Match Preview Serie A, Match Scouting Serie A

Preview And Scouting: Juventus vs Parma

March 26, 2014 - 11:24 am

The streak vs the streak. Undertaker vs Edge at Wrestlemania 24. Edge claimed to be still undefeated at the Biggest Stage of Them All as he was pulled out from the Money in the bank ladder match the previous year because of an injury, Parma’s 17-game winning streak does not include Roma vs Parma, which was postponed due to a waterlogged pitch. Parma haven’t lost since facing Juventus at Tardini, where Bianconeri where able to grab a win thanks to a late Quaglia insane shot rebounded on the crossbar and tapped in by Pogba.

Juventus

The biggest news is the return of Marchisio to the squad after three missed matches. He might give a breather to Vidal, who hasn’t played very well in the last two games, or to Pirlo. If Conte opts for a heavy squad rotation, Padoin has a chance to start his second game in a row in the midfield. Lichsteiner and Asamoah will play on the flanks, even though Isla has been fairly good as of late.

Not many choices in the defense: Barzagli (calf) and Ogbonna (thigh) are still injured, so Caceres-Bonucci-Chiellini, who have been excellent in EL and at Catania, will start. Buffon will return after being given a night off in Sicily. Fernando Llorente is set to start. Sebastian Giovinco, despite playing some minutes in the last match, has not been called up to continue his recovery, while Osvaldo, Vucinic, Quagliarella and of course Tevez are in the list. Carlos is the frontrunner to pair with Nando, but there is a chance that Conte will rest his sore patellar tendon ahead of the Napoli game.

Juventus have won all 14 home games so far in Serie A (and hasn’t lost in Champions League, Europa League and Coppa Italia either) and certainly would like to keep the streak alive. Juventus is also the team that conquered more points (32) in 2014, but Parma have picked up 27 of them (2nd) since January. Juventus have scored in 42 games in a row in the League, 86 goals in total, with an average slightly north of 2 goals per game. Moreover, Juventus have not conceded a goal in the last five games (four of them were 1-0, in a very Capello fashion)

Parma is Andrea Pirlo’s favorite opponents: he has scored eight goals against Ducali, twice as many as against any other team. He has been on fire lately, so watch out. Stephan Lichsteiner too has been very efficient against Parma. Antonio Conte has never lost against Roberto Donadoni (two wins, two draws)

Parma

In the last few games, they have established themselves as the most serious contender for a Europa League spot, beating Milan and Hellas Verona. They are currently in sixth position, five points above Lazio, which is the last rival (I don’t think Hellas, Atalanta and Torino are very interested in that) for a pass to European competition.

As I already mentioned, they haven’t lost in 17 games. They have also won all the five away matches in 2014. A very well built team led by an underrated coach. You can tell that Parma is really a happy place by seeing how many players have managed to perform well after slumping seasons, notably Cassano, Amauri, Cassani, Palladino and lately also Schelotto.

Parma are able to use 3-5-2, but lately they have adopted 4-3-3 more. Cassani, who has been very good both as RB and as RCB, and Biabiany (RW or RWB) give them the ability to easily switch the tactic. Lucarelli is probably having the best year of his long career, while Paletta is constantly on the rise (he’s still 28, despite looking like a fifty-year-old man). Two big CBs that make up for the lack of speed with physicality and experience. Cassani and Gobbi (or Molinaro) complete the defense.

Marchionni has somehow reinvented himself as a playmaker: a surprising twist in his career but also a smart move by the coaching staff that has now a more consistent player at disposal compared to Jaime Valdes (who has been sold). Gargano and Munari are unavailable, therefore the muscular Acquah will play, along with Parolo (another player who is having a career year: seven goals and six assists, Brazil bound?).

In the attack, Donadoni has multiple options. He can use a two-man or a three-man attack, spreading the floor and opening the central area for the Parolo cuts or the Amauri headers. He can exploit Biabiany’s quickness or Schelotto’s return to decent levels. And he can take advantage of Cassano unpredictability, both as left winger or as a falso nueve (with Biabiany on the left): at 31, Fantantonio is doing everything he can to convince Prandelli to bring him to Brazil. He has scored 11 goals (one goal short of his scoring best season at Sampdoria), while providing six assists. He’s the Serie A player who has created the most scoring chances (73), in Europe only Hazard (84) and Valbuena (75) have done better than him. Amauri (six goals) or Palladino might have a chance against their former team.

Mirante is the third goalkeeper in the clean sheet’s charts with 11, behind De Sanctis (18) and Buffon (15). He’s battling with Marchetti and Perin for a spot as third goalkeeper in Brazil.

