The international tour that will take Juventus up to the Champions League preliminary round began in the best possible way in Denmark tonight. Ranieri's men beat Brondby 2-1 thanks to Amauri and Iaquinta, both scoring in the first half. The hosts scored with Farnerud, on penalty, and also hit the woodwork twice.
The Bianconeri's Manager had the chance to note some positive things apart from the win. Buffon (who was later replaced by comeback boy Chimenti), Chiellini and Sissoko played their first game this season. The younger players did well, especially Fausto Rossi.
Ranieri didn't risk all the players who've just recently returned from holiday at the kick off, starting only with Buffon, also the Captain tonight in goal; in front of Super Gigi, he placed a defence with Zebina, Legrottaglie, Mellberg and Molinaro; Salihamidzic, Zanetti, Ekdal and Nedved were in midfield; Iaquinta and Amauri up front.
The two strikers had the chance to show their skills again after their good performance against Mezzocorona. Brondby were much stronger than the Trentino team, but the two men played well together. They passed to each other a lot and they struck gold. After a couple of head chances, it was Amauri who scored first with a perfect header. His team mate “replied” just seconds later after a personal run. The score was 2-0 at the break.
In the second half, Grygera, Trezeguet and young player Fausto Rossi all came on, replacing the two goal-scorers and Zebina. The Frenchman played alone up front, aided by Nedved, Salihamidzic and the Youth Team lad, who immediately showed his worth with a silky run inside the penalty area. But the hosts went closer to scoring when a Katongo header hit the crossbar. Moments later, Farnerud converted a penalty to make it 2-1.
The Danes tried taking advantage of their superior level of fitness and went close to equalizing, but Buffon was saved by the woodwork once again as Williams hit the post. It was the last thrill of the match for the great keeper, who left his place to his friend Chimenti, making his seasonal debut. Chiellini also replaced Legrottaglie and Esposito, Nedved.
Juve then scored the third, but Trezeguet's goal was wrongly disallowed for offside. Before the end Ranieri also put on Sissoko and Ariaudo, in place of Ekdal and Mellberg. These were the last notes of the match as the score remained the same until the end: a 2-1 win, more useful to boost morale than for the history books, but a good appetizer in view of the next friendlies (the Borussia Dortmund game is already Saturday) and, most of all, the preliminaries.
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