Roberto Mancini and Galatasaray have a date with destiny tonight when Juventus arrive at Istanbul. An indifferent domestic form which has seen them slide down the table, must be turned around at least for ninety minutes when the Old Lady riding on a 9-game unbeaten run, come calling. Any stadium in Turkey is always a difficult one to visit when you are the away side. The atmosphere will be ballistic certainly.
Antonio Conte's Juventus are where he wants them to be. At the top of the Serie A table, three points clear of unbeaten Roma. 13 wins out of 15 in the Italian top flight is an achievement worthy of praise and the former Siena boss has brought lout the best out of Fernando Lllorente whose performances of late might give Vicente Del Bosque more selection headache as the World Cup approaches. The gigantic striker has turned his fortunes around at the Turin based club and in the absence of Mirko Vucinic, he has scored very important goals, most recently against Udinese. Bologna was seen off at the weekend. However, attention has turned to a very crucial encounter. GALA at ISTANBUL.
The reverse fixture ended in a 2-2 draw as a Drogba inspired Gala fought like wounded lions at the new Juventus stadium. A display way better than that will be required by Mancini's men to send Juventus crashing out of Europe's biggest club competition. The Italian manager will very much want to get one over the Bianconeri who were not half as good as this when he led Inter to so many triumphs.
PREDICTED LINE-UPS
GALA-
Muslera, Zan, Guselam, Chedjou, Eboue, Melo, Inan, SNEIJDER, Riera, DROGBA, Bulut/Yilmaz
The Gala force are full throttle with the return to fitness of Fernando Muslera and Wesley Sneijder. This has boosted their chances of qualifying. Didier Drogba, 36 in three months, is showing no signs of tiring. The Ivorian hitman still causes a lot of problems for teams he faces and Juve know all about him. Mancini has to decide between Umut and Burak who to field from the start. Selcuk Inan is highly rated in Turkey and touted to be one of the best deep lying playmakers in the World. His set-piece ability and terrific pass accuracy rate can be very important tonight.
JUVE-
Buffon, Lichsteiner, Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini, Vidal, Pogba, Marchisio, Peluso, Tevez, LLORENTE
The Juventini are in a rich vein of form at the moment. Untouchable in Serie A, they have also resurrected their chances of qualifying for the next stage of the Champions League and only a loss tonight will put paid to their ambition. The very reliable Andrea Pirlo is out until the new year which leaves gaps in the middle for the Old lady. Vidal and Pogba have done well in his absence but any and every team will miss the Italian Legend whenever he isn't on the field of play. Gigi Buffon is comfortably one of the best goalkeepers ever and ahead of him is the one of the best rear guards in the World. No cause for alarm it may seem....not when a certain DD lurks around ready to inflict severe damage
Venus for this showdown is the Turk Telekom Arena in Istanbul
Ohireime P Eboreime
@ohiskaka1990
No comments:
Post a Comment