, we really need to kick some sense in to our players and i mean ALL of them.

[Jager]

They will play much better against Real Madrid, trust me. I think today's performance was the result of having to play Real.

This is Roma's toughest part of the schedule, and they are not getting any breaks.

With Fiorentina and Inter coming up.

Totti is not on his game, and this has been a criticism of mine in regards to Roma for a very long time.

They rely too much on him, and when he plays like shit, they really don't bring him off.

Sometimes I wonder if they don't start him, they can bring him on mid game??

[dukeofdavinci]

Totti is not on his game, and this has been a criticism of mine in regards to Roma for a very long time.

They rely too much on him, and when he plays like shit, they really don't bring him off.

exactly, we do depend on him too freakin much and its time move on and focus on the team instead of a single player no matter how big of hero he is.seriously back then in the 80s' we had alot of great players, bruno and all, and we didnt depend on any single of them instead we worked as a whole team.

well i hope this sends a big fukin message to our patrons that they cant run a club on the cheap and hope they will win big trophies at least a moderate amount of investment is needed.

we really need another class striker instead the lazy buffons we have now and some more addition in some other areas.

[azzurri]

The 1st time (minus last week) that we have a fully fit lineup, and we show up (at least for part of the match).

1st half, I was surprised. I didn't expect us to play that well. We came out strong, and didn't let Roma control the midfield, which if bullied, doesn't function as well. Juve are probably 1 of the biggest bullies in serie a. They currently lack the technique of Milan, Inter, Roma, Viola, etc, but they battle their way to results. Iaquinta challenges for every 50/50 ball, Nedved and Camo arent afraid to put a foot in, Zanetti is 3rd in the league for yellow cards (Nocerino is 2nd), and Chiellini is a hack.

2nd half, Ranieri made 2 very risky tactical decisions (although Sissoko played very well). I hope Camo isn't injured, because I cant imagine any other reason y Ranieri took him off at HT. Our midfield play's so much better when he is on the pitch, which has been proven time and time again this season. Even though we now had another destroyer on the field (Nocerino), it was at the expense of our posession, since we couldn't string together as many passes, which in turn let Roma attack at us more frequently. Not to mention Nocerino only plays well in the middle, not on the right, but his role was the same nonetheless.

Roma took the game to Juve for the 1st 20 min of the 2nd half, and thats because Ranieri let them. When Sissoko came on for Trezeguet I was screaming. U never, ever, take Trezegol off. All he need's is 1 chance, plus it eliminated any chance of a 2nd goal. Although Sissoko did a good job. He intercepted alot of balls, and got called for some pretty weak fouls (which went both ways, although Del Piero was constanly being body checked off the ball, even if a few were dives).

Anyways, huge win, but Ranieri's tactical decision to hold onto a 1 goal lead vs serie a's most attacking side was a risky one.

Totti was horrible btw. He looked out of shape, and against a physical backline like Juve's, he was never going to do anything. Is Vucinic fit? He should have been brought in.

MOTM, Nedved. Other than his age, Nedved hardly plays like a 35 year old. He has such a fantastic work ethic.

Del Piero with another crucial free kick goal. I dont y ppl consider Pirlo the best Italian free kick taker. He doesn't score nearly as many free kicks as Del Piero.

[Jager]

Del Piero with another crucial free kick goal. I dont y ppl consider Pirlo the best Italian free kick taker. He doesn't score nearly as many free kicks as Del Piero.

I consider Pirlo the best, because Pirlo can nail direct ones, and he can put spin on the ball, or keep it low or high. But the really reason for me is because he also incredible on indirect attempts. He can lay some really nice crosses, with pinpoint accuracy.

This is no slight towards Del Piero who for me seems to save his best games for the big games in Serie A, and that is exactly what you want your star to do.

[LAF]

Amazing performance.

Ale's free kick was explosive, he usually places them with lots of curl but he leathered that.

