Ferrara’s men have had quite some time to rest and refocus during the long international break so I don’t want to hear excuses from the team before or after this one regardless of our Champions League fixture against Bordeaux on Wednesday.  Of which I’m happy to announce, Milan’s trash and Bordeaux’s treasure, Yoann Gourcuff might be unavailable in that one due to a groin problem he picked up against Ireland on international duty.  Fucking Henry.  On a side note, Bordeaux just lost it’s first home game of the season today losing 1-0 against Valenciennes which lets Lyon go level with them on points in Ligue 1.  Both Gourcuff and forward Marouane Chamakh weren’t featured.

Back to Sunday’s game.  On Udinese’s side of the ball, like I was saying earlier, they’ve got a nice stockpile of injuries themselves and a key suspension that will severely hinder their chances of coming away with win in Turin.  Giovanni Pasquale, Alexis Sanchez, Simone Pepe, Christian Obodo, Antonio Floro Flores and Damiano Ferronetti are all out injured.  Last but certainly not least, Antonio Di Natale will be watching this game from the sidelines as the diminutive striker is suspended following his fourth yellow card of the season he picked up for taking his protest against a referee too far in a match versus Fiorentina last week.

Udinese coach Pasquale Marino will obviously miss Toto.  But without forward Floro Flores, who I consider to be very underrated, and Simone Pepe, who’s craftiness on the wings I definitely won’t miss, Marino’s hands are unquestionably tied.  D’Agostino can’t do this all by himself especially when Ciro’s sure to employ either Poulsen, Momo, or Melo to closely mark the Palermo born midfielder.  You want to talk about motivation Gaetano?  Well Ferrara won’t have any problem getting Felipe up for this one either.  The battle of Juventus’ transfer targets last year should be good to watch.

On our side of the ball, the injuries aren’t as grim.  While Iaquinta is still unavailable until the beginning of December, Trezeguet will be out for month after an MRI confirmed a problem in his left calf muscle that he picked up in practice Thursday.  T-Rez however will be given a prize for his goals record he achieved vs. Atalanta before Sunday’s kick-off.  Salihams is still injured for God knows how long and Alessio’s favorite defender Jonathan Zebina is out because of a fractured perm.  Also, neither Marchisio or Tiago will be featured here but Wednesday’s CL game might be a different story.

The biggest news concerning our infirmary however is our captain’s return from injury.  Alessandro Del Piero’s season can finally begin.  With close to 15 days of uninterrupted training with the first team, Alex The Great is ready to impress once again.  Here are some pre-match comments about Del Piero made by coach Ciro:

“Del Piero is a second striker who likes to meet the game and start off from outside, to then go to the centre. He prefers a specific pitch area, remaining anyway a striker. I won’t clearly say how we will play tomorrow, but if we’ll go on with the same module of the last matches, being a left external among playmakers is a position that Alessandro can well cover, of course with different characteristics”.

“But we cannot expect he can cover the complete band, and therefore we’ll find a right balance. But like we played in the last matches anyway, I don’t think that Giovinco has such defensive characteristics. Alessandro Diego and Camoranesi can surely play together”.

“Having Del Piero at our disposal is a great advantage, for the strength he passes on to the group and for what he can do on the pitch. We missed him in this period, but [those] who played for him behaved well”.

I can see two possibilities for tomorrow’s line-up: 1) Ciro goes for the 4-2-3-1 and employs Del Piero to the left of Diego right from the start with Amauri as the lone striker, or 2) Ciro goes for the 4-2-3-1 and Alex starts on the bench with Seba given the nod.  As you can see, I’m totally not giving the 4-3-1-2 a chance.  With Trezeguet and Iaquinta both out, Ferrara will most likely not start the only two strikers he has at his disposal at once (here Immobile might an interesting option).  The second possibility, where Giovinco starts, seems to make more sense as it provides Ferrara with more room to manoeuvre Del Piero and place him where he’s needed the most throughout the game.  Of course I could be totally wrong on this.  As long as we win though I’m sure I’ll survive.

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

Gigi out for a ride with Louis Thomas Buffon and his girlfriend, Alena Seredova

The Iaquinta family. His sons facial expressions are pretty priceless.

Early 2000s Nedved family portait

If you look on the left, Camo’s son is definitely copping a feel on his mom

I imagine one of these kids was born in Argentina or Mexico, and the other maybe in Italy. Talk about an identity crisis, being Italo-Argentine-Mexican.