Parma’s forte, other than Cassano’s acumen, is attacking on the flanks: the fullbacks are in constant motion, Biabiany is uncatchable, Schelotto is a powerful runner and of course Amauri’s head is a good point of reference in the box. They have also scored a lot off the set pieces: Lucarelli has four goals. They thrives in the dying minutes: in the last 15’ of both halves, they have scored 25 goals, best in Serie A.

Bottom line

Juve is up for a tough task. The schedule keeps being grueling and midweek Serie A matches are usually full of surprises. Roma won yesterday, cutting the lead to 11 and possibly eight points, if they beat Parma. Still a large gap, considering that there are only nine games to go. Juventus are not playing incredibly well in the last matches, but they got the job done. To beat Parma, Juventus will have to bring their A game.

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  • Avatar
    Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 11:43 am

    the two best teams of 2014 take each other on(form wise). im hoping Marchisio returns to the starting line-up to give one or even two of our other cms some well deserved rest.

    and am i forgeting something? oh yea… first bee-otches

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      JuventusVidal March 26, 2014 at 1:26 pm

      Tuttojuve says itll be our strongest xi except caceres for barzagli. So im assuming marchisio will start against napoli and pogba will be rested there

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    Marc Dominic Zaroli March 26, 2014 at 3:02 pm

    Okay Belgian I thought I’d put this here regarding Rossi since nobody checks old threads..

    Pirlo has 4 assist this season and that’s pirlo playing with our team, Rossi has 3 for an awful team like Valladolid.. Makes the stats look a lot more impressive when you know that.

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      BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 5:01 pm

      I check them, at least the last comments 😛

      It does, I did say I don’t mean to judge him on that only, I haven’t seen a single second of him in action. Was hoping for someone to tell more about him

      Worth to be brought back to Juve?

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        Marc Dominic Zaroli March 26, 2014 at 6:23 pm

        I never do so wouldn’t have got this reply :p

        I admittedly haven’t seen much of him this season but I check his ratings and stuff and he is certainly growing and getting better, having seen him in the under 21s last summer where behind donati he was easily the most impressive of the team I’d like to see him get a chance here, he’s much more deserving of a place in the squad than padoin..

        • Avatar
          BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 6:41 pm

          Haha fair enough 😛
          I’d like some players from our own youth in the first team, instead of buying average crap from other teams.
          How old is Rossi btw?

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    Marc Dominic Zaroli March 26, 2014 at 3:07 pm

    So a question guys, since its beginning to be pained as a two horse race for Capocannoniere who would you guys like to see win it between tevez and immobile? But away from that, out of anyone around the top 10/15 (or anyone that is potentially in contention) is there anyone you would particularly like to see come back and win it?

    With this video you get my answer to the first question;
    https://youtu.be/8xLxJgptXQA

    • Avatar
      dinodelfino March 26, 2014 at 4:38 pm

      I would like to see Tevez get it in his first season in italy.Failing that,Luca Toni!!!!!

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        Marc Dominic Zaroli March 26, 2014 at 6:20 pm

        Ah good old Luca, still the only player to score over 30 in a season since 1958!

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          dinodelfino March 26, 2014 at 6:24 pm

          Great stat marc,i didn’t know that!…He and Verona are having a great season so far.

          • Avatar
            Marc Dominic Zaroli March 26, 2014 at 6:28 pm

            1 of only 8 players to do so as well! Yeah he is enjoying somewhat of a renaissance at Verona, I love seeing him do well.

          • Avatar
            dinodelfino March 26, 2014 at 6:31 pm

            I do too,legend luca!

        • Avatar
          JuventusVidal March 26, 2014 at 7:20 pm

          Only italian. Cavani got over 30 last season

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      BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 4:58 pm

      A Juve player, don’t care which one 😛 Most likely Tevez, Vidal and Llorente only real other possibilities

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        JuventusMalta1998 March 26, 2014 at 6:17 pm

        they want him for another season, in order to continue growing, which i sorta agree with, or else, it we wont do that, it’s the blind auction

        • Avatar
          BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 6:39 pm

          I wonder who would win that if it came to that

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            JuventusMalta1998 March 26, 2014 at 7:06 pm

            My bet would def be on Torino, they love him and want him at all costs to stay with them, for now at least

      • Avatar
        Marc Dominic Zaroli March 26, 2014 at 6:25 pm

        Torino aren’t as awkward for us to deal with as some other teams so it’s not the worst place for him to be

        • Avatar
          BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 6:38 pm

          Better than Fiorentina or Inter or something like those but we dont have a really good relation with them 😛

    • Avatar
      JuventusVidal March 26, 2014 at 7:21 pm

      I want immobile to win it. But id be stoked if vidal came from behind to win it also

    • Avatar
      Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 7:36 pm

      i wanna see Ciro win it or Berardi!

