Ranieri Relishes Parma Return
As Claudio Ranieri's Juventus welcome Parma for Wednesday's Coppa Italia Third Round clash, the veteran coach is looking forward to reuniting with the club that he left earlier this year...
He may only have spent five months at the Ducali, but Claudio Ranieri still holds a fondness for Parma.
The ex-Chelsea boss was drafted in to save the Parmesan side from relegation in February of this year, and, taking the reins of Stefano Pioli's squad, duly guided the club to safety with three points to spare.
This caught the attention of Juventus, who promptly drafted him in for their return to Serie A - and Ranieri is ever grateful to Parma for this turn of events.
"Without Parma, I wouldn't be here today," smiled Ranieri.
"The experience gave me so much, and I'm thankful to president Ghirardi and everyone else who gave me the opportunity to retutn to coach in Italy, and also to the city of Parma that welcomed me so well."
However, he's willing to put his fondness aside as he attempts to lead Juve to cup success - even with a weakened squad.
"We do, however, want to win this game, even with the suspension of Camoranesi, Olivera and Zanetti, and the ailments to Del Piero, Nedved and Criscito, whom I wish to preserve for Sunday," he added.
Juve got their Serie A return off to a bang with a 5-1 win over Palermo at the weekend, but Ranieri is refusing to get carried away.
"It was a great result, but so much of it happened in the final minutes; overall, Livorno did not play too badly," he said.
"So we cannot boast too much, but we will say that we've generated a lot of enthusiasm in the last few days, to compensate for the criticisms of pre-season."
The former Valencia coach signed at three year deal with the Old Lady this summer.
Del Piero is injured.