ADP playing with young Tobias Del Piero. Below, a treat for all the female Juve fans (Kasia)

The Cannavaro family

Brazzo and his Spanish wife, Esther. His son looks straight from “A Christmas Story.”

Marchisio and his wife, Roberta. She is a Toro fan, her dad played in the Torino Primavera and then had a middling career of Serie C and Serie D clubs, though supposedly the rest of her family is Juventino.

Between Buffon’s girlfriend, Nedved’s wife, and Grygera’s, I need to go to the Czech Republic. Soon.

And though this has nothing to do with the above photos, this will make many of you nostalgic:

Juan Pablo Carrizo (Lazio)
Nelson Dida (Milan)
Felipe Melo (Fiorentina-Juventus)
Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Milan)
Julio Baptista (Roma)
Mancini (Inter)
Christian Poulsen (Juventus)
Ricardo Quaresma (Inter)
Ronaldinho (Milan)
Tiago (Juventus)

So Tiago makes his 3rd consecutive appearance, Poulsen his 2nd….and Melo? That’s where I just lost it.

Tiago and Poulsen probably shouldn’t be on there, as they aren’t world-beaters, but both have performed adequately this season. You could make your case for them to be on there, but even within our own squad you could pick a better duo- Zebina and Molinaro, anyone? A constantly injured old Frenchmen who has one good game in 10 and an Italian fullback who cannot cross, period? Definitely they take the cake for me. And Melo? I don’t even know where to start with how wrong that is. After Marchisio, he has been our best midfielder this campaign, no doubt, and I say that ahead of the likes of Diego and Camo.

Some of the other nominations are pretty dumb, too. Dida has saved Milan more than he has cost them this season, and Ronaldinho has actually seemed to give a damn again. For me, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar wins it. €15 million, and no goals in 9-10 games or so, and for the most part, he hasn’t looked like coming close to scoring. I’m not writing him off, he just clearly has a lot of adjusting to do from the free-scoring Liga and Eredivisie. Ricardo Quaresma is a close second, following in a long line of overpriced Inter failures. To think how much they paid for him, and Pele. Ha, what a flop. Huntelaar might come good, Quaresma definitely will not.

For me, here’s some other nominees: Kutuzov, Acquafresca, Rubinho, Bertolo, Emiliano Moretti, and Cristiano Lucarelli. Who would you nominate for the prestigious award?

PORTIERI- Every 3-4 years we seem to produce a good keeper, Antonio Mirante currently at Parma being the most recent one. We have one young promising keeper, but given the need for only one #1, obviously we won’t producing large numbers every year.

Carlo Pinsoglio: Many of you have seen his name on the squad sheet in recent games, and wondered, who is this guy? He is the Primavera #1, at age 19, he is in his 10th season at the club. First of all, he is tall: 6′4″, or 1.92meters for you crazy metric folk. And like Buffon, he is generally noticed for his fine reactions, for a guy of his size. He’s been a part of the Italy U-21 setup for a bit, but he hasn’t started. This season, he is training with Buffon often, and frequently is called up with the senior team. In his place in the Primavera sometimes is young Antonio Piccolo, who 2 seasons ago joined our Primavera from the Torino primavera. You may recognize his name, from his older brother, Felice Piccolo.
Chance of future with Juventus? Slim- Obviously, there is Gigi standing in his way, and while Gigi is not exactly Primavera-age himself, he’s easily got 4-5 years in him. As for that reason, I see Pinsoglio playing backup and then being sold, sort of like Mirante. One of the better keepers produced by our Primavera recently though.

DIFENSORI- Defense takes quite a bit of maturity, so players usually arrive late to the Primavera. We’ve churned out pretty good results recently- De Ceglie and Ariaudo of note. Below are the two who may join them someday soon in the Juventus first team.
Abdoulaye Bamba: From the Ivory Coast, the 19-year old is in his 9th season with the Juventus youth setup, and 3rd as a Primavera. He plays as a fullback, and his noted attributes are primarily his pace along the wing. For this season, sometimes he plays as winger in midfield.
Chance of future with Juventus? Moderate- An explosive fullback? Not bad, but I’m sure like all young wingbacks, his defending has a bit to be desired. I wouldn’t mind giving him a shot in the Coppa games, given our fullback situation, but if he ends up starring at Juve, he will likely go the De Ceglie route and go out on loan or co-ownership first.

