Serie A Preview: Juventus - Siena

What: Serie A, Round 17
Who: Juventus (3rd, 32 points) v Siena (17th, 14 points)
When: Sunday, 23rd December 2007, kick-off 15:00 CET
Where: Stadio Olimpico, Turin

Juve Looking To End 2007 In Style

Juventus will be confident of signing off 2007 in style with a victory over relegation-strugglers Siena. The Bianconeri were expected to labour this season following their post-Calciopoli promotion from Serie B but they have surprised everyone with their consistent level of performance.

Indeed had it not been for some scandalous officiating during the games with Napoli and Parma, as well as the stunning form of Inter, Juve may now be finding themselves even closer to the top of the table. Nevertheless the Old Lady are looking strong in third position and are currently odds-on to qualify for next year’s Champions League.

Juve have won three of their last four Serie A matches, including successive wins against Atalanta and Lazio. Last week at the Olimpico saw the return to the starting line-up of Alessandro Del Piero, who scored two fine goals in a 3-2 victory. However the Bianconeri were indebted to Gianluigi Buffon, who pulled off a string of excellent saves, including one miraculous stop from Tommaso Rocchi.

Siena With Dreadful Record Against Juve

Siena have shown signs of improvement in recent weeks and have picked up a win and two draws from their last three games. Nevertheless they still hover just one place above the relegation zone and the odds of them getting a result in this one are not good.

The Tuscans have won just twice all season, and have scored only four times away from home in seven games. In eight previous meetings between these two teams, Juventus have won all eight. This includes three Serie A matches in Turin, three in Siena, and two Coppa Italia games.

The last time these two squads met in Italy’s top-flight was on April 30, 2006 when Juve roared to a 3-0 win at the Stadio Franchi. The Old Lady scored all three goals within the first eight minutes of the match, with Patrick Vieira, David Trezeguet and Adrian Mutu on target.

FORM GUIDE

Juventus

December 15 v Lazio (A) WON 3-2
December 9 v Atalanta (H) WON 1-0
December 6 v Empoli (A) LOST 1-2 (Coppa Italia)
December 1 v Milan (A) DREW 0-0
November 25 v Palermo (H) WON 5-0

Siena
December 16 v Napoli (H) DREW 1-1
December 9 v Genoa (A) WON 3-1
December 2 v Lazio (H) DREW 1-1
November 25 v Udinese (A) LOST 2-0
November 11 v Livorno (H) LOST 3-2

TEAM NEWS

Juventus
Vincenzo Iaquinta may return from his injury but he will have to make-do with a place on the bench. Mauro Camoranesi is still out injured, as are long-term absentees Jean-Alain Boumsong and Jorge Andrade.

Juventus (probable): Buffon; Zebina, Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Molinaro; Salihamidzic, Nocerino, Zanetti, Nedved; Del Piero, Trezeguet

Siena
Cristian Bucchi may return following an ankle injury, although Alberto and Enrico Chiesa are still sidelined and will remain so for quite some time. The impressive Paolo De Ceglie, seen by some as a star of the future, will line-up against the team who owns his contract.

Siena (probable): Manninger; Bertotto, Portanova, Loria, De Ceglie; Vergassola, Codrea, Galloppa; Locatelli; Frick, Maccarone

PLAYERS TO WATCH

Juventus (Alessandro Del Piero)
The Golden Boy again proved his critics wrong last week with two clinical finishes against Lazio. The 33-year-old has a great scoring record against Siena having contributed to five of Juve’s nine goals against them in Turin in the past.

Mario Frick (Siena)
The Swiss forward is in fine recent form, having scored three times in his last two games. The ex-Verona man will need to have his shooting boots on though if he is to continue this trend against the world’s number one shot-stopper Gianluigi Buffon.

