v
PARMA
Juventus Stadium, Turin
September 10, 2011; 10:30 GMT
***
A new stadium, a new manager and plenty of new players bring renewed hope and optimism for the upcoming Serie A season for Juventus. The Bianconeri have had a major overhaul in their squad, in the summer. Indeed, they were one of the highest spenders in Europe and have filled up some of the holes in the team. Talents such as Pirlo, Vucinic and Vidal, among others, arrived at Turin but more than the players, the fans are excited about the new magnificent stadium.
The state of the art stadium will provide a significant boost to the club financially and is one of a kind in Italy. It’s inauguration was a beautiful spectacle that saw the presence of Juve legends of the past and present at the stadium. The team also played out a friendly against English side Notts County, who were invited on account of the history between the two sides. The game ended in a 1-1 draw and Luca Toni made his way into the history books as the first scorer in this new era.
Parma have been the scourge of Juve in the past couple of seasons, and have made very decent summer signings in the form of Sergio Floccari, Fabiano Santacroce and Jonathan Biabiany. After having just survived relegation last campaign, they will no doubt want to improve upon last season’s position and certainly have the quality to do so. Franco Colomba remains at the helm of the Gialloblu, after he took over from Pasquale Marino and guided the team to safety.
The last meeting between these two sides ended up in a home win for Parma at the Ennio Tardini, courtesy of an exceptional Sebastian Giovinco goal. The defeat to Parma in early January also started the downfall of Juventus and was one of the turning points last season. Fabio Quagliarella, who was in such a rich vein of form, suffered a knee injury, which tragically ruled him out for the rest of the season. Their season did collapse after that frantic game.
Team News and Tactical Brief
Juventus
New manager Antonio Conte will have pretty much a full strength squad to choose from. Vincenzo Iaquinta is the only player who’s unsurprisingly injured at the moment. Milos Krasic, Alessandro Matri and Mirko Vucinic are doubtful but they are expected to regain fitness before the game. Much has been said about Conte’s elastic 4-2-4 formation but the manager seems determined to stick with it for now. Among the plethora of new signings made, Conte is expected to field Lichtsteiner, Vidal, Elia and Andrea Pirlo. Stephan Lichtsteiner at right back represents a quality fullback, something Juve have terribly lacked ever since the departure of Gianluca Zambrotta and will be a vital component of this Juve team for this season.
In the heart of the defence, Giorgio Chiellini is expected to marshall the defence. Chiellini has established himself as one of the best defenders in the league for a few years now and he has an important season ahead of him, given Juve’s failure to land another top quality centre back. This failure could well help Leonardo Bonucci prove his worth after not living up to expected standards last season.
The centre of midfield is likely to consist of new signings Arturo Vidal and Andrea Pirlo. Vidal, who was so impressive at Leverkusen last season and with the Chile side, will patrol the midfield and offer protection to Pirlo so that the former Milan man can weave his magic. In attack, Krasic and Elia are expected to flank Del Piero and Alessandro Matri. Elia was impressive in the game at Notts County, showing blistering pace and skill and if he does maintain consistency, he could turn out to be a bargain for Juventus at 9 Million Euros. Alessandro Matri will hope to continue his excellent form from last season. A goal from Del Piero though is what most of the Bianconeri faithful will be hoping for as there’s no one who symbolizes the club better than Il Pinturicchio.
Probable Starting XI (4-2-4): Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Chiellini, De Ceglie; Pirlo, Vidal; Krasic, Del Piero, Matri, Elia.
Parma
Manager Colomba has to deal with a few notable absentees that include former Juve man Raffaele Palladino, Massimo Gobbi, Jaime Valdes, Danilo Pereira, Marques and Sergio Floccari. It was Juve striker Amauri, who played a huge role in Parma’s resurrection and their survival last season. Unfortunately for them, their efforts to try and sign him went in vein as he rejected every deal that came his way in a bid to ‘prove himself’ at Juventus, despite the management keen on letting him go. Amauri now has been frozen out of the squad. Sergio Floccari was signed from Lazio to replace the Italo-Brazilian.
Colomba likes his 4-4-2 formation. In goal will be another former Juve player Antonio Mirante. At right back, former Palermo man Cristian Zaccardo, who had a decent last season with the Gialloblu, is expected to start. Their defence could form their weakest link, with Gabriel Paletta hardly the best defender out there and Juventus could exploit their Achilles’ heel. In midfield, Galloppa had a fairly good campaign last season and was linked to the bigger sides in the league, but Parma managed to hold onto him. He will orchestrate play from the centre of midfield.
Sebastian Giovinco, co-owned by Juve and Parma, will want to haunt his old side yet again for letting him go. La Formica Atomica has often hit out at his previous owners for his ill-treatment and has always done well against Juve, scoring in the previous two meetings. He will have to inspire Parma again if they are to come away with any points from Turin. He is expected to partner former Italy U21 International Graziano Pelle in attack and provide the creativity up front.
Probable Starting XI (4-4-2): Mirante; Zaccardo, Palleta, Lucarelli, Rubin; Valliani, Morrone, Galloppa, Modesto; Giovinco, Pelle.
TheHardTackle’s PLAYER TO WATCH OUT FOR
Andrea Pirlo (Juventus)
The heartbeat of Milan and Azzurri’s midfield for so many years, Pirlo jumped ship to Juventus this season in search of a new adventure. At Juve, Il Metronome will look to continue to do what he does best – pass. The Italian International will dictate play from the heart of the Bianconeri’s midfield with his familiar ‘lazy genius’ style of play and will keep things ticking. When Pirlo plays well; his team plays well.
TheHardTackle’s PREDICTION
Juventus 2-1 Parma
Heading into the first game of the season, both sides will be pumped up and will go all out for a positive result. Juventus will be eager to mark the birth of their new home with a win, and Antonio Conte will motivate his side to get the three points. Quality wise, Parma cannot match up to Juve, man for man, who will have just a bit too much for the Gialloblu. One can expect Juve to celebrate the inception of their new stadium with a hard-fought win, and possibly overcome their bad run of form against Parma.