Socrates

Serie A Week 36 - 2-5-2012 (8:45 p.m.) - Juventus Stadium - Turin Referee: Paolo Valeri Cosmi wins Juventus appeal May 1, 2012 Serse Cosmi has won his appeal against a touchline ban, so he will be on the bench for tomorrow evening’s Juventus-Lecce match. The Salentini Coach was suspended, but the ban has been reduced on appeal to the Federal Court. Instead it will become a warning with €10,000 fine. Lecce are in a battle with Genoa to avoid relegation, while Juventus are top of the Serie A table. http://www.soccerway...regular-season/

Serie A Week 36 - 2-5-2012 (8:45 p.m.) - Juventus Stadium - Turin Referee: Paolo Valeri Cosmi anticipates tough Juve May 1, 2012 Serse Cosmi still believes Lecce have what it takes to avoid relegation from Serie A, even if he admits that Wednesday’s trip to Juventus will be difficult. The Salentini arrive in Turin hoping for a result against a Bianconeri side that have won their last League games and who remain undefeated for the season. Sat in 18th place and arriving off the back of two defeats suffered, Lecce are in for a test to take anything from the game, admits Cosmi. “We know we’ll face a team that has conceded just one goal in the last eight games,” he told his Press conference on Tuesday. “Juventus are having a superb championship, for the results they’re achieving and the quality of their play. “I don’t know how much chance we have of getting a result in Turin, but with the right attitude we could give them a game. “We’ll require players who don’t surrender and are able to find the strength to give even more than they have done up until now. “It’s clear we squandered a great opportunity against Parma, but I still believe we can stay up.” http://www.soccerway...regular-season/

Serie A Week 36 - 2-5-2012 (8:45 p.m.) - Juventus Stadium - Turin Referee: Paolo Valeri Conte: Juve like Verona May 1, 2012 Antonio Conte believes that should Juventus win the Scudetto this season, then it is a comparable achievement to Hellas Verona’s 1985 title. The Gialloblu famously won the Italian League that season against all the odds, something that Bianconero Coach Conte says holds similar truth in reflection in 2012 to his Juve side. The comparison, though, was made after he was pushed for an answer to another subject, the future of strikers Alessandro Del Piero and Marco Borriello at the club beyond the summer. “Look, we are thinking in the present, their help has given us the opportunity to something incredible this year, something incredible and unthinkable earlier this season, ” deflected the 42-year-old tactician to the assembled media on Tuesday. “And if we win, I think this is comparable to the League championship of Hellas Verona’s, lest we forget where we have come from. “So we are thinking about this, let’s concentrate on doing something extraordinary in the League. “We are building on what we’ve already built that is important, but let’s not lose sight of the goal, because it has not yet been achieved. “Other things are secondary, they are things we will face when the time comes.” The Coach went further on this final point, by insisting that Wednesday opponents Lecce, Conte’s home-town club that he also once played for, would need Juve’s full concentration. “We can’t say Lecce are the final hurdle, because as the previous two games have taught us, we have found teams with the greatest motivation to get a result, as it should be. “So we will encounter a Lecce who like us have an important goal . We strive for something beautiful, magical, whilst they are after survival. It will be a nice challenge between two teams that still have the greatest motivation. “We absolutely have to think about us only, though, as I always say, partly because we have nothing in our hands at the moment, except for Champions League qualification and the Coppa Italia final. “We are looking before we speak, I was taught that you must win before you talk.” Conte was also asked about the Bianconeri’s possession statistics through the season, where they have averaged the third highest possession in League football across all of Europe. “The focus on possession was a well-defined concept from day one, that we want to take the game to the opponents and to do so we needed the ball at our feet. “We have facilitated this task through the players…[Andrea] Pirlo who is great for playing this style of play and allows the team to have peace of mind from this point of view. “We’ve worked hard on an idea for how to play, how to make the game, to want to keep the ball and all this has been possible thanks to the players.” http://www.soccerway...regular-season/

Obodo ci fa perdere tempo

Si sta scaldando

Matri si scalda

Lecce in asfissia

La Juve gioca come l'Olanda di Cruijff degli anni 70. Vero calcio totale.