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    Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 7:45 pm

    hearing the fans sing the club anthem is beautiful.

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    DutchJuve March 26, 2014 at 7:50 pm

    Amauri is looking ugly

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    Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 7:51 pm

    the commentator just said that parma have over 100 players out on loan

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    BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 8:03 pm

    Good thing we have Gigi in that goal

    • Avatar
      DutchJuve March 26, 2014 at 8:04 pm

      Agreed

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    Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 8:06 pm

    Llorente is not on his game today

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    JuventusVidal March 26, 2014 at 8:08 pm

    Pogba is making the parma players look like kids haha

    • Avatar
      BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 8:09 pm

      Cassano tries the same but Chiello just bullying him off :p

    • Avatar
      Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 8:10 pm

      every touch has been magic

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    BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 8:11 pm

    CARLOSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

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    Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 8:11 pm

    TEEEVEZ

  • Avatar
    JuventusBuffon March 26, 2014 at 8:11 pm

    TEVEZZZZ

  • Avatar
    JuventusMalta1998 March 26, 2014 at 8:12 pm

    EL APAAAAAAACHE

  • Avatar
    DutchJuve March 26, 2014 at 8:12 pm

    TEVEZZZZ AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • Avatar
    JuventusVidal March 26, 2014 at 8:13 pm

    Carlitooooss

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    BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 8:15 pm

    Nice try Llorente

    • Avatar
      JuventusVidal March 26, 2014 at 8:18 pm

      Tevezz

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    JuventusVidal March 26, 2014 at 8:18 pm

    Asa got the ball

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    BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 8:18 pm

    TEVEZ FOR THE DOUBLEEEEEEE

    • Avatar
      DutchJuve March 26, 2014 at 8:19 pm

      Spoiler 😀

      • Avatar
        BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 8:19 pm

        Sorry 😛

        • Avatar
          DutchJuve March 26, 2014 at 8:20 pm

          Np i shouldn’t check every new comment so eagerly

  • Avatar
    JuventusBuffon March 26, 2014 at 8:18 pm

    Tevezz again! !!!

  • Avatar
    JuventusMalta1998 March 26, 2014 at 8:19 pm

    TEVEEEEEEEEEEEEEZ

  • Avatar
    DutchJuve March 26, 2014 at 8:19 pm

    TEVEZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ

  • Avatar
    BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 8:23 pm

    On a sidenote: Fiorentina – Milan 0-1 atm

    • Avatar
      DutchJuve March 26, 2014 at 8:31 pm

      Hopefully they can win it. Seedorf needs a good result right about now.

      • Avatar
        BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 8:34 pm

        Yeah he’s under a lot of criticism already. Not sure why, they didn’t really expect him to turn this Milan into a winning team in a heartbeat, did they now?

        • Avatar
          DutchJuve March 26, 2014 at 8:36 pm

          I hope not… Would be outragious if they sack him already. He retired from football when he got this offer so it must be for a longer term. Besides that, how is he suppose to fix Allegri’s shit in such short amount of time? And Milan has been showing much better football since Seedorf arrived.
          Well Berlusconi said it’s not an option to sack Seedorf right now, so i hope he’s not lying.

          • Avatar
            BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 8:57 pm

            They went for him, knowing its his first coach experience ever, they should at least let him finish the season on the bench, even if it is only out of respect for what he already did for them. And like you said, it’s not like his team plays horrible

  • Avatar
    BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 8:25 pm

    That was very un-Pirlo like 😛

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    ImSoCool12345 March 26, 2014 at 8:34 pm

    What happened with Vidal? Looked like he got angry with Conte or something.

    • Avatar
      BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 8:34 pm

      No idea, I thought he was arguing with the ref right after the break

      • Avatar
        Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 8:39 pm

        wait, he was arguing?

        • Avatar
          BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 8:47 pm

          Arguing might be harsh word for it but he was talking to the ref and making a lot of hand gestures

    • Avatar
      Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 8:37 pm

      maybe hes upset with his self? he hasnt been in the best of forms.

    • Avatar
      JuventusVidal March 26, 2014 at 8:38 pm

      he kicked the ball away when the ref blew the whistle which was pretty dumb since you can get booked for it

  • Avatar
    Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 8:42 pm

    i just a hilarious Vodafone commercial

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    Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 8:47 pm

    so how about Paletta? he did pretty poorly in Tevezs first goal and couldve done better in the 2nd goal(tho its more his partners fault then his), but i think hes been great. hes been breathing down Llorente next this whole game and has done well to close Tevez down too, aside from the first goal.

