In what can be considered one of the most entertaining draw of the Champions League Knock-Out phase, Juventus were drawn against Champions League runners-up Chelsea. Further more to this big match, Arsenal face Roma, United face Inter and Liverpool face Real Madrid. Four stunning knock-out ties which can pan out to seem like four grand finales.

Both Want To Make Amends

Juventus are having a great run in the Champions League, after topping Group H managing to beat Real Madrid twice. The determination to prove everyone that they are still the same Old Lady that was present before the Calciopoli scandal seems to have given them extra boost and should they beat Chelsea I feel that they can go all the way. Buffon will be back, so will Trezegeut. As crazy as it sounds, Tiago also will be back and this could also be a boost for the squad while the Portuguese midfielder returns to Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea also want to make amends for failing to swoop the glorious European Trophy last year when they lost on penalties to United and this should make the tie extremely interesting. First Round is played on Wednesday 25 February at Stamford Bridge as London will definitely turn into black and white with numerous Bianconeri flowing into one of the beautiful capital cities in Europe.

Londra….We’re Coming!!!

The second-half was much more dreadful for Milan than ever. Ok, they had managed to net one back in thanks to Ambrosini but at 3-2 and with Juve getting closer to score more than ever, it was pretty much an awful match for the Rossoneri. Zambrotta, who was the Bianconeri Fans’ target everytime he touched the ball was sent off for a second consecutive yellow card for a foul on Paolo de Ceglie. The latter had earlier set up Amauri’s first goal.

Amauri finished the rout with a great goal to beat Abbiati again and set the score-line at 4-2. Just seconds later Del Piero managed to beat Abbiati again but the post kept him away from setting up a 5-2 score. This practically set out the Serie A table at a much clearer view. Leaders Inter are on 39 points while Juve are now on 33 points. Its six points difference but for Heaven’s sake, probably many would not have worried that much had it been 10 or 11. Last season, Inter had a lead something like that but the title was still not won until the final matchday, as Inter’s huge lead was crippled to just 3. But let’s not talk hypotetical.

Juve should have all they require to catch Inter after the Xmas break, as apart from all the injured players that will return back, they have the possibility to sign up more players to add to their squad. Six points away from leaders Inter and 3 afar from third/fourth placed Milan and Napoli.

Camoranesi has failed to make it back to Juve’s available players list.Salihamidzic meanwhile returns as Juve try and find a way to get back to winning ways after the mid-week 0-0 draw with BATE Borisov which made them top GROUP H of the Champions League ahead of Spanish rivals Real Madrid.

Key Players To Watch:

Ronaldinho, Kaka, Shevchenko – Milan

Del Piero, Nedved, Amauri – Juventus

Zebra 10’s Formation For Tonight’s Match:
Manninger

Grygera, Mellberg, Chiellini, Molinaro

Marchionni, Zanetti, Sissoko, Nedved,

Del Piero, Amauri

Zebra 10 Match Prediction:

Juventus vs Milan : 3-3

Juve failed to make their impressive performance against inter earlier this season but I feel that we will see the real Juve against Milan tonight and the match will be full of goals (let’s hope ) Going for a draw but hope that we can eventually pip them out for the whole 3 points.

Players submitted for the fixture are: (as from www.juventus.com)

3 Chiellini
4 Mellberg
6 Zanetti
7 Salihamidzic
8 Amauri
9 Iaquinta
10 Del Piero
11 Nedved
12 Chimenti
13 Manninger
19 Marchisio
20 Giovinco
21 Grygera
22 Sissoko
27 Ekdal
28 Molinaro
29 De Ceglie
32 Marchionni
41 Ariaudo
42 Pinsoglio

Juventus face Bela-Russian hopefuls Bate Borisov in tonight’s match at the Olimpico. Bate had managed to stun Juve back at their home, when BATE took a shocking 2-0 lead against the Bianconeri but brilliant Giovinco set-ups had led to two Iaquinta goals to earn Juve a point. And with Milan upcoming on Sunday Ranieri has got one big head-ache. According to Tuttosport, Ranieri will opt for Del Piero-Amauri upfront with Giovinco on the bench. Amauri could be rested for tonights match or at least part of it.

Juve are on 11 points in the Group while Real Madrid have 9. This means that should Juve get one point out of tonight’s fixture they will secure top spot of Group H.

&border=0&rel=0&egm=0&color1=0x666666&color2=0xefefef' />

These are the probable formations:

Four minutes into the match Juve lost Tiago

Juve’s most dangerous chances came early in the first half when Marchionni was felled in the area and the ref waved play on and later on Marchision had a long-range effort tipped over the bar by Cesar. Del Piero had a good chance saved by Cesar in the dying minutes of the match.

&border=0&rel=0&egm=0&color1=0x666666&color2=0xefefef' /> ]]> http://juventus.footballblog.co.uk/juve-beaten-third-loss-of-season.html/feed 0 http://juventus.footballblog.co.uk/video-juventus-new-stadium.html http://juventus.footballblog.co.uk/video-juventus-new-stadium.html#comments Sat, 22 Nov 2008 14:22:49 +0000 zebra10 http://juventus.footballblog.co.uk/?p=275 This week Juventus released the details of the new stadium to replace the Delle Alpi stadium, a stadium which they moved from two years ago. Juve are currently sharing the Olympic Stadium with eternal rivals Torino. The new stadium is set to follow in the steps of Arsenal’s Emirates stadium, that is, a major merchandising thingy. The stadium is set to take up the name of a sponsor.

&border=0&rel=0&egm=0&color1=0x666666&color2=0xefefef' /> ]]> http://juventus.footballblog.co.uk/video-juventus-new-stadium.html/feed 0