Italy is bracing itself for another installment of the derby d’Italia, pitting the two best supported clubs in the country in what is looking like a hugely important match for Juventus and their manager Ciro Ferrara.
Successive 2-0 defeats to Bordeaux in the Champions League and Cagliari in Serie A have heaped the pressure on Juve’s young manager. Guus Hiddink has since been linked with the Juventus hot seat and the pressure will only go up a notch if Inter Milan win in Turin to all but leave “The Old Lady” out of the running for the Scudetto.
Juventus are eight points behind Inter going into the match and are now in third place after they were overtaken by a resurgent AC Milan. The home side have been boosted by the surprise return of David Trezeguet for this match and the Juve top goal scorer will have his work cut out against the joint stingiest defence in Serie A.
The rest of the team news is mixed for Ferrara. Brazilian defensive midfielder Felipe Melo is out due to laryngitis but Giorgio Chiellini is expected to play after damaging his nose last weekend. Much will depend on Momo Sissoko and Diego in the middle of the park as this is where Inter usually suffocate opposition teams.
Up front Amauri is a physical threat even though he doesn’t score as often as he should whilst Alessandro Del Piero will be hoping to get on the scoresheet for the first time this season after a lengthy injury lay-off. Further back in the Juventus team, both Fabio Grosso and Fabio Cannavaro will be facing their former club.
Joe Mourinho’s Inter Milan continue to dominate Italian football and the “Special One” will be well aware that this is the perfect opportunity to put Juventus out of contention. The Nerazzuri have lost just once in the league all season and look by far the most likely team to win the Scudetto.
Both Diego Milito and Samuel Eto’o have banged in goals in the early months of the campaign and Mario Balotelli is unlikely to have forgotten that he scored away at Juventus last season. Inter will be without marauding right back Maicon for this one as he is suspended and Wesley Sneijder is a major doubt to continue an incredible run since joining in the summer. The Dutchman has won every match bar one in Serie A so far.
Hanging over both teams are the midweek Champions League matches coming up with Juventus and Inter Milan needing positive results to progress. Historically this match is usually a tight affair – last season three goals were scored in 180 minutes of football and this is likely to be the case again.
Inter in recent years have made a habit of doing just enough against their closest rivals and although they may still be waiting to make an impact in Europe, these matches are their bread and butter.