Nedved was great.

I fancy us over taking Roma, if we can keep our squad fit. Roma are starting to crumble as they have a habit of doing.

[D-Kin]

This was a big, big win.

I don't know why but we seem to turn it on for the big teams this season.

And now we have a great opportunity to overtake Roma and take second spot.

[D-Kin]

Serie A Week 23 - 16/2/08 (19.30 UK)
Juventus 1 - 0 Roma
Del Piero 45 (J)
Stadio Olimpico

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A cracking Alex Del Piero free kick allowed Juventus to defeat Roma in the battle for second place, although the Giallorossi hit the woodwork.

Francesco Totti admitted this fixture was to some even bigger than the derby and one cannot describe the rivalry between these clubs. The fact it was a six-pointer for second place just added spice. Juan, Jorge Andrade and Marco Marchionni were injured, but Luciano Spalletti had to consider squad rotation ahead of next week's Champions League clash with Real Madrid.

Roma's record in Turin has been abysmal with just seven victories, 20 draws and 46 defeats. Their last win was in September 2001, followed by two points from four visits.

Juve fielded a trident attack and had a very aggressive start, but when a corner fell kindly for Jonathan Zebina he hesitated and allowed the defence to charge him down.

Gianluigi Buffon parried a dangerous Max Tonetto cross-shot at the near post, but Roma almost scored a curious goal. Amantino Mancini's snapshot ricocheted off Francesco Totti's shin and threatened to catch out Buffon, so Giorgio Chiellini cleared practically off the line.

Iaquinta chipped a cross for Del Piero's free header straight at Alexander Doni. On 38 minutes the Giallorossi threatened with Totti and Mancini combining for Simone Perrotta's effort deflected over.

The best opportunity of the game so far arrived moments later, as Trezeguet flicked the ball into the centre for a fantastic Iaquinta right-foot volley that Doni palmed round the post.

Pavel Nedved went on a blazing run through the centre and Philippe Mexes was fortunate not to receive a second booking for bringing him down on the edge of the box. From the resulting free kick Del Piero broke the deadlock with an absolute screamer. He usually aims to curl them, but in this case the captain smashed a right-foot rocket into the near top corner.

However, less than 20 seconds later Roma were only denied an equaliser by the upright! Nicola Legrottaglie came sliding in to clear from Perrotta, but accidentally fired it on to the woodwork.

Camoranesi has a muscular problem and went off for Antonio Nocerino. The Giallorossi fought back and a Ferrari header was deflected off target before David Pizarro completely mis-kicked on what was a terrible performance from the Chilean.

Zebina went on a marauding run and combined with Iaquinta to blast over, but Mexes' header from a corner kick skimmed the upright.

Ludovic Giuly replaced Taddei and he sprung the offside trap for a brilliant volleyed pass across the face of goal, but it was just too long for Totti to get the decisive tap-in.

Legrottaglie did well to stand his ground and charge down one of Mancini's trademark step-over solo runs.

Momo Sissoko replaced Trezeguet as Juve switched to a 4-4-2 system, but Roma kept pushing and Buffon flew to push a swerving Daniele De Rossi free kick out of the top corner.

Del Piero wanted a penalty when he pounced on a defensive error, but the referee awarded a free kick to Roma because Doni got to the ball first. Del Piero's wayward strike turned into an assist for Iaquinta, who swept it inches past the far post.

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Juventus: Buffon; Zebina, Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Molinaro; Camoranesi (Nocerino 46), Zanetti, Nedved (Palladino 81); Del Piero; Iaquinta, Trezeguet (Sissoko 67)

Roma: Doni; Cassetti, Ferrari, Mexes, Tonetto; Pizarro (Aquilani 73), De Rossi; Taddei (Giuly 60), Perrotta (Esposito 82), Mancini; Totti

Ref: Saccani

channel4.com - Football Italia

[D-Kin]

Spalletti slams sluggish Giallorossi Saturday 16 February, 2008

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Claudio Ranieri hailed captain Alessandro Del Piero, while Luciano Spalletti admitted his Roma side had not done enough.