Andrea De Paola: Joined us from Totti’s old club, Cisco Roma in January 2008 and formed a solid partnership with Lorenzo Ariaudo in the Viarreggio tournament and last years Primavera success. He just turned 19 a month ago. He seems like an old school center-back- strong, powerful in the air, but not necessarily speedy. Like Chiellini, he is a good goal threat on set pieces up front.
Chance of future with Juventus? Moderate- Like Bamba, he has the fortune of a weak position to come in, Cannavaro and Legrottaglie won’t last forever. This season he will finish with the Primavera, next season he may go out on loan. I think he’s very promising.

CENTROCAMPISTI- Without a doubt, this is the strong point of the Primavera the last few years. Talents like Marchisio and Giovinco have made it to the first team, and there have been other that have moved on to new pastures. The Primavera is bursting with talent.

Luca Marrone: You all probably know him, as he has already played a few minutes this season for the Primavera team. Marrone, 19 years old, was born-and-bred in Turin, and has been part of the Juventus youth academy all his life. A physical central midfielder with plenty of energy, he can sort of be compared to Nocerino or Marchisio. Definitely someone to watch for the future.
Chance of future with Juventus? Strong- Ferrara has already given him two games, he’s 19, and it’s early in the season. I liked his energy and presence in midfield, and his history in Turin and Juventus is definitely a plus. He’s got a lot to learn, but when he’s in midfield he doesn’t go absent like Poulsen or Tiago sometime do.

Fausto Rossi: Pacey, technically gifted, with a good eye for a pass, Rossi came to everyone’s attention in Summer 2008 in the Trofeo Berlusconi with great performances against Inter and Milan, at age 17. He’s 18 now, so he’s got plenty of time left in the Primavera if Juventus chooses so. Like Marrone, he is from Turin and has been in the Juventus Primavera his whole career.
Chance of future with Juventus? Strong- People have been buzzing about him since his performance last summer, and unfortunately this preseason he was injured. One of the crown jewels of the Primavera right now, and I’d love to see Ferrara give him a chance, along with Esposito. They’d fit perfectly in a 4-2-3-1 on the outside.

Simone Esposito: Like Marrone and Rossi, he is from Turin and has spent his entire youth career (save the 1st year) at Juventus. He is more of a natural winger than Rossi, less pacey, but technically gifted. He is noted for both his crossing ability as well as his goalscoring ability. This is his third season in the Primavera. Like Rossi, I hope he gets some Coppa time.
Chance of future with Juventus? Moderate-

Giuseppe Giovinco: Very similar to his older brother, SuperSeba, in that he is technically gifted and eager to take shots on goal. Like Seba, Marrone, Rossi, and Esposito, he is from Turin and has spent his entire career with Juve thus far. He just turned 19, and has a fair amount of potential. The differences with Giovinco are promising, he is more physically built and slightly taller. Perhaps, this means he could stay on the ball a bit better than his older brother. Chelsea was rumored to be attempting to poach him last September, but I believe he chose to sign a contract with the club.
Chance of future with Juventus? Moderate- Competition for attacking midfield or winger spots with Rossi, Esposito, SuperSeba, Diego, Camoranesi, and perhaps Palladino should he return. Probably depends on how well he does when out on loan.

Filippo Boniperti and Paolo Ferrara: It’s hard to know anything about them, because they are both very young, but I mentioned them because of their name. Boniperti, of course, is the grandson of the great Giampiero Boniperti. He is a central midfield that is very technically gifted, as Juventus.com says, he is quite “natural” in his ability. Paolo Ferrara, like his dad, plays as a defender and has gotten some time in the Primavera even though he is only 16.
Chance of future with Juventus? Unknown- Far too early to tell.

ATTACCANTI- We have a few solid strikers that have come through, and we have a few good ones now. Recently we have produced Pasquato, Daud, Palladino, etc.

Ciro Immobile: Unlike some of the others profiled, he is not from Turin, nor has he been part of the Juventus set up for a while. We signed him from his local club Sorrento, and he’s done excellent since arriving. He scored 5 goals in the Torneo di Viarreggio, with 2 in the final. A strong center-forward who is quite capable in the air, similar to Vincenzo Iaquinta if I had to compare him to a current squad player.
Chance of future with Juventus? Strong- He made his debut last season, and is one of the more recent talked about Primavera forwards of recent years.

