Battered Brugge Look for Juve Defeat
Club Brugge KV coach Jan Ceulemans is hoping history repeats itself on Wednesday night when the Belgian title-holders open their UEFA Champions League Group A campaign against Italian counterparts Juventus FC at the Jan Breydel Stadion.
History lesson
In 1978, Club Brugge beat Juventus over two legs to reach the European Champion Clubs' Cup final. While the sides' fortunes have followed divergent paths since then, Ceulemans said his players can take an important lesson from the outcome. "They were great games," he said. "We need to remember that in football a big team can lose to a small team. We have to take that into tomorrow's game and hope we can do it again."
Tough start
It has been a testing start at Club Brugge for Ceulemans, who took over in the summer following Trond Sollied's departure. Captain and star midfielder Timmy Simons left for PSV Eindhoven while Norwegian striker Rune Lange, top scorer last term, was ruled out for up to six months after calf surgery.
Absence list
If anything, the injury problems have worsened, with Ceulemans being forced to use 22 players in five league matches so far. Goalkeeper Tomislav Butina and defender Michael Klukowski are the latest casualties in long list of absentees that includes suspended captain Gert Verheyen.
Balaban boost
Former Belgian international Ceulemans, however, had better news from the club's final training session. "Boško Balaban and Marek Špilár took a full part and should play tomorrow in my favoured 3-4-3 system. I don't think it's risky to line up like that against Juventus as all systems carry risk," the 48-year-old said.
Toe trouble
Croatian striker Balaban is playing through the pain barrier of two broken toes. Attacking support will be provided by Spanish forward Javier Portillo, on loan from Real Madrid CF, and a player Juventus coach Fabio Capello described as "very dangerous, particularly when he gets a sight of goal". The pair have played just one game together, a 2-1 weekend home win against K. Sint-Truidense VV in which Balaban scored twice.
Ceulemans concern
Juventus's attacking duo of David Trezeguet and Zlatan Ibrahimovic impressed Ceulemans as the Bianconeri defeated Empoli FC 4-0 away on Sunday. "They're both very strong strikers and we're going to have to restrict their chances. They're quick and technical and if they get on the ball they can beat their man. But they're all quality players. Every player knows his position and every single one plays for the team."
Capello changes
Capello's squad travelled to Belgium without injured French international defenders Lilian Thuram and Jonathan Zebina, while goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon is a long-term absentee. The coach plans to make changes from the Empoli match, saying: "Federico Balzaretti will replace Gianluca Pessotto in defence and Gianluca Zambrotta will play a slightly different role."
Del Piero mission
Captain Alessandro Del Piero has recovered from injury and hopes to add a second Champions League winner's medal to that earned in 1996. "My morale is fine and I'm over the injury," the 30-year-old said. "I want to make the most of the situation and gain revenge, in a sense, for being knocked out in the quarter-finals last year."
Capello warning
Capello, though, warned his team against complacency. He said: "Brugge are not the biggest name but we'll see what happens. Maybe Brugge don't have big stars but the team as a whole is what counts."
source: uefa.com
Man it is now harder to quote news from UEFA nowadays, next time I would just provide the link.