PREDICTION
Juve are in brilliant form at the moment and Siena require a minor-miracle if they are to return to Tuscany with anything other than a severe beating. ......... Juventus 4-0 Siena

www.goal.com - 22/12/2007 07:46

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Squad Named For Siena Game

After supervising the last pre-match training session, Claudio Ranieri named a 21-man squad for Juventus' Sunday afternoon game against Siena (kick off at 3 pm). The match is valid for Serie A’s 17th round and will be the last League match played in 2007.

Only Camoranesi and Andrade are unavailable, due to injury. All the other players in the squad are available.

1 Buffon
2 Birindelli
3 Chiellini
4 Almiron
5 Zebina
6 Zanetti
7 Salihamidzic
9 Iaquinta
10 Del Piero
11 Nedved
12 Belardi
17 Trezeguet
18 Boumsong
19 Criscito
20 Palladino
21 Grygera
23 Nocerino
28 Molinaro
30 Tiago
32 Marchionni
33 Legrottaglie

www.juventus.com - 22 December 2007

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Juventus' 2008 To Start Early

2008 will start... early for Juventus. The Football League has officially released the dates of the first matched to be played in the New Year and the calendar for the Italian Cup third round return matches. And Juventus will have a starring role from the start.

The away game at Catania, valid for the 18th day of Serie A, the penultimate round before the return games begin, will be played on the 12th of January at 8.30 pm. Then there'll be a “regular” round, the last before the return matches, playing against Sampdoria, on Sunday the 20th of January at 3 pm, and then the return matches begin with another evening match. The Livorno game will indeed take place on Sunday the 27th of January at 8.30 pm.

Some changes in the Italian Cup calendar too. After opening the first leg of the third round matches, Juventus and Empoli will open the return leg too. The game at the Olimpico will be played on Tuesday January 15th at 8.45 pm, and shown live on La7.

Summing up, this is Juventus' January programme.

Saturday January 12, at 8.30 pm, Catania-Juventus (Serie A 18th round)
Tuesday January 15 at 8.45 pm, Juventus-Empoli (Italian Cup third round second leg)
Sunday January 20, at 3 pm, Juventus-Sampdoria (Serie A 19th round)
Sunday January 27, at 8.30 pm, Livorno-Juventus (Serie A 1st return round)

www.juventus.com - 22 December 2007

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Ranieri: “We have to finish the year well”

It seems like only yesterday when Claudio Ranieri's Juventus were taking their first steps in Pinzolo and yet it's already time to wrap up the first part of the season. 2007 comes to a close and, despite there being two more matches in January before the return rounds begin, the Manager can already make a first assessment. “I'm pleased but not satisfied; I think we can do more. Just consider how often I've had to do without Camoranesi. Individually, there's space to grow and when the individuals grow, so will the team. Points? We have as many as we deserved. Sometimes we would've deserved more, other times we got more than we fully earned. And that's ok with me. The squad? I'm happy with how they behaved and therefore we won't be signing anyone new in the January transfer market”.

But there's one more match to go, to wrap the year up on a high. Juventus face Siena at the Olimpico and this could be a good chance to continue the recent string of good results in the best possible way. Indeed, after the National teams break in mid-November, the Bianconeri have won three and drawn one (in Milan, with many regrets) and getting three more points tomorrow would be icing on the cake. The men from Tuscany can be beaten, but on one condition, as Ranieri himself explained: “We have to play better than we did in the Lazio game. You can be lucky once, but not twice in a row. I wasn't happy with that performance, but neither were the lads, and this is a good thing. That's why I'm expecting the highest levels of attention, concentration and quality from them”.

On paper, and looking at the previous encounters between the teams, the match against Siena could be the right one to celebrate Christmas in the best possible way. But the Rome-born Manager knows how dangerous a game like this can be: “First of all, some of my players have the flu, and I'll only be able to decide the line-up tomorrow. I've been telling the lads all week that this will be a match like the one against Atalanta. Siena will play defensively, they'll press us and then go on the counter-attack. We'll face a team that has become a tight unit again with Beretta's return. Already last year they'd won several times away from home, that's why we need to be careful and stay concentrated; but having said that, we must win and end the year on a high note”.

www.juventus.com - 22 December 2007

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