To Monaco!

By: agiamba | September 29th, 2009

By that, I mean Munich of course. I did not mention in my Calcio dictionary post Italian names for cities, because it’s not calcio and there’d be far to many! But Monaco is one that confuses a lot of non-Italian speaking Serie A fans, as the Italian name for Munich is of course, Monaco. Anyways, preview of the tomorrow’s best Champions League game after the jump.

RECENT FORM:
Juventus- We had a great start to the season, but it’s slowed down a bit with draws against Genoa and Bologna. Avoidable draws, as Chiellini rightly called the Bologna match, 2 lost points. (WDWDD)
Bayern Munich- After a shaky start in the Bundesliga, the Germans have turned it up a notch, scoring plenty and romping to victory over the last month. But they lost this weekend to HSV, 1-0. (LWWWW)

RECENT ENCOUNTERS:
We were drawn with them twice in the group stages, in 2004-2005 and 2005-2006. In 2004-2005, we defeated them 1-0 away and home. The next season, they defeated us 2-1 in Munich and we reversed it to win at home. Brazzo was playing for Bayern back then, whereas Nedved and Ibrahimovic both got on the score sheet for us. Ciro Ferrara played in the 1996 CL win over Ajax, then coached by Louis van Gaal.

FORMATIONS AND LINEUPS:
Juventus- Chimenti will be starting for us in goal, as Buffon has made far too many errors recently. (Louis Van Gaal is reading) In defense, the only injury we have is Cannavaro who will be back in about a week and Brazzo is doubtful. Grosso returns from his rest this weekend, so the only question is who to play at right-back. Zebina started this weekend, possibly by choice, but maybe Ferrara wanted to rest Grygera. The douche played well, with a great run to provide the assist for Trezeguet’s first goal, so he might get the nod.

In midfield, we are missing Sissoko and Tiago. The center-mids are pretty assured- Felipe Melo, Marchisio, and Camoranesi, though perhaps if one is particularly tired Poulsen might get a chance, but I hope not. Ferrara has not been clear on whether he will start Diego or not, saying,” I do not want to advantage our opponents therefore I’ll decide only tomorrow who is going to play and by which means facing Bayern. Diego? Sunday he played about fifty minutes and his conditions are improving, we’ll see if lining him up since the first minute or during the match». I’m guessing he is going to get the starting shirt, though.

Attack is a bit of a conundrum as always. Iaquinta is certain to start, having been rested Sunday. Del Piero will not start, he has only played 10minutes or so in the last month so it would be a poor idea to play him, we have no idea what kind of form or shape he’s in. So the shootout is between Amauri and Trezeguet for the 2nd player, I don’t think there’s any doubt on who it’ll be. Amauri started the season well but is still suffering from a mental block in front of goal. Trez hasn’t done shit, but he’s scored 2 goals in a week, cannot argue with results.

Starting XI: (4-3-1-2) Chimenti; Grygera, Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Grosso; Camoranesi, Melo, Marchisio; Diego; Iaquinta, Trezeguet

Considering how well we played with a 4-4-2 in Diego’s absence against Genoa, maybe we should give that a shot occasionally when he and Giovinco are out.

Could this guy be any more stereotypically German?

Bayern Munich- Bayern spent a lot of money this summer, signing Robben, Olic, Anatoliy Tymoshchuk (from Zenit), and Mario Gomez. Robben and Ribery were listed as day-to-day and did not participate in practice yesterday, but will be playing. Demichelis, van Bommel, and Toni* are injured and not ready to play.

* By injured for Luca Toni, I mean Louis van Gaal told him to GTFO this summer and he didn’t.

Predicted XI: (4-3-3) Butt; Lahm, Van Buyten, Badstuber, Braafheid; Altintop, Tymoshchuk, Schweinsteiger; Robben, Gomez, Ribery

Haha. They have a keeper named Butt. I guess Michael Rensing wasn’t the new Kahn after all. Supposedly Schweiny has been in pretty shitty form recently, so that’s good news. I’m not entirely sure how Robben and Ribery play with Schweiny in the midfield behind them….especially with Lahm on that flank, what the hell, I guess this team does not believe in moving it through the middle.

KEY PLAYER:
Juventus- Iaquinta: Vinny has been bailing us out thus far with good goals and a great striker ratio over the last 6 months, but he still doesn’t get the credit he deserves.
Bayern Munich- Ribery: Cause he’s scary good. And by scary I mean I’m refraining from making any comments on how unbelievably hideously, scarily ugly he is and focusing solely on his play.