    • Avatar
      BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 8:55 pm

      He aint bad but I doubt he’ll get a WC spot for Italy

    • Avatar
      JuventusVidal March 26, 2014 at 9:08 pm

      He’s good against big men (costa, llorente, etc) but we dont really need him

  • Avatar
    BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 9:06 pm

    That’s the reason you always need a second goal, hopefully they don’t score another one

  • Avatar
    JuventusVidal March 26, 2014 at 9:07 pm

    Why didnt he do that FOR us?

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    DutchJuve March 26, 2014 at 9:07 pm

    Well wow…

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    BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 9:09 pm

    Lol, bye Amauri

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    DutchJuve March 26, 2014 at 9:10 pm

    Amauri you fucker

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    BelgianJuventino March 26, 2014 at 9:10 pm

    Some Claudio time

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    DutchJuve March 26, 2014 at 9:11 pm

    I like Marchisio’s hobo look.

    • Avatar
      DutchJuve March 26, 2014 at 9:13 pm

      Marchisio* Stupid disqus won’t let me edit it..

    • Avatar
      Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 9:18 pm

      what you mean hobo look? Marchisio is looking fresh as ever :p

      • Avatar
        DutchJuve March 26, 2014 at 9:20 pm

        His beard, his hair being kinda messed up. He just looked funny.

        • Avatar
          Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 9:25 pm

          its called the messy look Dutch. it can be very sex-ay when executed properly, which Marchisio has :p

          • Avatar
            DutchJuve March 26, 2014 at 9:27 pm

            I don’t think there’s anything Marchisio can do to screw up his look actually. He’s very populair with the ladies.

          • Avatar
            Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 9:31 pm

            rightfully so. just look at him, like damn let me get dat number doe :p

          • Avatar
            DutchJuve March 26, 2014 at 9:35 pm

            I’d like his number too. I will ask him for a Juve jersey signed by the whole team.

  • Avatar
    Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 9:11 pm

    you dick Amauri. he didnt even go for the ball with his head. he completely looked away whilst leaving his left elbow and his left elbow alone in the air.

  • Avatar
    DutchJuve March 26, 2014 at 9:13 pm

    Why doesn’t Llorente know what to do in such situations 🙁

    • Avatar
      Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 9:14 pm

      hes been off tonight 🙁

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        DutchJuve March 26, 2014 at 9:15 pm

        Not the first time he was completely lost at such a moment though.

        • Avatar
          Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 9:19 pm

          oh. yea its strange that he doesnt really have a “shoot at first sight” mentality.

  • Avatar
    DutchJuve March 26, 2014 at 9:17 pm

    Time for the Pogba roll!!!

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    JuventusMalta1998 March 26, 2014 at 9:18 pm

    tevez gonna miss napoli match :/

  • Avatar
    JuventusBuffon March 26, 2014 at 9:40 pm

    Vincere

  • Avatar
    JuventusVidal March 26, 2014 at 9:42 pm

    Caceres did a great job shutting down cassano

    • Avatar
      DutchJuve March 26, 2014 at 9:42 pm

      I was gonna ask if anyone had seen Cassano do something else than whining to the ref and smiling like an idiot.

      • Avatar
        Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 10:02 pm

        he was dangerous on a few occasions and thats about it. his style of play is usually cutting in side and sending in a cross or holding up play for an over lap run

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    Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 10:05 pm

    so i think Parma should really re-think starting Amauri. his sending off made absolutely no difference what so ever. they continued to be dangerous regardless of being a man down or being an Amauri down

    • Avatar
      adp1974 March 26, 2014 at 10:41 pm

      are we still talking about him? he’s a nobody.

      • Avatar
        Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 11:02 pm

        im just saying. i was hoping to see him improve… well he kinda did, he spends way less time on the ground, losing the ball and he looks a bit sharper.

        • Avatar
          adp1974 March 27, 2014 at 12:04 am

          Its because he’s not on a bigger stage, thats why he doesnt flop as much .. and how do you know he doesnt fall to the ground, do you watch parma games regularly? just saying. fuck him. he sucked while he was here.

    • Avatar
      Marc Dominic Zaroli March 27, 2014 at 4:29 pm

      He’s one of their best players, just because he had a bad game against us doesn’t mean he should be dropped. Do you think a fan of a different team would be saying this about pirlo if he had a quiet game against them?

      • Avatar
        Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 27, 2014 at 8:16 pm

        i just wanted to talk trash on him a bit for elbowing chiello

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    Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 10:08 pm

    so Juve have won 15 out of 15 home games this season… thats as crazy as the wolf of wall street

  • Avatar
    Papilaya(John)™★★★ March 26, 2014 at 10:35 pm

    new thread