Nedved expects impossible mission
Wednesday 29 March, 2006
Pavel Nedved has conceded that Juventus’ chances of overturning Arsenal’s 2-0 first leg lead have been compromised by suspensions.
The Czech ace will return to the starting line-up for next week’s Champions League second leg tie, but the Bianconeri will be shy of three first team regulars.
Patrick Vieira is out after picking up a yellow card at Highbury last night, while Jonathan Zebina and Mauro Camoranesi will watch from the stands after their ludicrous dismissals.
“If we were at full strength for the return game then we might have a chance, but now it will be extremely hard,” the midfielder told a Czech television station.
“To be honest, I am not looking forward to the match given the fact that we will have so many players missing.
“It will be very difficult to make something of it, in fact, maybe it is already over for us this year.”
Juventus, last night, looked a distant relative from the outfit which have dominated the Serie A championship and who are currently eight points clear of nearest rivals Milan.
“We played quite well at the beginning, but everything went wrong after we conceded the first goal,” added the former Golden Ball winner.
“We showed nothing, we were harmless in almost every attack. The result is a very heavy one for us.”
Juventus resumed training on Wednesday afternoon in which boss Fabio Capello spent around 20 minutes talking to the squad about last night’s encounter.