A powerful Del Piero free kick on the stroke of half-time proved enough to give Juventus the victory in Turin.

“I have lads in great shape, so it makes sense we would be very attacking, as we tried to raise the tempo of the game,” said Ranieri after fielding a trident attack.

“Del Piero is absolutely a golden lad, he works as much and in fact even more than the others in the squad.”

With this result, the Bianconeri close to within a point of Roma in second place, although they remain 12 adrift of leaders Inter.

“In terms of spirit, desire and everyone helping each other out, we played a great game,” added the Juve boss.

These are all elements missing from Roma recently and Spalletti confessed his team deserved defeat tonight.

“In the first half we didn’t do enough. We were too rusty in interpreting situations and creating play. We went better after the break, but clearly still less than we could have done.”

There were a surprising number of mistakes in midfield with David Pizarro particularly disappointing.

“We were slow in making our choices and couldn’t see where there was space and where it was densely populated,” continued Spalletti.

“We cannot allow this kind of an advantage to talented players like those at Juve. Maybe the players were a little distracted because they looked at the calendar and know they have only one chance in the Champions League, whereas in Serie A there is time to recover.”

It was hardly the best way to lead in to next week’s clash with Real Madrid, although the Spaniards also lost this evening 2-1 at Betis Seville.

“I am not celebrating their defeat, especially as they conceded both goals in the air and we are better playing ball to feet. The tactic we use will depend on the approach Real take.”

channel4.com - Football Italia

[D-Kin]

Del Piero expected Juve win Sunday 17 February, 2008

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Alessandro Del Piero insists he was not surprised that Juventus defeated Roma and moved to within a point of second place.

“We were convinced that we would put in a great performance and that proved to be the case,” smiled the captain.

He scored the only goal of the game in Turin with a powerful free kick, a result that takes the Bianconeri right into the thick of the fight for a second automatic Champions League spot.

Coach Claudio Ranieri had said throughout the campaign that his team lacked the quality of the other big sides, but so far they are undefeated against the other giants.

“It is not true that we don’t have quality in midfield. It is true that we have played worse games than this, but over the course of a season it can happen to have highs and lows,” continued Del Piero.

“The important thing is to always pick up points, even when you aren’t performing at your best.

“Our match against Roma was excellent not only in terms of our football, but also our temperament.”

channel4.com - Football Italia

[D-Kin]

Taddei: We're in trouble Sunday 17 February, 2008

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Roma stars Philippe Mexes and Rodrigo Taddei admit they need a Plan B after opponents unlocked the key to their tactics.

“I am truly upset, we are playing very badly. I have to shake myself up too, because I cannot continue like this,” said a furious Mexes after last night’s 1-0 defeat to Juventus.

The Giallorossi are now 11 points off leaders Inter and just one in front of the Bianconeri, but there is a wider problem to be dealt with.

This season it has become evident that when Roma do not play to their full potential, they find it almost impossible to grind out results in the same way as the other big sides.

“It is a time in which things are going badly for me, but perhaps the whole team is not performing up to its usual standards,” added Taddei.

“In attack, especially, we have got to do something more, as our opponents know us by now.

“Francesco Totti, Amantino Mancini and myself cannot keep playing like this. We have to improve our performances if we want to win again.”

Morale is at an all-time low ahead of the Champions League crunch match with Real Madrid.

channel4.com - Football Italia

[azzurri]

Camo might have another muscular problem. That's y he was sub'd at HT. Roma have a tough few weeks ahead and we can overtake them if they drop points. With Camo in the lineup, our chances our much better.


I liked our formation last night. It worked really well. Hopefully Ranieri uses it more.

Iaquinta Trezeguet
Del Piero
Nedved Zanetti Camo