Are you ready for some football? Juventus vs Milan. 1st vs 10th. 66 points vs 35 points. But seriously, Milan always give Juve a tough fight, even if they have struggled the past few years. Plus, now with Clarence Seedorf running the show, Milan are supposedly “reborn.” The recent results lend this some credence, though not to the extent that some Milanisti have praised Seedorf. We will return to Milan in a minute, first comes Juve.
Juventus
Juve are in pretty good form at the moment, having won their last four matches in all competitions. That said a few players will be missing for this match, most notably Arturo Vidal (suspended for one Serie A match) and Giorgio Chiellini (recovering from injury, although Gazzeta dello Sport has him on the bench for the match.) Mirko Vucinic and Simone Pepe are also out injured.
So that means in defense we have two-thirds of the normal three man back line. Andrea Barzagli (who also just returned from injury) and Leonardo Bonucci (fresh off his dominant performance vs Trabzonspor) will pair up with Martin Caceres or Angelo Ogbonna. Probably Caceres will start, as he was subbed off early against Trabzonspor, in what must have been an attempt to rest him.
Out on the flanks we have another player returning from injury (though a minor one that did not keep him out for long) with Kwadwo Asamoah predicted to start. It’s still possible to see Federico Peluso start at LWB, but seeing as Asamoah seems to have recovered quickly we can assume he will start in this important match. On the other side it’s obviously going to be Stephan Lichtsteiner.
With Vidal out the midfield will obviously be a configuration of Andrea Pirlo, Claudio Marchisio, and, Paul Pogba. Presumably Pogba will sort of fill Vidal’s role, while he is not yet as adept at marking opposing players as Vidal he can use his height (those long legs) and body to give opponents a hard time. Meanwhile Marchisio is an absolute workhorse and loves to score against Milan. Pirlo is Pirlo, we know what that means.
Up top we see the first choice partnership of Fernando Llorente and Carlos Tevez. I actually want to see Sebastian Giovinco come in as a sub (if the situation is appropriate) so he can build off of his play against Trabzonspor, especially since he has a decent history of play versus Milan. In reality, if any striker is to be brought on as a sub, it will probably be Dani Osvaldo. Which is more than ok with me.
Milan
First thing’s first, y’all should check out Enrico’s scouting report on Milan. Per usual, our Italian friend has the scoop on what’s up with Juve’s opposition. Milan have a ton of injured players, but the only really notable ones (at least for this match) are Mario Balotelli and the suspended Sulley Muntari (no Gol di Muntari this time.)
As Enrico pointed out, Balotelli will be missing his third straight game against Juve. However, Milan have found ways to compete with Juve regardless of Balotelli’s injuries or absences. The last game between the two, in October, was the most lopsided in recent years. The scoreline? 3-2. That said, it was 3-1 for a while until Muntari scored his second goal towards the end of the match. Philippe Mexes also got sent off, so that further hampered Milan.
Much has changed at Milan since then, between my dear friend Max Allegri getting replaced by Clarence Seedorf, and the arrivals of the likes of Adil Rami, Keisuke Honda, and, Adel Taarabt.
Rami is expected to start at centerback alongside Daniele Bonera. Remember, Bonera once shut down Messi. On the flanks are Mattia De Sciglio and Urby Emanuelson which basically means both sides will have their weaker wide player marking the opponent’s strongest wide player. However, the gulf between De Sciglio and Emanuelson is far greater than that between Lichtsteiner and Asamoah.
Now, Milan will pobably use a 4-2-3-1 so they can get three attacking mids on the field (which could cause problems for Pirlo, in terms of them marking him, and vice versa) so that means two midfielders who are more or less more focused on winning the ball back for the attacking mids, and thus also defending. It’s expected to be a combination of Nigel de Jong and Riccardo Montolivo, but Essien could also start in place of Montolivo. This would be a more of a defensive pairing, but seeing as how Milan are playing with three attacking mids it may be appropriate.
Kaka and Taarabt are pretty surely going to start at CAM, but the third man is up in the air. It could be Andrea Poli, or it could be one of Keisuke Honda, Valter Birsa, Robinho (who usually does well against Juventus, in my opinion), or Riccardo Saponara. Either way, I am sure whoever doesn’t start will probably see action as a substitute.
