Having secured qualification for the last 16 courtesy of Wednesday’s 2-1 success over Avellino, Marco Baroni’s Primavera are now readying themselves for this afternoon’s final Group A encounter against A.P.I.A Leichhardt in Grosseto.
The Australian outfit, who have yet to progress from the group stages in their 11 tournament appearances to date, approach the fixture following an opening day draw with Avellino (2-2) and a crushing 5-0 defeat at the hands of Maribor.
This afternoon’s meeting sees the Bianconeri and A.P.I.A. lock horns for the second time in just over a year. On 8 February 2012, Baroni’s side emerged victorious from their second group game thanks to Alberto Libertazzi’s solitary strike. The encounter will also be remembered for Giuseppe Ruggiero sustaining an injury which forced him to miss the remainder of the tournament.
The two sides again crossed paths in 2005, with the Bianconeri’s 5-0 success representing one of the seven victories which would eventually lift them to their third consecutive and fifth overall Viareggio triumph.
Delving further into the archives, this time back to 1996, we can find another previous encounter between Juventus and an Australian team in the celebrated ‘Coppa Carvivale’. Featuring the likes of Corrado Grabbi and Tomasso Rocchi, the reigning champions got their campaign off to a sensational start courtesy of a 6-0 win over Marconi.
Overall, Juventus and A.P.I.A. have experienced differing fortunes in the Viareggio Cup. While the Bianconeri have dominated over the last decade with six tournament victories, the Australian side command an overall record of three wins, two draws and 27 defeats from their 32 games played to date.
Despite already being assured of a place in the knockout stages, Baroni will take heart from the Bianconeri’s winning form on today’s date, 15 February. In 2010, Ciro Immobile’s hat-trick and a goal from Yago sealed the team’s seventh Viareggio crown in the final against Empoli. Further back in time, Juventus also enjoyed wins over Hopei (1979), Valencia (1971) and Augsburg (1966).
Source: Juventus.com
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