Monday, December 31, 2007

Juve's Year, Part 4


Juventus.com lets you relive Juve’s year, in four parts. Today the fourth and final part: from October up until today, from the draw in Florence to the win against Siena just before Christmas.

October

The derby win at the end of September could have been followed by another one, equally as prestigious. At Fiorentina, Ranieri's men played one of their best games, dominating over Prandelli's team. Iaquinta opened the scoring and the hosts only equalized in the 90th minute, when they were awarded a penalty, converted by former Juve player Mutu: the final draw result was a bit of an insult for Juventus.

Another break for the National team qualifiers (Juve taking advantage to play a friendly against Young Boys, drawing 1-1, with Olivera scoring) and when the Bianconeri got back on the pitch they weren't going to let themselves be caught off guard again. Gasperini's Genoa were a tough team to face, but Juve won thanks to man of the day Alessandro Del Piero. The Captain scored after renewing his contract and a few hours before the birth of his son Tobias.

There were highs and lows at the end of the month. At Napoli, Del Piero scored again, but then something weird happened. Two dubious penalties were awarded to the home team and Juventus suffered the second defeat of the season. It was somewhat undeserved, but they were able to redeem themselves just a few days later. In the mid-week round, it was up to Trezeguet to make Juventus’ fans smile again: a hat trick against Empoli and Juve were back on track.

November

November was the most eagerly awaited month, at least since the calendar had been released, as the match against Inter Milan was scheduled for the 4th. In front of a passionate Olimpico crowd, the Bianconeri proved equal to the Nerazzurri and didn't let Cruz's opening goal get them down. In the second half, Camoranesi, back from injury, found the equalizer that made all Juve fans happy. One week later, another draw coming from behind. At Parma, Juve went down 2-0 but never gave up. Tiago created the chances, Legrottaglie and Iaquinta scored the goals: it ended 2-2 and the Calabria-born striker also had a goal disallowed in the last minutes of the match, making the team regret not winning the game; it truly would have been an extraordinary feat.

After the final break, with Italy making everyone happy by qualifying for the 2008 European Championships (all the other national teams featuring Bianconeri players qualified too), Juventus restarted by scoring five goals again. Palermo were never in the match and were destroyed by goals from a fired up Del Piero (who got two), Trezeguet, Iaquinta and Marchionni.

December

So we come to the last month of the year. It started with the last classic match in the calendar, the away game at AC Milan. At the Meazza, the Bianconeri would've deserved more than the final 0-0 draw, if only because Trezeguet hit the post in the opening minutes. But Juve were flying and before the Christmas break they would give three early presents to their fans.

First off it was Atalanta who went down at the Olimpico, beaten by a great Nedved goal, on the day of his 300th game in Serie A. Then it was Lazio's turn to lose; Del Piero was on World Cup form on the day and Juventus won away from Turin again at last. The last win of the year came against Siena: 2-0 with goals by “Brazzo” Salihamidzic and Trezeguet, more than ever top scorer in the League.

2007 ends with Juventus flying high in the League's top positions: they're currently third, one point behind Roma and eight behind Inter Milan. And also with great news just before the New Year's Eve celebrations: the birth of Louis Thomas Buffon, perhaps the latest in a generation of future Juventus players. Let's hope that 2008 can give us all plenty of satisfaction still.

Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

EVERY GAME PLAYED, MONTH BY MONTH

OCTOBER

07/10 Serie A – Day 7
Fiorentina-Juventus 1-1
Iaquinta

12/10 Friendly match
Young Boys-Juventus 1-1
Olivera

21/10 Serie A – Day 8
Juventus-Genoa 1-0
Del Piero

27/10 Serie A - Day 9
Napoli-Juventus 3-1
Del Piero

31/10 Serie A - Day 10
Juventus-Empoli 3-0
Trezeguet 3

NOVEMBER

04/11 Serie A - Day 11
Juventus-Inter Milan 1-1
Camoranesi

11/11 Serie A - Day 12
Parma-Juventus 2-2
Legrottaglie, Iaquinta

25/11 Serie A - Day 13
Juventus-Palermo 5-0
Del Piero 2, Trezeguet, Iaquinta, Marchionni

DECEMBER

01/12 Serie A - Day 14
AC Milan-Juventus 0-0

06/12 Italian Cup – 1/8 final, first leg
Empoli-Juventus 2-1
Iaquinta

09/12 Serie A - Day 15
Juventus-Atalanta 1-0
Nedved

16/12 Serie A - Day 16
Lazio-Juventus 2-3
Del Piero 2, Trezeguet

23/12 Serie A - Day 17
Juventus-Siena 2-0
Salihamidzic, Trezeguet


www.juventus.com - 30 December 2007

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