Finally up top in place of the injured Balotelli will be Giampaolo Pazzini. Pazzini hasn’t seen much time this year, but he has been playing more steadily with Seedorf. He played a full 90 minutes against Sampdoria, and did well though he did not score. Pazzini can certainly finish, the question is will the attacking midfielders of Milan give him opportunities to break through Juve’s backline? We will see tomorrow.
Bottom Line
I think this will be a very good match. Seedorf will want to make a statement, plus it’s rivalry anyway. Milan and Juve almost always put on a good show, but I do think Juve are the better team and will find a way to win. However it will be a close game.
Has Balotelli ever played against Juve?
I’m starting to think that this is intentional, as if someone didn’t want him to play against basically the Italian national team’s defense.
Conspiracy theories are fun.
he used to destroy us when he was with inter
Yup….still remember his goal in Coppa in Jan of 2010….Buffon parried a shot away from someone else and Balo pounced on the rebound
i wouldn’t say he destroyed us.
never with milan. only against inter. It makes me suspicious
Yeah Baby, Roma drew. Juve HAVE to win tomorrow!
Did Balotelli get send off in the last match or is it an injury? I cant remember.
I am excited to play against Seedorf. I like him and he can win everything but the matches against us.
yea hes injured… read the articles Dutch!! :p
I’m no reader lol
Only 3 people in Milan I respect are Kaka, Balotelli, and Seedorf.
What’s wrong with Abbiati, De Sciglio, Montolivo, Abate, Poli, Essien, etc.. ?
Did they say something? 😛
Umm, I don’t like them? Just because you do doesn’t mean I also have to like them.
Liking someone has nothing to do with respect.
I don’t like them, but I respect them for what they do, or have done for Milan, and generally during their career.
Ok.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vCngo3vtzVQ/UxJpKzqHtTI/AAAAAAAACJU/GnLm6XNxvRs/s1600/william.gif
oooooh someone needs to take a seat
So Veratti said that moving to Juve in the summer would be a step back… umm i dont know how to respond to that, but im not gonna lie, that one stung . Juventus(Glory, Loyalty, Pride, Heart, Determination, Great Love etc) >>>>>>>> Psg(money whores, pretenders) all day everyday Marco. and just when i was hoping Psg would win the Cl so Ibra could deservedly add that to his pedigree, but now ive changed my mind.
He may change his mind during the world cup. Or perhaps Bonucci could do it for him.
Verratti : “Hey Leo, wanted to talk?”
Bonucci: “Yeah, about this step back thing. Do these look like a step back for you?”
https://www.goolfm.net/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/bonucci-guns-490ai_10.jpg
There’s no way we could buy him out of his contract anyway. It expires in 2018, he will be 25 then, still good for a freebie, lol.
lol
youre hilarious. seriously
Yeah. Dick move on my opinion. Saying a club like ours (with its own history and title winning capability), or any other club, is a sure fire way for fans to dislike you
That’s just fine, he wants to snub us that’s cool, we don’t need him and Psg can also forget about getting Pogba too.
the first thing that came to my mind for me is, this dolt has to play with a half dozen Juve players on the national team.
Right now, Juve are to Serie A as PSG is to Ligue 1. We’re not spending 100 million every transfer window like them, but the talent is on par, and I’d even give an edge to Juve in terms of overall talent over PSG… These are essentially one team leagues with other teams slowly starting to catch up to them (i.e. Roma and Napoli, AS Monaco), but Serie A is still currently a better league, and is still somewhat of a higher profile than Ligue 1, for now anyways, we’ll see what the future holds.
His comments are just so wrong – You cannot even put the two clubs in the same sentence in terms of history, prestige, and just everything.. PSG is a recent phenomena, whereas Juve has been “special” for a 100 years.
Dead on dude, agreed.
what part of the world are you in?
I just agree with what ur saying man?
just asking what part of the world you are writing in from .. thats all. curious to know where everyone is from on this forum.. cool to know juve fans all over the globe.
haha i think he read your comment wrong. hes from the east coast of the U.s. i think
i think it’s more a case of moving back to Serie A would be a step back – not that the french league is any better, but it is going to gain in profile with the Euro’s being hosted there and the new and refurbished stadium projects that are going on – don’t be surprised if Ligue 1 takes over Serie A soon after the Euro’s or even leading up to it .. They better get their act together in Italy and start fixing things, or we’ll be the new Dutch League, meaning we were a once prominent league that went into the toilet.. (no offense to DutchJuve, just using it as an example)
We dont need him anyways. The only thing he has going for him is he’s italian. If he was german or spanish or something, no one would be this interested in bringing him here.