MATCHUPS:
Bashful v. Grumpy: Push: Ferrara and Van Gaal are very, very different types of people. Ferrara is pretty quiet, though don’t mistake that for weak. Van Gaal is loud and boastful, when asked about losing to HSV this weekend, he responded “Well, we’re playing on Wednesday so at least we can get our winning streak bad.” Ferrara is relatively inexperienced, Van Gaal has won CLs as a coach and has been coaching for 18 years now. Ferrara has stuck with two teams his life, Napoli and Juve, whereas Van Gaal has been passed around the Netherlands more than Sylvie van der Vaart. It’ll be an interesting match-up.

BMW v. FIAT- Push: Cause the Germans always win, so say the English. Except they don’t. German football is based on power and efficiency, Italian football is calculating and tactical. We’ve triumphed over Munich and the Azzurri over Germany in terms of silverware, let’s hope we can triumph tomorrow.

Scarface/Dutch Zidane v Grosso/Who?- ZZ/FR: Barzagli says our fullbacks need to watch out. No shit, Andrew, are you taking calcio classes up in Germany? Maybe you could learn how to defend. Our fullbacks are not exactly our strong point, though they’ve improved a bit with the addition of Grosso. But we’re up against two of the best wingers in the world…scary. Last season in Madrid, Molinaro was able to contain Robben well, so maybe we can do the same with better players. Regarding Robben, watching him last season when I was in Madrid was utterly frustrating. For every genius move he does, there’s 1,000 terrible final balls. Bayern got him for a non-superinflated price though.

Keyser Giorgio v. German Luca Toni- The Schnozz: Gomez is a good striker…but Giorgio is a better defender.

Not Kahn v. Superman- Superman: The only butts I know are mine, a few special women, and I guess Nicky Butt.

PREDICTIONS AND PREVIEWS: I’d like to hope for a win, but I’m expecting a 1-1 draw, Trez and Ribery. A win, however ugly, would be more than welcomed.

Uefa.com’s preview
Goal.com’s preview

FROM THE PRESS CONFERENCE:

Del Piero: «We should give all»

«We come from two draws, and therefore this will be an important and delicate match. It’s enough to see Juve’s and Bayern’s titles to understand the importance of these two clubs. Tomorrow match will be felt with tension, agonism, concentration, and we’ll have to do all we can to bring home the result. We want to succeed after Sunday draw and there could not be better occasion to find it ». Alessandro Del Piero is strongly motivated. The captain is finally back to tasting the pitch, also if for a few minutes, vs. Bologna and now he wants to be the main character again, even knowing that after a long stop it will be right to take it easy:
«Sensations I had Sunday were clearly limitated and I went out of the pitch like all my mates, with a bitter taste, therefore I really want to recuperate. Concerning tomorrow, the trainer we’ll see how and when ask me to play. Naturally this is a particular moment, considering that I come back after a long time. Which role do I see for myself in Juve? The same as one month ago, that is being the captain and one of the players who has to give all he can to achieve victory».

Alex has already been the main character of important challenges vs. Bayern in 2004/05 and in 2005/06 and he sees no difference with the past: «Bayern kept strength as a club and as a reference point in German Championship. They won a lot at European level and they are used to get to the end. They have always built teams with great players, keeping the team consistency that characterizes German soccer. I see many similarities between old Bayern and nowadays’ one».

Germany evokes memories in the captain: «It represents a very beautiful experience to me, because even though I lost a Champions League final vs. a German team, here I won a World Cup».

Monaco in these days, considering the concomitance with Oktoberfest is full of Italian, ready to support Juventus: «I believe they came here for a different reason – Alex smiles – but maybe also to see Juve win. We’d be glad to please them: in Germany, Italian community is big and supporter’s affection abroad towards our teams is very strong, therefore we have a further reason to do better».

Van Gaal: «Juve is of a high level. It will be an important test»

«After the match against Maccabi we have to win this match too, in order to keep Juventus ata greater distance. Surely we’ll be able t play more tranquilly than them». Louis Van Gaal, Bayern Munich coach, during the press conference, clarified the intentions of the Bavarian side: «We are improving – he continued – and tomorrow’s is an important test. Juventus ahs a defence of high level, a young squad and players of great personality like Diego and Del Piero. It will be a difficult match». Luca Toni will not be playing: «He is not yet 100% fit even though he thinks he is. When he is ready I will know. Robben or Ribery? Yesterday they did not brain but we will study their conditions until the very end».

