Sunday, December 28, 2008
Juventus In 2008: 5th Episode
2008 is on its way out. A very positive year for Juventus who returned with the great European teams through the qualification for the Champions League. Juventus.com relives the long voyage by Ranieri’s team in six episodes. Here is the fifth episode: September and October.
SEPTEMBER
September starts off with the break due to international matches. The qualifiers for the 2010 world cup in South Africa begin and Ranieri can only welcome the full team a few days before the match against Udinese. Knowing what happened last season the bianconeri are very concentrated as they meet the team from Friuli. This time Amauri, however, Amauri scores the match-winner and the only goal.
This is the first cause for celebration at the Olimpico but the second is just around the corner. After two and a half years the Champions League is back in Turin. The bianconeri are to meet Zenit, Russian champions and holders of the UEFA Cup as well as recent winners of the European Supercup. A difficult opponent to beat but Del Piero seals the encounter scoring the winner: 1-0, the adventure starts on the right foot.
If the captain has left his mark in Europe, Amauri did so in the championship. A week after having scored against Udinese, the Brazilian striker punishes Cagliari as well. Juventus emerge from the Sant’Elia with a 1-0 victory which is worth very much. After three games, Ranieri’s team is at the head of the table.
But when people begin to talk of a good run, the bianconeri find themselves in a bad moment. Trezeguet is forced to give i to continuous tendon problems and will not return before 2009. In Sardegna Buffon too is halted. Against Catania during a match played in mid-week, even the field contributes to the problems. After the third consecutive goal by Amauri following a great Giovinco cross, the Sicilians equalize thanks to a weird bounce of the ball which fooled Chiellini making the score 1-1.
The next match against Sampdoria also ends in a draw. It is not the spectacular 3-3 of a few months ago but a less interesting 0-0 which saw Del Piero hitting the post during the first half.
And to confirm September is the month of draws, the bianconeri emerge with one point also from the first Euopean away match. In Minsk, on the home field of Byelorussian champions Bate Borisov the match is hard right from the start. Twenty minutes from the start Juventus are already down by two goals and it is only thanks to two marvellous actions by Giovinco and Iaquinta that the bianconero fix the result on 2-2.
OCTOBER
If September was the month of draws October begins with a step backwards. Against Palermo the team loses its unbeatability. At the Olimpico the rosanero manage to win notwithstanding the great goal scored by Del Piero from a free-kick. Sissoko’s sending-off at the end of the first half weighed on the result.
The break is very much needed. However, the news from the national teams is not encouraging at all: Buffon and Camoranesi are out. The goalkeeper will lose the rest of 2008 with two and a half months to go.
When the team returns, notwithstanding the injured players, the team manages to hold on for an hour on the difficult Napoli field and manages to go ahead thanks to yet another Amauri goal following a pass by Poulsen. But when even the Dane is forced to stop, the match changes and the partenopei turn round the result inflicting the second consecutive defeat.
In the most difficult of moments the team manages to re-unite and bring out the best in itself. In Turin the next opponent is Real Madrid. The match is a long-awaited one and Juve are simply tremendous. Del Piero opens the score in a magical way and Amauri scores the second. The end result is that of 2-1, a result which means the top of Group H and the charge needed.
The charge is a strong one and the next victim is Torino in the derby. Amauri dressed as Trezeguet decides the “stracittadina” with a great goal in the second half right under the Scirea end. The Brazilian who is winning points and matches thanks to his goal-scoring attitude is already very much loved by the fans.
Just like Sebastian Giovinco, the young talent seals his long relationship with Juventus, since he was 10 years old, with his signature on the renewal of his contract.
With the team back on track, now it is consistency that is important. The away match to Bologna is the right test. At the Dall’Ara, against a team thirsty for points, it is Pavel Nedved who takes the responsibility on his shoulders winning the match with two personal goals. The chase is on. With the last two months of the year approaching the impression perceived is that the best is yet to come.
Juventus.com
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