Alberto Libertazzi: You probably haven’t heard his name before, and for good reason. He is the youngest player in the Juventus Primavera team. He is also from Torino, and has spent his entire career in bianconero. Physically strong and good in the air, he is also good at holding play up. He’s played in most Italian youth teams in some capacity.
Chance of future with Juventus? Slim Maybe it’s harsh to write him off, but I feel with forwards that Immobile is more capable, and it will be very hard for him to break in a first team. I think forwards are more likely to be bought than brought up through the academy.

Hope you enjoyed this…..if you have any questions or comments, as always, post them below!

There have been several postings on various English-language blogsites over the last few years lamenting the absence of elite Italian goalkeepers, aside from Buffon. Usually, they would pop up during international breaks (like now) and when Buffon was injured. They were right; Amelia doesn’t cut it, Marchetti might, but has a long way to go. Young promising keepers like Viviano and Consigli have even farther to go, and have not really impressed this season, their first in Serie A.

I still think he deserved the Ballon d’Or over Canna…

For those of you more recent followers of Serie A, we used to have class throughout. Look at Euro 2000- even without Buffon, we had Toldo as a brick wall, and Abbiati as a capable young backup. In the last 20 years, we’ve had times where Buffon, Peruzzi, Toldo, all could easily star for the national team. Before that, there were players like Pagiluca, Tacconi, Marchegiani, Zenga, etc. Can any current player (other than Buffon) reach those levels? For Juventus, you can count the amount of starting keepers on your hand over the last 35 years or so, which is obscene. Zoff, Tacconi, Peruzzi, Van der Sar, and Buffon. That’s an extreme case though, in that we have always made great keepers a priority, unlike Milan.

These blogs I’ve read tended to attribute the cause, not necessarily blame the issue, to the influx of foreign keepers in Serie A. There have been some great ones, and some who didn’t entirely work out- ie Jens Lehmann and Edwin Van der Sar. The tragic death of Enke really hit it home for me- no nation is producing the keepers like they used to. This isn’t an Italian problem, nor a problem with foreigners, it’s something else, and honestly I have no idea what it is.

Look at England- Terrible. Germany? Both the national team and Bayern have been unable to replace Kahn. France? Coupet and Barthez were good, not sure if they were elite, but anyone who watched the comedy of errors called Marseille 5-5 Lyon between the two French keepers, Mandanda and Lloris, well, they are not as good as the older ones. Some have mentioned Brazil is finally producing great keepers, but I don’t think that holds. Aside from Julio Cesar, I’m not that impressed. Doni is not very good, and you can ask Romanistas that, and Rubinho sucks even more. Gomes? Please. Spain is the only exception to the rule, but they are producing an outstanding group of players (related to the shift to democracy, perhaps?) in general, and there’s no doubt Reina and Casillas, despite occasional papere are world class. Not sure about Almunia or Valdes, but they count in the “good” category that other nations only seem to be able to produce. Peter Cech? Average, especially in current form. Shay Given is good, but he’s never proven himself at the top level due to his club/nationality.

So what’s the problem? I have no idea, as I said before. Maybe an unwillingness to give a young keeper a full run out in the team? Buffon and Casillas both played in the European elite at a very young age. Maybe it’s a priority of other positions in academies, related to the poaching of young players? It’s a good question for debate in an otherwise boring week. What do you think about the dearth of world-class keepers right now?

It’s an Argentine thing…

When Trezeguet arrived in the peninsula in 2000, he wasn’t exactly welcomed with open arms. A very talented young player, though not necessarily a superstar, he had just knocked Italy out of the Euro2000 final with a splendid volley in overtime to give France the golden goal it needed to win the cup. That season he was coached by Ancelotti, who ironically would prefer him later in the season to Inzaghi, which forced him out for a large transfer fee to Milan.

Speaking of Milan, that’s where Trezeguet started his account, in an exciting 2-2 comeback, where Conte finish the comeback in the 90th minute. Zidane dribbled up the field, avoiding a slide tackle from a young Rino Gattuso, and crossed the ball. It was poorly headed by a Milan defender right into Trezeguet’s path, who headed it into the net. It was a classic Trezeguet goal, along his most recent goal, in which De Ceglie got a touch on it, and Trez just buried it with an offbalance volley.

Trezeguet is a classic poacher, and quite possibly the best in the world at his position, but because he does little off-the-ball work doesn’t quite get the appreciation from Juventini he deserves. He can go missing for 90 minutes, and then pop up out of nowhere with the winner. For that reason, sometimes it’s hard to tell if he’s having a bad game or a typical Trez-style game, and I’d hate to be a coach deciding whether to sub him off or not.