Oh we will need him, there’s no better player up and coming in his role and its a role we rely on.
If gundogan is able to get over his injury problems, he’s a far better player
I highly doubt he said it with the meaning that it has been reported as, wouldn’t exactly be the first time the media twist people’s meanings.
gabbiadini with a wonder strike today against Torino .. Wow. Also, Immobile on the pitch for Torino, good to be watching our younger prospects – god knows if they ever come to Juve, they’ll probably never see the pitch.
Gabbiadini might yet but I doubt that immobile ever will which is a shame.
We really should bring back both. The two have incredible chemistry together
What happened with berardi? Sent off just after coming on? Also, why the f*ck has the new manager dropped him?!
The new manager is a fucking idiot. Sassuolo have lost every game under him. He has completely screwed over berardi by playing a 3-5-2.
I know, why would you change to a formation that limits your best player?
Wanna go and kill him?
Maybe
anybody know of a link for the upcoming thrashing of milan?
https://gofirstrow.eu/
thank you love!
Asa’s back!
Lol where did he go in the first place?
at first, i read ” Asa’s black!” and i was like duuh :p
Praying for no black shorts today, err…
Dutch: https://stvstreams.com/
Belgium: https://www.bvls2013.com/bvls/
English: https://stvstreams.com/wowza/stvflash1.html
Best streams dude. much Hd, wow quality, wow…. lol
The cursed black shorts, oh boy!
Oh no…
Asamoah fail 😀
Bonucci wow
I think I just shit myself a little…
FERNANDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
SO undeserved but GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL
Come on lads! Hope we will see different team in second half. They have 16 shots which is 10 more than us. I don’t want to hear Bus tactic or some other BS.
It isn’t bus tactic, more lazy tactic. They’ve had 16 shots and like 5 or 6 major chances, which won’t happen if you park the bus.
i read that Pirlo got marked out. and Pogba just hasnt been his self. when 2/3 of your cms dont perform, its not easy to take control of a match
Wth? Terrible call ref
TEVEEEZZZ HOLY CRAPPPP
OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH WHAT A FOOKIN GOOOOOOOOOOOOOL TEVEZ!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Seems like an odd time for milan to be taking off their best player.. Not that I mind too much!
padoin time… yay…
You Know What Time It Is…………
damn. close with another pogbomb
RIP San Siro crossbar
woah. have yet to see the replay but i thought buffon saved that
Lol on both ends.
AT LAST MY BRETHREN, WE HAVE BROKEN THE DAMNED BLACK SHORTS SPELL!!!!!!!.
We didn’t play well though
Fine, shattered it, dented it, merely scratched it???? COME ON MAN HELP ME OUT!!!!!!!!
Merely scratched it sounds about right lol. Next time we play in black shorts we might break through it thanks to this scratch.
None of those, you can’t break that what doesn’t exist
Don’t underestimate what you can’t see, hear, smell or feel!
Air? 😛
a positive result nonetheless! now stop with superstition crap! your mind and beliefs are powerful then you give it credit for!
a positive result nonetheless! Now stop with that superstition crap! your minds and what you choose to believe are more powerful than you give them credit for.
Why double post? You’re THAT worried about me and my mind? 😛
stupid disqus! it wasnt me
disqus has a mind of its own
you know a team is boss when we play like crap yet still end up with the victory 🙂 Tevez and Llorente have been greatly fundamental this season and all for 9 mill euros plus bonuses. Beppe, you’s a boss.
One of the characteristics of a champion is winning your bad games 😉
we must be the champions of champs then cuz this season has been full of below standard games 🙂
Seedorf is pure class. He loses an important game and all he does is praise Juve
shout out to caceres. head injury and bloodied but still fighting on. he’s no chiello but he’s got that juve grinta too
And that’s what i love about him.
normally coaches man mark pirlo but for some reason seedorf had de jong man mark pogba. odd choice.
He seems to make a lot of odd choices tbh