Besides van Gaal, the press conference also saw the participation of Robben and Schweinsteiger. The first said that «the match against Juve will be one of a very high level, as is always the case in the Champions League», while the German national, seeing that the Juve defence is in the majority that of the Italian national team is thinking of a revenge for the defeat suffered during the World Cup semi-final in 2006: «I have already had my revenge against Grosso when he played for Lyon. It will not be easy but seeing there is the Oktoberfest let us hope they drink tonight and return home defeated» he concluded, generating a row of laughter.

Ferrara: «A “Juve” style match is necessary»

«We must play a match in Juve style. We’ll do our best to play to gain victory, for standings and for our path in this pool ». Ferrara rings the bell: Juventus, after draw vs. Bordeaux, needs points and the match vs. Bayern represents an important occasion. Germany’s trainer, Van Gaal, underlined that for Bavarians, it’s almost like a match ball, considering that in case of victory the gap between the two teams would go up to five points: «It’s natural they think this way and that they try to make the most from the home match. It will be tough for us, but it won’t be easy for them too, to face such a Juventus. We go playing this match with great respect but also with personality. Motivations are very high».
Ferrara expects a thrilled match, of great intensity: «We know German teams’ characteristics; they never give up, until the end. We’ll find a very tough match. When pools were pulled out, Bayern was in a particular moment, but now it recovered. They bought new players and they can create dangers any moment with people such as Olic, Robben, Ribery, Mueller who, even though he’s very young, does very good things. Moreover the team is directed by a master: it took me fifteen minutes to read all he won in his career…».

Concerning the possible players, the trainer naturally does not overbalance: «I do not want to advantage our opponents therefore I’ll decide only tomorrow who is going to play and by which means facing Bayern. Diego? Sunday he played about fifty minutes and his conditions are improving, we’ll see if lining him up since the first minute or during the match».

C’E’ UNA STELLA CHE INDICA IL CAMINO, FORZA JUVE, VINCERE E’ IL TUO DESTINO!!

Some Related Juventus Posts:

Category: Team News

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agiamba

I wouldn't be too worried, we just need to be patient. New coach (in multiple ways), new formation, new style of play, new players. It will take a while for us to play the way Ferrara wants, the good news is he says he's still not satisfied with how we're playing, unlike Ranier.
mohd

wow what a review took the words out of my mouth where are my juve of the 90s
mohd

wow what a review took the words out of my mouth we are my juve of the 90s
papai

Nice review of the game up at football italiano.

http://www.footballitaliano.co...
papai

adam, that article makes the heart burn. We are stuck with Poulsen here, and Zanetti is showing his worth for Viola. Just great.
bianconeri

anyone read this interview about zanetti's agent?

http://www.football-italia.net...
agiamba

It is unbelievable. I can see how an opposing player could piss you off enough to say stupid racist things you'd regret later, but someone on your own team after scoring? And after scoring his first goal in the Stadio Olimpico?!? Just plain bizarre and shows it's still a problem in Italy, although I think it has been confined mostly to the ultras now. I remember last year I was in the Curva Nord in the Lazio-Roma derby, and everytime Baptista was on the ball (a lot, he got too much space) there were a lot of Laziali making monkey noises.
Vinod

Roma fans were the also ones who threw banana peels at Balotelli before the U-21 Euros. A despicable bunch...
Rinaldo

As already mentioned, a 4-2-3-1 - with Seba, Diego and Camo supporting Iaquinta - would be PERFECT.
agiamba

Wow. There's a story in Tuttosport that after Okaka scored for Roma, there were racist chants by his own fans. Roma fans suck.
Pablo

I agree with Alessio about the 4-2-3-1. Not only because Marchisio needs some rest (and he NEEDS it), but also because we should have different tactics for different kind of games. And new tactics need time and practice to be fully understood by the team.

Right now we are playing with a 4-3-1-2 formation (my personal favorite and the best suited for us when everybody is healthy). But 4-3-3 is not meant for us I think (not solid enough) and with a 4-2-3-1 we will still have four attaking-minded players (and probably more creativity). The only problem with this is that we don't have depth to play like that (we need Gio, Camo and Diego... maybe ADP could step in, but even that is not enough depth). I still think we should give it a try. If we play two big strikers up front we will need someone to provide the passes, and if our trequartista (in the 4-3-1-2) is not playing well, we are kinda doomed. At least with a 4-2-3-1 we will have different options.