Personally, I have always been a huge fan of Trezegol. He’s underappreciated by Juve fans and by the media in general, his scoring rate for France and Juventus is stunning, and he has many qualities people ignore, chiefly, his consistency. He does not bang in 5 goals a game and go 2 months without scoring. For a player with as many goals as he does, he does not have that many hat-tricks, a testament to his league consistency. Second, there is the consistency in his years. A lot of players take a while to get their career started, and some wane earlier than others. Last season is the only one in his entire Juve career where he failed to score 10+ goals, an amazing statistic when you think about it. And lastly, his consistency applies to all clubs- he’s scored plenty against Inter, Milan, Real Madrid, etc, but also against Empoli, Vicenza, and relegation-battling teams. Don’t let his penalty miss in 2006 fool you, he is not a choker by any means.

Last season really disappointed me. After double-knee surgery, he started to get back into form before his ill-fated outburst against Ranieri. I’m a huge fan of Trez, but that was a bad idea and a bad time to do it. Because of that, he was benched for the rest of the season and I really thought even with a new coach that Trezeguet would be packing his bags, a reoccurring nightmare it seems. Thankfully, Ferrara seems to convinced him to stay, though the season didn’t start out great. Trez was seemingly ignored, and some Juventini said he was past it. I’m going to pull a “I told you so moment” now- I always said he was not past it, poaching is an instinct that requires some continuity in games, and it’s not dulled by injury or age. His announcement that he planned to leave Juventus at the end of the season seemed like a cry for help. When other players sit on the bench, the media talks about it, but he had almost been forgotten.

Ferrara went about this the right way- he could have disciplined him, but he chose to give Trezeguet a chance to prove himself again. And he has. With Iaquinta and Amauri in varying form, Trez has quietly reestablished himself as our first striker on the sheet. Both were wasteful with chances, and some claimed with Amauri’s goals against Siena and Sampdoria that he was reborn. But Trez was. It may come as a surprise to you, but Trezeguet is currently Juve’s league capocannoniere, with 6 goals in 12 games, tied with Eto’o and Totti in 3rd place behind Milito, Pazzini, and Hamisk in 2nd (with 7 goals) and behind Di Natale in 1st, with 9. And that is a great record, considering he was initially sitting on the bench and Amauri has still been preferred over him in some recent games.

This post is a tribute to the great Trezegol, in his 10th season at the club. He is only 11 goals behind 3rd place in Roberto Bettega and 15 goals from Giampiero Boniperti. Let’s start talking about him in the same way of these legends. May you continue to make us dream!

The below video I uploaded shows his first 100 goals in Serie A, and the 15 in Serie B. Unfortunately I don’t have a more recent one, so we are missing his Coppa goals, his Champion’s League goals, and the ones in Serie A since September 2007.

Finding the star was not in Milan, they followed the A4 towards Venice. Was the light above Bergamo? No. Brescia? No. And neither was it in Verona, Vicenza, or Padova. It must be in Venice, they agreed, which is the end of the A4 highway. But it was not so. Confused, they headed north. Maybe it wasn’t in Italy? After all, as my Dad says, Jesus was born in Israel because God couldn’t find a virgin in all of Italy.

About 70 miles from the Austrian border, they left the highway into a small rural town in Veneto, Conegliano, not far from Treviso. And there he was. Rumor has it one of the wise men forgot a gift for the young child; the first two presented a pair of Adidas Copa Mundial boots, and the other a simple football. The third, only had a strange pair of sideburns that resembled a trimmed Elvis.

It was that day, November 9th, 1974 that our beloved Alessandro Del Piero was born. Today, we celebrate his 35th birthday and eagerly await his return. He is our all-time caps leader, he is our all time capocannoniere, and he is the soul of our club. Happy birthday, capitano.

Why do we love Del Piero so much? Is it his skill, his leadership, his class? It certainly is a combination of all of those things. But it is also his story- a young boy growing up in a small town in northern Italy, who dreamed of wearing the jersey of his beloved club. His father was an electrician, his mother stayed at home to watch him and his 9-year elder brother, Stefano, who is Del Piero’s longterm agent. (and briefly a professional player for Sampdoria) Del Piero said as a child, he played football and all of him and his friends dreamed of becoming footballers, and I’m sure as a child he would have loved to have played in Serie B, much less in Serie A as captain of his favorite club. His friends did not become professional footballers, and he did not expect to either. He once said he wanted to be a truck driver because his family did not have money and he wanted to travel.

