Serie A Preview: Juventus And Milan Clash At The Delle Alpi
Juventus - Milan | News Archive
Ancelotti in his Juve days (ALLSPORT)
04/12/2002. AT STAKE
Week 31's big game takes place at the Stadio Delle Alpi in Turin, a stadium that is going to see less of the bianconeri and more of cranes and concrete mixers over the next twelve months as it is given a complete face-lift. AC Milan travel to Turin in the hope of keeping their hopes of a Champions League berth alive. A win would not only keep them in the hunt, but may even move them up to fourth should Bologna drop points at home this weekend. For Lippi's men the task is simple. Much like Milan, they need to win four out of four games and hope their opponents slip up. But, their target is a little more serious: lo scudetto. What's going to be against the bianconeri? The entire city of Milan! Should Ancelotti be able to spring a surprise in his old hunting grounds, no one may be happier than Interisti around the world.
FORM GUIDE
Juventus last 6: LWWLDW
A loss at the Tardini followed by a tie at home against the biancocelesti had all but killed Juventus' hopes of fighting for the title, until they were bailed out by Atalanta who stunned Inter at the San Siro last week to put Juve back in Contention. The bianconeri put in one of their best performances of the season last week when the thrashed Perugia 0-4 away from home and will look to continue where they left of against Milan.
AC Milan last 6: WWWLDW
With the exception of the glaring hammering received from Dortmund, Milan have been in supreme form, playing extremely well led by none other than ex-Juve man Pippo Inzaghi who has now netted four times in four games for the rossoneri. If anyone doubted Milan after the 4-0 loss to Dortmund, they must have changed their mind after seeing the return leg where Ancelotti's men proved that had they had better luck in the first leg, they could have well progressed to the final.
TEAM NEWS & PROBABLE LINEUPS
A huge blow for Lippi as Juve's best player and one of the world's most wonderful players, Pavel Nedved is suspended for the tie. Paolo Montero finally makes his return from injury but Tudor, Maresca and Salas are still out. Lippi will choose between Davids and Tacchinardi before the game.
Juventus (4-4-2): Buffon; Thuram, Montero, Ferrara, Iuliano: Zambrotta, Conte, Davids, Pessotto; Del Piero, Trezeguet
Injured: Salas, Tudor & Maresca
Suspended: Nedved
Ancelotti still misses Rui Costa and Maldini, though there is a slim chance that the latter will be available for the game. Billy Costacurta is ruled out for the rest of the season, but defenders Roque Jr. and Helveg have recovered from their respective injures and are in the running for a starting role.
AC Milan (4-3-1-2): Abbiati; Contra, Laursen., Chamot, Kaladze; Gattuso, Albertini, Serginho; Pirlo; Inzaghi, Shevchenko
Injured: Maldini, Costacurta, Rui Costa & Redondo
Suspended: -
TACTICAL ANALYSIS
Lippi's dilemma in midfield will be centered around Nedved's replacement and it appears that Gianluca Pessotto (who has played in that position several times) may deputize for the Czech international. However, with Montero not a 100% and Tudor still recovering from injury, it may make more sense for him to play Pessotto at left back and move Iuliano to the center. Cristiano Zenoni meanwhile will be hoping that his boss has been listening to Lilian Thuram's rants about playing in the center in the hope of earning a rare start. Del Piero and Trezeguet (Serie A's top attacking couple with 33 goals) are set to start up front and will torment and ailing Milan defence deprived of its classy veterans.
Lippi's game plan will probably center around an imposing midfield where the likes of Davids, Conte and Zambrotta will try and impose themselves on the unbalanced Milan midfield. Del Piero will drop back often to create chances for his team-mate Trezeguet and one should not forget Lilian Thuram's probing runs from right-back. The danger men for me are clearly Zambrotta, who always excels against Milan and David Trezeguet.
Ancelotti would be silly to repeat his mistake of leaving Italy's most wonderfully talented youngster on the bench. Andrea Pirlo is the heart and soul of this Milan side's creativity. Inzaghi may have scored some nice goals in the past weeks, but rest assured that all of them have passed through the feet of Andrea Pirlo. With him, Serginho, Contra, Shevchenko and Inzaghi on the field, Milan can stop worrying about scoring goals, even against the imposing Juve defence. Another mistake that Ancelotti is extremely unlikely to repeat is leave Cosmin Contra on the bench. The Romanian may struggle to defend at times, but his crosses alone are worth a start.
Ancelotti's game plan will probably center around Andrea Pirlo who will mastermind the Milan attacks. The job of Gennario Gattuso and Demetrio Albertini will be to get Edgar Davids of Pirlo's back while still keeping tabs on the Juve midfield. I think it is very important for Milan to attack freely as they did in midweek and make use of Contra and Kaladze on the wings. Up front, Andriy Shevchenko and Filippo Inzaghi should be more than a handful for Thuram & Co.
SOCCERAGE PREDICTION
In a do-or-die game, I think Juve will concede the title after being punished by their former son, the in-form Filippo Inzaghi whilst Milan will grab a vital point away from home.
Juventus 2-2 AC Milan
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