The most eagerly awaited of moments is almost upon us. The Champions League qualifiers’ third round first leg game against Artmedia isn't just the crucial moment in Juventus' summer; it is also the objective everybody has been anticipating for over two years, i.e. since Juventus played their last (official) international game in their history.
The “exile” is over now and the Bianconeri will finally get a taste of Europe again; and not just the taste of a friendly (even if it was rather sparkling in games such as the recent ones against Arsenal and Manchester United), but a real official game. On Wednesday evening, at 8.45 pm (live TV coverage on Rai Uno, shown as live on Juventus Channel at midnight), Ranieri's team will take their first chance to get back in with the big ones.
On the eve of a match, the best way to assess it is to look at the team's Manager, and Ranieri looked super-focused when he met the Italian and Slovakian press today:
"We're ready – this was the most eagerly awaited of his rallying cries –, the lads are determined in the right way. For many of them, this match is the crowning achievement of two years of sacrifices and nobody wants to waste this chance to get back into the Champions League, even though we have the utmost respect for our opponents".
Tomorrow’s opponents at the Olimpico have never played against Juve, and indeed have only met one Italian team in their history, Inter Milan two years ago. Claudio Ranieri doesn't seem to fear the surprise effect and studied Artmedia thoroughly to avoid this trap too.
"We have a lot of respect for this team. They've already scored 10 goals in the qualifiers and they did really well in the competition two years ago, when they destroyed Celtic 5-0 and won away at FC Porto 3-2. Plus you don't win League titles and National cups just by chance. I watched a few games played by the Slovakians and I think they have four or five very interesting players".
The pitch will finally put an end to this long wait, but the Manager is sure of one thing he emphasized today, in order to reject the idea some people have, i.e. that these two matches are just a formality.
"We have two games to play; the biggest mistake would be to consider ourselves already in the Champions League. That's why I don't think there's any result that could make us sure we've made it before the return match in Bratislava".
0 comments:
Post a Comment