And now that I'm here, we should also try a 4-3-2-1, just in case. You never know when I could come in handy.
mike

yes Sam, I had noticed the same about Candreva, he's been impressive so far with Livorno, if he continues this way he will not be at Livorno for long.
Sam

Just a question, has anyone on this blog seen Antonio Candevra play? Cause ive seen him for him a couple of times and he is sooo darn good. He ca nbeat his man, play a killer through ball, and pass long and short distances along with that he dose nt really turn the ball over. He is an ideal MC or AMC. And hes Italian!
Sam

haha indeed.

Perfect game to unleash Giovinco, Bovo and Dorin Goian are both pretty slow. GIOVINCO WOULD RIP THROUGH THEM!
agiamba

Without Kjaer who will play? Goian-Bovo? Delightful!
Sam

Lol im hoping Leonardo dosent get fired before we play AC Milan. The players look soo demotivated and play like crap under him. lol!
Jorid

Well at least it looks as if Simon Kjaer will not be able to play against us. There is a God after all lol. Hopefully Cesare Bovo fucks up.
agiamba

I wouldn't mind giving a 4-2-3-1 a go for a game or two. Gio, Diego, Camo in the supporting position, and Melo/Poulsen in defensive midfield. It'd give Marchisio a break for a bit, and Camo wouldn't have to track back so much.
Sam

Del Piero :( :( :(

GIOVINCO HAS TO PLAY AS A SECONG FORWARD AND GET SOME SORT OF CREATIVITY INTO THAT FORWARD LINE, DONT PLAY 2 BEASTLY FORWARDS!!

I CANT STOP CRYING!
mohd

if we had a world class right back we would not play like this we would concentrate in attack instead of fearing to be hit
agiamba

Alex, hopefully he will be a "sensible" DS. Har har, sorry, I just had to.

From what I know about him, he was hired by Moggi (good) and eventually became one of the heads of scouting, and one thing you'll probably like, he was particularly charged with scouting young players. I would imagine Caceres and Yago were two of his targets. Then he went to Palermo to be one of Sabatini's aids, take it for what you will.
papai

yup.. its C :P
I think we are using two target men simply because we have no one else to play upfront (Inspite of having the best offensive talent of this generation rotting on the benches). It is beyond me to understand why the fuck they wont do a little creative thinking and play Gio up front? What more can go wrong after drawing at home to Bologna? This tactical straight jacketing is really baffling. I thought a young coach like Ciro will try out some bold stuff. Instead its looking more and more like Ranieri era juve, with just better quality personnel.
Juve Bob

Is that C? I just passed my resit
bianconeri

Our strikers really need to start passing better. I noticed that once Iaquinta and Trezeguet get the ball they lose it fast. They need to be able to do more than tap-ins.

We should never play with two target men again.
papai

void start_rant(){
As alessio and numerous other ppl have commented previously, whats the harm in trying Gio as an SS? Why is it not obvious to the juve management that there is no point in letting such a talent waste on the bench? Why are Poulsen and Molinaro still in the team? Where is Caceres? Why is it not fucking obvious to anyone that we are not scoring enough goals and have not won in the last 5 games???
} // end rant

damn that felt good
HolyMann

thats what i read at first Anton....i've wanted to see Del Piero play from match 1....still pissing me off
Anton

Alessio,

The whole DP situation seems like a mistery to me. Wasn't the whole injury a "minor setback"? Then very quietly minor came out to over 2 months...
papai

Actually, this is the ideal moment for people to regain their fitness, since the international break is coming up.
On the other hand, since AC Milan will soon be relegated, lets poach their medical staff.
alex

so apparently pasquale sensibile could be napolis new sporting director. any idea of who he is and what he is going to do for napoli alessio?
Pablo

Yeah, Giovinco as a support striker. I will play him like that and as a starter in PES from now on. Maybe that will change something :p
agiamba

Anton this is more proof that the medical doctors we have are shit. I don't know what they are doing. For both Tiago and Del Piero, this is not a new injury, this is a relapse of the injury they had before and it's quite apparent that they were not fully recovered or their recovery was wrongly conducted.
agiamba

I'm not assuming Maccabi will be a walk-over, our problems with smaller clubs have been well-documented. But we definitely need 6 points.

