Match preview from Jay
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13.3.2004
Juve-Milan
Posted by Jay | juventuz.com
Juve vs Milan is this Sunday and will be quite a match, its make or break time for Juves scudetto hopes. Juve don’t have a full squad so Milan will be confident they can beat Juve with ease. However Juve will not go down without a fight and believe they can pull off an upset. Morale is low at Juve but a win tomorrow could change that.
So the premature exit to the champion’s league has left a bad taste in the mouths of juventus fans. The below par performance was bad enough but Juve couldn’t even grab a goal. The loss of Del Piero early on was disappointing and then the goal soon after shook the Juve team. The defence was very poor again but the rest of the team didn’t do their jobs either. The only bright spot of the evening was the introduction of Davide Chiumiento who looked impressive and could play a part in the match tomorrow.
Juve are still plagued with injury problems. Del Piero is out for a month after the injury he suffered midweek and misses the Milan match again. It was first feared that he would be out for 6 weeks but Juve fans were relieved to hear that it was only 4 weeks. Trezeguet is still out and now Miccoli has picked up a knock but is expected to shake it off for tomorrows match. He still won’t be at his best though and will most likely be on the bench. The two full backs Birindelli and Zambrotta are still out and have not been included in the squad to face Milan. Maresca looked set to return but his back is still playing up and he is out. Iuliano is still injured. Tudor is back and will most likely be on the bench.
Milan have a full squad to choose from and have the advantage of six points ahead of Juve so even if they lose this match they still are in pole position to get the scudetto. Milan has been very consistent this season like Juve was last season. Somehow things have changed and everyone is looking for someone to blame. Some have said Lippi will be fired this at the end of the season which is unfair on him as he has done a lot for the club. All teams go through bad patches just look at Manchester utd this season, they seem to be similar to Juve with defensive problems, early champions league exit and lack of consistency.
Seedorf is back from injury for Milan and will most likely start. Kaka will get the nod over Rui costa and too right he should, he has been brilliant since he has arrived at Milan and though still young he is quite a player. Shevchenko will be up for this match as he always plays well against Juve and after scoring two goals midweek Juve will have to be on alert. Milans tough defence will be hard to break down with Maldini and Nesta as the centre backs and even if Juve get past them, Dida will be in goal and they know that Dida is like a rock against Juve.
------------------ Dida -------------------
--- Cafu --- Nesta – Maldini – Kaladze –
--------------------Gattuso---------------
-------Seedorf-----------------Pirlo
--------------------- Kaka -------------------
----------- Inzaghi ---------- Shevchenko ---------
Juve's team will look different up front with Nedved just playing behind Di Vaio. Di Vaio is still not performing at his best and all those offsides (well the ones that actually were offside) against Depor didn’t help. Appiah looks set to play on the left side of midfield which he has been operating from time to time. Camoranesi has been playing well lately and we will be hoping he keeps up the consistency. Tacchinardi has been saying that the title is still in Juves reach and hopefully he isn’t all just mouth. Buffon has been ever so impressive and will need to be on form to stop Kaka and Shevchenko. Hopefully Chiumiento can play some part and impress us all again.
---------------- Buffon --------------------
---Thuram---Ferrara--–Legro---Pessotto---
---Camo---Conte-–-Tacchi–--Appiah---
-------------------------Nedved ----------------
---------------Di Vaio ---------------------
This will be a tough game for Juve but we haven’t given up yet and will be looking to the Delle Alpi crowd to give the Juve lads a boost.
Forza Juve
Jay