Spotted by scouts from Padova, it was a meteoric rise for our beloved bandiera who won the Champion’s League in his first try, scoring 6 goals in 11 games at age 21. And he hasn’t stopped, becoming the top-scorer of Juve. It wasn’t easy, though. Del Piero has never been assured of his spot at Juventus, just months after being named captain by his teammates, a catastrophic injury derailed his career, indeed, it could have ended it. But Del Piero returned. Competition has always been there in the forms of Zidane, Inzaghi, Trezeguet, Ibrahimovic, Miccoli, Mutu, etc, yet he has always proven his worth. Written off by the media time and time again, he won two Capocannoniere titles after turning 30, and at age 35 continues to be a reference point with our squad.

Also on YouTube, there is a pretty good YouTube video (unembeddable) divided in 9 parts, in English, about Del Piero’s Career. Here are all the 9 different segments on YouTube. Do you have any other Del Piero videos you love? Post them below in the comments section!

Lastly…Del Piero’s personal website is temporarily down, with a cryptic message- “For you, we have created a truly special surprise. Return Monday to discover it.”

Antonio Conte was so close to taking the Juventus job over the summer and now he comes face to face with his old teammate Ciro Ferrara.

When Conte took Bari to promotion from Serie B, he announced he would only be willing to leave if it meant sitting on the Bianconeri bench. Many reports suggested it was a done deal, but the club opted to keep Ferrara after his caretaker spell and Conte ended up quitting anyway in a row over transfer policy.

Now the former midfielder takes on his past and, possibly, his future. Conte wore the Juve shirt from 1991 to 2004, winning five Scudetti, four Italian Super Cups, a Coppa Italia, UEFA Cup, Champions League, European Super Cup, Intertoto Cup and Intercontinental Cup.

Atalanta had gone unbeaten with the new Coach in charge, but have hit a brick wall of two consecutive defeats against Livorno and Cagliari. “I had the feeling our problems were not over. We struggled with three matches in eight days.” That shouldn’t be an issue this time around, as it is Juventus who have had the packed schedule.

The Turin giants have been looking tired towards the end of their games and never was that clearer than in the last Serie A round. Leading 2-0 against Napoli, they collapsed by conceding three goals in 23 minutes for their first home defeat of the campaign.

That result left them a massive seven points adrift of leaders Inter and hit hard in terms of confidence. The midweek Champions League win at Maccabi Haifa at least means a slight boost ahead of this trip to Bergamo.

Amauri is suspended following his red card against Napoli, joined on the sidelines by the injured Vincenzo Iaquinta, Alessandro Del Piero, Hasan Salihamidzic, Claudio Marchisio, Jonathan Zebina and Momo Sissoko.

Sebastian Giovinco pulled out of the Maccabi match with a muscular twinge and Fabio Cannavaro was rested, while David Trezeguet is the only real option to start upfront. “The time for mistakes is over, we have no room for any more stumbles,” warned President Jean-Claude Blanc.

Atalanta are forced to do without Robert Acquafresca, Ferreira Pinto, Tomas Manfredini, Diego De Ascentis, Gyorgy Garics and Edgar Barreto – the latter out for three months after fracturing the metatarsal in his left foot. Cristiano Doni should start despite his row with Conte over a substitution, joined by Simone ‘il Tir’ Tiribocchi.

The last time these two teams met in Bergamo back in April 2008 it ended in a 4-0 drubbing with Del Piero bagging a hat-trick. Juventus are undefeated here in Serie A since March 2001.

Keep an eye on: David Trezeguet (Juventus) – His header had given Juve such high hopes against Napoli and took him to within a goal of Omar Sivori’s record 167 as top foreign marksman in the club’s history. Trez can seem to disappear from games, but lose him for that split second and he’s bound to score. football-italia.net

Last five in Serie A: Atalanta (D W W L L) Juventus (L D W W L)

myp2p.eu (match thread), atdhe.net (direct match link)

IERI… OGGI… DOMANI… SEMPRE JUVE!!!

Hat tip to ooBia, for bringing this up in the previous comments section. If you ever find any cool video, pictures, suggestions, general comments, or anything you’d like to see in a post, email it to us at juventus [at] theoffside (dot) com.