It was never going to be easy to get excited about a Europa League qualifier this early in the season – I mean let’s face it, it’s a painful reminder of just how poor Juventus were last season and more importantly, of the long season ahead of us. On the plus side, it gave us fans a chance to see the new signing’s in action, and more importantly, how they would fit into Gigi Del Neri’s lineup.
To say i was apprehensive about this game would be an understatement. Roma, despite the fact that we’ve thumped them silly for the last 4 years, always present a threat and i was half expecting to see the same gritty Roma side that showed up in midweek against Kosice. Not to say i expected a 7-1 drubbing, but rather a team that showed some real attacking intent and put us under pressure.
Instead, i saw a personal dream realised and the birth of a new Juventus idol. Now it may be early to start gushing about individual performances, especially as the season is only 2 weeks old, but come on, how good is Diego ?!
Juventus were well and truly thumped by Villarreal as they fell to a 4-1 rout by the Spanish side. Diego was still missing so Seba Giovinco started behind a revised front two of David Trezeguet and ADP.
The visitors made their intentions very clear early on, pushing through the Juventus midfield with relative ease and testing Alex Manninger from set pieces. Juve, in contrast failed to capitalise on the the handful of chances they were presented with, opting to play on the counter.
Juve’s defending was bought under the spotlight as Robert Pires netted twice along with a goal a piece for Cazorla and Nilmar.
Juventus signed off on a decent run in the 2009 Peace Cup with a limp performance in the final against Aston Villa. Juventus were without the injured Diego while Villa were missing a host of first team players and were forced to call up 3 youth players to bolster their ranks.
David Trezeguet and Vincenzo Iaquinta started up front for the Bianconeri but they failed to capitalise on some fine crosses from the midfield. Trezeguet was particularly wasteful as he fired over the goal from point blank range and Iaquinta nodded an open header just over the bar.
The Bianconeri were left frustrated as Villa pulled men behind the ball and looked to hit Juventus on the break. Ciro Ferrara threw on Del Piero and Amauri late on in the hopes of bagging a winner but the game seemed destined for penalties.
Juve are through to the final of the pace cup after beating Real Madrid 2 – 1! Goals came at the beginning of each half with Cannavaro latching on to a Del Piero free kick to put Juventus one nil up. Madrid got a goal back at the end of the half after a rash tackle from Giorgio Chiellini downed Raul and Ronaldo stepped up to convert the penalty.
Juve were far from disheartened and within 8 minutes of the restart, Juve were 2-1 up as Brazzo was left unmarked to head in a Del Piero cross. Madrid tried their best to push forward and grab an equalizer bringing on Higuain and Negredo late on but the Juventus defence, marshalled by Gigi Buffon, was more than equal to the task.
Juventus came out ready winners against Sevilla in their first game in the peace cup with goals from Iaquinta and Amauri but Mauro Camoranesi has picked up yet another injury.
Juventus looked solid and organised as Amauri connected to Alex Del Piero’s corner to open the scoring on 27 mins. Mauro Camoranesi picked up a knock about an hour into the game and was replaced by Vicenzo Iaquinta. The big striker went on to double Juves’ lead as he latched on to a brilliant cross from Zebina to put Juve 2 goals to the good. A defensive error late on in the game saw Schillaci net a consolation goal for Sevilla, but overall, it was confident and assured performance from the Bianconeri as they start to adapt to Ferrara’s new formation.
Juventus played their first friendly of the summer against Cisco Roma yesterday and ran out ready winners, 4 – 1 despite not fielding any of the summers new signings. The match itself was notable for the new ‘Ciro Ferrara’ era and a change of formation – having played ‘4 – 4 – 2′ for so many years, Juve made the switch to 4 – 3 – 1 – 2 with Alex Del Piero playing behind Trezeguet and Amauri.
