Serie A Preview: Inter-Juventus
11/27/2004 3:06:00 PM
The ‘Derby of Italy’ is back on Sunday night as Inter host arch-rivals Juventus in a do-or-die encounter for the Nerazzurri.
BACKGROUND
Inter-Juventus is never an ordinary match, even when both teams are not fighting for any major honours. This time round, both sides have the Scudetto as main aspiration in their agenda, and a win for either side would give a clearer view of their season.
A win for Inter, which half of Italy hopes will happen, will see the Nerazzurri back in the title race, despite being 15 points behind the Bianconeri at present. A win for the Old Lady would definitely put the word end on Inter’s title hopes who could then concentrate exclusively on the Champions League, while Juventus would reaffirm their claim on the Scudetto race.
A draw would most probably go down better with Capello’s side while Mancini’s team must aim for a win at all costs as Massimo Moratti stated this week that they cannot afford to be so behind. Probably the 15-point divergence is way too high but this gap has been mainly due to the difference between each side’s defensive departments. This will be an interesting theme as Cannavaro will be back at San Siro to prove he was not a finished player as Inter had thought when sending him practically for free to Juve in summer.
One of the main ‘attractions’ in this Derby of Italy is that there isn’t one game which doesn’t have some major referee controversy to spice it up. Everyone remembers the Ronaldo-Iuliano incident and more recently the Buffon and Inter pile-up of two years ago. Whatever the result, there will always be someone complaining for a decision which didn’t go his team’s way.
The Nerazzurri arrive to this game with 6 league draws on the trot, while the Old Lady has won 5 of its last 6 league games. Both teams have so far scored 23 goals but as mentioned before, the main difference is in the defence. The Bianconeri have conceded just 4 goals from 12 matches so far (17 matches if we also consider the Champions League where Buffon’s goal has not been violated so far) while Inter had to pick up the ball from the net 20 times already. Too many times for a team hoping to win the Scudetto, in a league notoriously known for having the team which concedes the fewer number of goals winning the title.
TEAM NEWS
Inter:
Inter will have to do without Juan Sebastian Veron, but will otherwise be at full team in the match that will decide their season. Mancini will go back to the central duo Cordoba-Materazzi in the hope of finding solidity.
Juventus:
The Bianconeri will play without their two main strikers, Del Piero and Trezeguet, but will rely on the working duo of Ibrahimovic and Zalayeta who have done quite well so far this season. Zebina will also back in defence to continue where he left off before his recent injury.
PROBABLE FORMATIONS
Inter (4-4-2):
Toldo - J. Zanetti, Cordoba, Materazzi, Favalli - Stankovic, Cambiasso, Davids, Emre -Adriano, Martins
Juventus (4-4-2):
Buffon - Zebina, Thuram, Cannavaro, Zambrotta - Camoranesi, Emerson, Blasi, Nedved - Ibrahimovic, Zalayeta
PLAYERS TO WATCH
Adriano (Inter)
Basically Inter have to rely on Adriano and no one else. He has been fundamental this season and Inter’s hopes of defeating Juve depend on the Brazilian striker. When he plays, the Nerazzurri always start with a +1 goal advantage because he always scored. This time he will face a tough test when he plays against the least beaten defence in the whole of Europe.
Camoranesi (Juventus)
The Italian-Argentinean winger has been phenomenal so far this season, one of the best Juve players. Unstoppable when dribbling, perfect crosses for the strikers and great creativity have turned him into one of the most important players of the Bianconeri this year. He will be facing Inter, a squad which in the past have tried to snatch him away from Juve
PREDICTION
Inter will be trying to stop their trend of draws but with Juventus more than happy of achieving one point from this match, for the Nerazzurri it looks like this will be their 7th consecutive X.
Inter-Juve 1-1