Serie A 2007/08 - Week 13

Cagliari vs. Milan

Saturday, December 1st, 2007

19:00 (UK); 20:00 (IT)

26/11/2007 19:01

Pirlo Looking Forward To Juve Clash

Milan star Andrea Pirlo is excited about this weekend’s match with Juventus and believes there will be a special atmosphere at San Siro.

This will be the first time that Italy’s two biggest clubs will have met competitively since the infamous Calciopoli crisis in 2006. 

The scandal saw Juve relegated to Serie B, while Milan were handed a heavy points penalty.  The Bianconeri have since returned to the top-flight and have made an impressive start to the campaign. 

“The game with Juventus is a historical match,” said Pirlo.

“I believe it will be a beautiful game with a very special atmosphere. “It is nice to see Juventus return to Serie A.” 

Pirlo also commented on his brilliant free-kick winner against Cagliari yesterday afternoon. 

“I always try to prefect the way I hit my free-kicks, sometimes they go well and sometimes they go bad,” said Pirlo. 

“Yesterday the goalkeeper moved with the movement of the ball, the trajectory then changed and so it went well.”

AC Milan 4 - 1 Juventus.
Next   

Forza Milan!

Has been a while. In the last game in the league at San siro we won 3:1 (it was a great game. Juve were going strong then). Can't wait for this one. I predict a lot of goals.

Match is at 19:30 UK next Saturday.

As for the result, I predict a draw or a Juventus win. Although I'd love to finally see a victory in San Siro for Serie A this year.

Forza Milan!

Oh, back then... what a game! And we were actually competing for the scudetto back then! 

This clash has often been below my expectations [of course there are some exceptions like that 3-1 thrashing] but I predict a boring game, maybe finally a home win. but Juve's motivation worries me. this motivation was the reason why they managed to take points from Inter while they were clearly inferior to them.

La Fidanzata d'Italia might be good in bed, getting what she wants but my... she's an ugly b/tch!!

Serie A Week 14 - 1/12/07 (19.30 UK) 

Milan-Juventus

Stadio Giuseppe Meazza

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One of the classic Serie A fixtures returns for the first time in two years and with both teams on the ascendant it’s a mouth-watering prospect.

During the 1990s these two teams dominated the Scudetto race, but have found life tough after the Calciopoli scandal. While Juventus were demoted to Serie B, the Rossoneri were ruled out of last year’s title challenge with an eight-point penalty and have had a shaky start to this season. They are still looking for their first home victory of the campaign and have picked up an astounding 77 per cent of their points on their travels. Their record against the Bianconeri here is not particularly positive either, winning only two of their last five meetings. The most decisive was a 1-0 sealed by David Trezeguet’s early header that handed Juve the Scudetto in May 2005.

Milan are showing signs of improvement though, and last week Ronaldo made his return after six months out with a mystery injury, earning a penalty and hitting the woodwork in the 2-1 win at Cagliari. Alberto Gilardino would be a certainty to start upfront if it weren’t for the fact all five of his Serie A goals this season have been scored outside San Siro, while Pippo Inzaghi is raring to face his former club. Carlo Ancelotti is another Juve old boy, having been given a reputation as a ‘lovable loser’ while in Turin only to win every trophy at Milan. Emerson and Marek Jankulovski are injured, while Clarence Seedorf’s return could restore the Christmas Tree formation.

Juventus are flying high after their 5-0 demolition job on Palermo and have done very well against the other Scudetto contenders so far, earning draws with Inter, Roma and Fiorentina. Jorge Andrade, Zdenek Grygera and Jean-Alain Boumsong remain sidelined, but Giorgio Chiellini returns from a ban to bolster the defence. Alessandro Del Piero netted twice on Sunday evening and set up a third after coming off the bench for the final 20 minutes, so has probably done enough to win back his starting spot from Azzurri rival Vincenzo Iaquinta. Del Piero had been linked with a move to Milan when his contract talks with Juve were stalling, as he has an excellent rapport with his former Bianconeri boss Ancelotti. Trezeguet’s place is secure, the current Capocannoniere on 11 goals in 13 games.


Keep an eye on: Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus) – The veteran is fired up after exclusion from the Azzurri and the Juventus starting XI, so this is the kind of game where he can really prove a point to his doubters.