Marchisio gladiatore

Il centrocampo Juve in azione

ARTURO VIDAL GRANDISSIMO

Marchisio in versione gladiatore

Grande azione Juve. Vidal calcia fuori di pochissimo.

Giacomazzi si scalda

Quagliarella non in fuorigioco

Una Juve ubriacante ....

Straordinario Vidal

Quasi autogoal Lecce

Cuadrado assassino

Antonio Conte scatenato

CLAUDIO MARCHISIO

Serie A Week 36 - 2-5-2012 (8:45 p.m.) - Juventus Stadium - Turin Referee: Paolo Valeri Cosmi: Lecce will give Juventus a game The flamboyant coach has nothing but praise for the Serie A leaders, but has stressed that his side will do their utmost to cause an upset in Turin. May 1, 2012 Lecce coach Serse Cosmi is confident that his team have what it takes to trouble Juventus in Wednesday's Serie A match in Turin. Cosmi is full of respect for the Bianconeri following their impressive performances in the 2011-12 campaign, but believes Lecce can 'give them a game' with the right attitude. "We know we face a team that has conceded just one goal in the last eight games. Juventus are enjoying a superb championship with great results and football of the highest level," Cosmi said at a press conference. "I don’t know how much chance we have of getting a result in Turin, but with the right attitude we could give them a game. “We’ll need players who don’t surrender and are able to find the strength to give even more than they have done up until now." Wednesday's match kicks off at 20.45CET. http://www.soccerway...regular-season/

Serie A Week 36 - 2-5-2012 (8:45 p.m.) - Juventus Stadium - Turin Referee: Paolo Valeri Conte: Winning the Scudetto would be comparable to Hellas Verona's success in 1985 The 42-year-old has stated that if his side win the league this term, it would be a similar feat to when the unfashionable Italian outfit won the title 27 years ago. May 1, 2012 Antonio Conte believes that if Juventus win the Scudetto this season, it will be comparable to Hellas Verona's title success in the 1984-85 campaign. The unfashionable Verona outfit defied the odds to be crowned champions of Italy ahead of Torino and Inter 27 years ago. With Juve on the verge of their first league title since 2003, Conte has spoken out about what he feels could be an incredible achievement. "Look, we are thinking in the present, their help has given us the opportunity to do something incredible this year, something that was unthinkable earlier this season," he said at his press conference ahead of the game against Lecce on Wednesday. "And if we win, I think this is comparable to the league championship of Hellas Verona, lest we forget where we have come from. So we are thinking about this, let’s concentrate on doing something extraordinary in the league. "We are building on what we’ve already built that is important, but let’s not lose sight of the goal, because it has not yet been achieved." Victory against Lecce combined with a home defeat for AC Milan versus Atalanta midweek would see the Old Lady win the league bet Conte is refusing to underestimate his hometown club. "We can’t say Lecce are the final hurdle, because as the previous two games have taught us, we have found teams with the greatest motivation to get a result, as it should be," he added. "So we will encounter Lecce who like us have an important goal. We strive for something beautiful, magical, while they are after survival. It will be a nice challenge between two teams that still have the greatest motivation. “We absolutely have to think about us only, though, as I always say, partly because we have nothing in our hands at the moment, except for Champions League qualification and the Coppa Italia final. "We are looking before we speak, I was taught that you must win before you talk." http://www.soccerway...regular-season/