Agreed, papi, that this isn't all doom and gloom. It looks like however that Del Piero was not fully recovered, shitty that he's out again. Ferrara should start trying Giovinco as a seconda punta.
papai

We need to win the next three matches.Everyone is assuming that Maccabi is a walkover, but curious things have happened in football.

But it seems like too much doom and gloom around here. We are juve for fuck's sake, and lets start acting like it. Showing respect to the opposition is one thing, but getting all knackered up after two draws against two very decent teams, one of them the french champions and the other Bayern Munich away, it just seems too depressing. We are getting too tensed up over what should be a simple enough job.
If we cant do it, too bad,our squad is not good enough. But we cannot compromise on the league. I want my Scudetto back from Moratti more than the treble this year.
j

lets concentrate on the serie a for nw. looks like its going to be tough, hopefully bayern and Bordeaux draw their match the next matchday....we just need to play to qualify for the knockout stage and hope we hit top form in feb
Anton

Official: Juventus Striker Alessandro Del Piero Ruled Out For 40 Days With Injury.

Tiago has also been sidelined. He complained of a problem regarding his left leg and it is said he will be out for 20 days.
georg

i just watched the highlights again,... and i cannot help it but juve was a complete disgrace.
many friends of me laugh their guts out I love serie a and juventus in particular,... although they never watch 1 serie a game, they claim its to defensive, teams rather prefer defending then attacking.
the only times they see italian teams playing is during the CL.

their unfounded opinion about my beloved juve is they are a gutless team, scared, only thibkinbg about defence, and far from good enough to reach even the quarter finals,...

who could blame them thinking like that after such a disgraceful performance.I was embarrassed, ashamed and hugely disappointed watching this game with my friends.which now only have more ammunition to fuel their juve preconception/harassments

i have no problem if you play a bit more defensive and controlling , especially in a tough away game. but even then, when you conquer the ball ,you can attempt to strike fast and hard.juve obviously preferred to do just absolutely nothing, thinking NOT conceding is faaaaaar more important,...this is a philosophy not worthy and suited of a 'champion', sorry to say but its true
HolyMann

Alessio, what you're saying is very true....but it will be very very frustrating if we do not win the Scudetto this year....we have what it takes and we've been through hell, its been too long being trophyless, and it pisses me off to see how we're dropping points against teams we should be demolishing.....
agiamba

Ferrara's a new coach as we all know, so we need to be forgiving with him. He's going to have plenty of learning to do, so we've gotta understand that. If we finish the season without the treble, I won't be disappointed.
georg

my thoughts about the game.

grygera; i think zebina should have played

grosso: his crosser weren't a bit better then molinaro's

leggro: defended not bad, but cannavaro is missed, he can coach the whole backline and he plays better football, legro just kicks the ball long and hard.

melo: i say once more: WORTH EVERY CENT!!!

camoranesi: class at times,a bit pale other times, needs a rest

marchisio: desperately needs a rest, despite he barely touched a ball, he ran + 12km(!!!!) if he doesn't rest soon, his star will be burned even before Christmas.

poulsen : please get the f*ck out!! next winter pack your bags together with molinaro and start looking for another sport, rugby would suit both better...
SISSOKO I MISS YOU!!! he might be not the most bright passer, but at least he would be 10.000 times more useful then poulsen

amauri: to me he looks worse and worse every game,...

ferrara: although I still like him,...WHAT THE F?????
since when is it in juve's DNA to play like cowards?
second half , juve didn't even attempt to try to go for a victory.1 point in germany is not that bad, but common, 45m without attacking ? diego out for poulsen realy killed it for us.he should have subbed in CREATIVITY(del piero anybody?)

overall: juve still needs lots and lots of work if they want to mean something in europe.both in first game and now too often we look clueless in attack. we must have 6 points vs macabi, but watching them play, that wont be so easy as many think
agiamba

Agreed, holymann. I hope he's happy there though.

If Germany takes our 4th spot, it's the 4th place German team and Fiorentina/Roma/Milan/etc that are fucked, not us. After the way the FIGC sold us down the river in Calciopoli (someone needed to take the fall, and they blackmailed us into taking it by threatening to ban the Azzurri from playing) I'm not so sure I give a damn about saving face for calcio. I'd like Fiorentina and Milan to do reasonably well, not sure about Inter, but as a whole I couldn't care.