Last season: Not played

Form guide: Milan (L L W D W) Juventus (L W D D W)

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Milan (probable): Dida; Oddo, Nesta, Maldini, Serginho; Gattuso, Pirlo, Ambrosini; Kaka; Ronaldo, Gilardino

Juventus (probable): Buffon; Zebina, Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Molinaro; Camoranesi, Nocerino, Zanetti, Nedved; Del Piero, Trezeguet

Possibly our toughest test of the season so far? As much as I dislike Juve, you've got to admire the way they've bounced back from the Calciopoli. Saying that, I still believe that Milan are a far superior team (even if recent results don't show it). Hopefully we can end the San Siro curse and get our Serie A season back on track.

If Juventus is in it, it's bound to be a boring encounter... La Fidanzata d'Italia might be good in bed, getting what she wants but my... she's an ugly b/tch!!

LMAO this beyond a joke now, we totally deserve this as well.

The more the board went on about us not needing any other players, the more likely this was to happen. Hopefully it will be a lesson learned and it won't happen again.

The more the board went on about us not needing any other players, the more likely this was to happen. Hopefully it will be a lesson learned and it won't happen again.

ya we'll see, i thought last season should have been enough of a lesson.

I think our transfer policy sucks.  Any team/manager that decides to buy a player who is over 30 (no matter how good he is!) has no clue on building a team. Ronnie, Emerson, those were ridiculous purchases!!
Its more painfull to hear the don talking about Zambrotta in January or new season.
30+ players are injury prone, they are through with their best years...then we have Gourcuff and don't make use of him!

I can't say I agree with mkenya. I mean RvN and Luca Toni have been very good transfers for their respective clubs.

So admit that this season's transfer window sucked!

han you sound like Ike from South Park. Mulaaaan.

Have you seen that episode...

oops off topic!

i just dont feel their midfield is up tot he task. they did well against inter but if we play with 5 mid fielders i expect us to control the game and win. 2-0 or 2-1. goals from pippo and kaka.

han you sound like Ike from South Park. Mulaaaan.

Have you seen that episode...

oops off topic!

MILANELLO - Carlo Ancelotti: "I’m not worried, we’re coming from the Lisbon match with the qualification. Objective reached, even though the performance was not very good. From the fighting spirit we have something less than Juventus due to this European commitment, but already knowing it is an advantage. In football there isn’t just running. Surely, training with tranquillity during the week allows a team to have a better condition. However, there is also the attention, application, quality and we will try to use all of this tomorrow. The only unavailable players are Jankulovksi and Ronaldo, the rest will recover. Milan-Juventus arrives at the right moment, it will be very difficult as Juventus is improving. They found a good spirit and a good organization, but for us it’s the right moment to return to winning at home against a great team.”

Carlo Ancelotti again: "Juventus is always a great team, an opponent which fights till the end. I did not think that they could reach these levels so soon. Juventus changed a lot, but still managed to build on quality player a good organization. They hurried things up. For the fourth place, this game is important because we are a bit behind. From this point of view it’s more important for us, because Juventus is already better placed than us. “

The home games issue: “It’s the first time that this happens. It never happened to me in the past and it never happened at Milan. I hope that it will be solved tomorrow. The Scudetto of last season? Inter won it deservedly, it’s not a false Scudetto. Last year we got distanced by Inter too early. The absence of Ronaldo tomorrow evening will not influence Milan, as we would have played in the same way. I think that for Japan Ronaldo can be available. Maybe tomorrow it won’t rain, but if we want to re-play the same game we played at San Siro in the semi-final against Manchester, then we shall succeed. The English team arrived to San Siro playing offensively and they were not able to manage the positive result of the first leg. The English are like that also for the national team. For the rest, our formation will be almost like Milan-Manchester, apart from the absence of Jankulovksi. In fact the only doubt I have is on the left hand side of the defence. Buffon with the Rossoneri’s scarf? Either he dressed in the dark, or paid us tribute, or maybe a prediction. Maybe that scarf means something…Buffon is very well at Juventus. He’s also the captain and he became a flag of this team. Buffon is the best goalkeeper in the world, it gives you more advantages than disadvantages."

This game has a draw written all over it. I predict a 1-1.