Serie A Week 36 - 2-5-2012 (8:45 p.m.) - Juventus Stadium - Turin Referee: Paolo Valeri Juventus vs. Lecce PREVIEW: One Small Step For A Man… May 1, 2012 It is now so close you can almost taste it, and we don’t mean Mike’s latest brilliant edition of TeamEATS! With three games left to go the Bianconeri occupy top spot in Serie A, three points clear of rivals AC Milan and with the benefit of a favorable head-to-head record. This, as you are undoubtedly aware, means Antonio Conte and his squad are just two wins away from securing a title win which would end an agonising six-year wait and see both the Scudetto tricolore and a richly deserved third star stitched onto next season’s Jeep-sponsored shirts. Back in February, Juventus emerged from their worst spell of the season: a seven-game run in which they managed to obtain one single victory amidst a myriad of frustrating draws. They then traveled to Fiorentina, obtaining an emphatic 5-0 demolition win over their bitter rivals, and followed it up with another seven consecutive wins, an incredible streak during which they’ve outscored their opponents 23-1. With all elements of the team reaching peak form at once, Juve have produced a perfectly-timed burst which looks set to carry them across the finish line and into football history. Make no mistake: that is exactly what we are about witness to right now. Yes, it is wonderful to see la vecchia Signora back at the summit of Italian football after the purgatory of Serie B and the sheer hell of the Alessio Secco era error. Yet more than just overcoming current champions AC Milan, Conte’s miraculous reversal of fortunes has seen a string of records broken in his relentless pursuit of perfection. This past weekend’s triumph in Novara set a new benchmark of 35 unbeaten games from the start of a season, a total which increases to 39 if we include Juve’s Coppa Italia campaign: across all competitions, Juve have thus surpassed Internazionale’s 2004-05 record! It is also apt that Leonardo Bonucci chose this week to single out his fellow defenders for praise, calling the backline an “impenetrable defence” as they collected their fourth consecutive away clean sheet. That is a feat no Juventus side has managed since 1979 (when they managed six in a row) and shows just how good the defence has been. Should further proof be required, we need look no further than the recent record of Gigi Buffon, recipient of yet another ‘senza voto’ in Aaron’s post-game pagelle last weekend. Since the start of April – which began with that 3-0 bashing of Napoli – the World’s Greatest-Ever Goalkeeper has been reduced to little more than a spectator, accumulating just six saves in the six matches he played since. The best thing about all of this however, is the knowledge that Conte waits menacingly – nailed baseball bat in hand – for one of his players to show even the slightest sign of complacency. So driven is the coach that he refuses to allow the squad to give anything less than their very best, to the point he was captured on television screaming “Non voglio prendere gol” (“I don’t want to concede any goals”) at Andrea Barzagli during the Novara game. The scoreline at the time was 4-0! Lecce As we discussed at length in our preview of the January encounter between these two teams, Lecce are Conte’s hometown and former club which, shortly before that fixture, replaced Eusebio Di Francesco with Serse Cosmi. Through a combination of grit, effort and his determined character (not to mention an inspirational penchant for showing his players pornographic material), the new man has driven the Giallorossi from dead-last to having a slim chance of avoiding relegation. Having won just twice prior to the new manager’s arrival, Lecce have lost just four times under Cosmi but come into this match in poor form and not having won since early April. Yet they still trail Genoa by a single point in the standings, and hold out hope of seeing the Rossoblu make the relegation drop in their place (something which would give this writer great joy… did I say that out loud? O dear). From a Bianconeri point of view, the one negative to Cosmi’s appointment is his switch from his predecessor’s 4-2-3-1 formation which marginalized Cristian Pasquato and made less room for Manuel Giandonato. While the former has since left for Torino – where he is excelling under the guidance of Conte’s mentor Giampiero Ventura – the latter has struggled since recovering from the knee surgery he underwent in November. Cosmi himself will be suspended for this game after being handed a touchline ban for verbally abusing the fourth official during his team’s loss to Parma (he will be replaced by second-in-command Mario Palazzi) regularly be in the dugout, after having won the appeal against his 1-match touchline ban, but will not be joined by defender Andrea Esposito who was sent off during Lecce’s match against the Gialloblu. Key man Juan Cuadrado should return from a suspension of his own but it is the absence of the coach that will be most keenly felt. This is Cosmi’s second ban since taking charge of Lecce, and the side looked lost without his constant input from the sidelines during those previous games. LECCE (3-5-2) Benassi Tomovic, Carrozzieri, Miglionico Cuadrado, Blasi, Obodo, G.Delvecchio, Brivio Di Michele, Seferovic BENCH: Petrachi, Di Matteo, Giandonato, Giacomazzi, Bertolacci, Muriel, Bojinov Starting %: Seferovic 60-40% Muriel , Brivio 55-45% Di Matteo Injured: Julio Sergio (season), Corvia (season), Oddo (TBA) Suspended: A.Esposito (1) Other: Gabrieli, Ingrosso, Falcone, Grossmüller, Piatti, Ofere At YC risk: Brivio, Muriel, Miglionico, Bertolacci, Carrozzieri, Giacomazzi Juventus The last time Juventus faced Lecce, they flew directly to the Southern city from their Dubai Winter training camp. That trip was nothing like some of the money-spinning tours seen at many of Europe’s elite clubs (including Juve) in recent years, and instead saw the players driven hard by fitness coach Paolo Bertelli. The benefits of that are now undoubtedly being seen as Juventus look sharper and fitter than any opponent they have faced, even now able to employ the relentless pressing demanded by Conte with the same vigour as they did in the opening day demolition of Parma. That edge, allied to the coach’s confidence to constantly switch shape and rotate his starting eleven (a fact borne out when noting the Bianconeri have seen an incredible 18 different men find the back of the net), fills the Juventus camp – particularly its strikers – with aplomb. While Marco Borriello and Mirko Vucinic are both in great form, leading scorer Alessandro Matri returns from a one-match yellow-card accumulation ban and may slide straight back into the line-up, also given the injury doubts surrounding Fabio Quagliarella. The former Cagliari striker grabbed the only goal in January’s 1-0 win over Wednesday’s opponent and he will look to add to his total of 10 for the season, while also trying to break a personal scoring drought that has been continuing since February 25th in that vital head-to-head clash with AC Milan. Further back, it is impossible to predict whether Conte will mirror the 3-5-2 of Lecce or continue with the same formation which so comprehensively dispatched Novara at the weekend. Some rotation is likely, perhaps with Paolo De Ceglie coming back in on the left whilst the coach must also consider getting Andrea Pirlo some rest once the result is secured. Whatever happens three points are absolutely vital to keep Milan at bay and ensure that the kit designers at Nike will have a couple of extra badges to incorporate into their designs for next season. JUVENTUS (3-5-2) Buffon Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini Lichtsteiner, Vidal, Pirlo, Marchisio, De Ceglie Matri, Vucinic BENCH: Storari, Cáceres, Giaccherini, Padoin, Quagliarella, Del Piero, Borriello Starting %: Matri 45% Quagl. 35% Borriello 30%, De Ceglie 65-35% Giaccherini Injured: Pepe (TBA) Suspended: / Other: Manninger, Grosso, Marrone, Elia, Krasic, Estigarribia At YC risk: Barzagli, De Ceglie, Marchisio, Vidal, Giaccherini In Conte we trust! http://www.soccerway...regular-season/

Serie A Week 36 - 2-5-2012 (8:45 p.m.) - Juventus Stadium - Turin Referee: Paolo Valeri Juventus v Lecce: Preview May 1, 2012 Juventus coach Antonio Conte has labelled tomorrow's game against relegation-threatened Lecce as the "game of our lives". The Turin giants will be crowned Serie A champions if they can beat Lecce and second-place AC Milan lose against Atalanta. Juve are three points clear of Milan with three games remaining and hold a better head-to-head record against the Rossoneri. "Our thoughts are on tomorrow's encounter,'' Conte said. "The game against Lecce is the game of our lives. "We gave a further display of strength and development in our (4-0) triumph at Novara (on Sunday). "We made a difficult game easy. We need to keep going. "The fact that we are handing solid displays and playing good football should fill us with pride and satisfaction.'' Conte's Juve are just three games away from joining Perugia and Milan as the only sides in the history of Serie A to go an entire season undefeated. The Bianconeri go into their midweek encounter riding an eight-match winning run. Rivals Lecce are battling just to stay in Italy's top flight. The Salentini go into the game knowing that a win could see them climb out of the relegation zone for the first time this year. Lecce are in the bottom three but they still have time to ensure they can stay in the division. Sunday's 2-1 loss to Parma left them in 18th place, one point behind Genoa, who are in the last position of safety. "I believe it is still possible for us to avoid the drop," Lecce coach Serse Cosmi said. "Our current position in the standings forces us to take maximum points from our remaining games regardless of the results of our rivals. "We will try against Juve." The visitors will be without suspended defender Andrea Esposito while Cosmi will have to watch the game from the Juventus stadium stands as he must serve a one-match touchline ban. http://www.soccerway...regular-season/