What: Italian Serie A
Who: AC Milan (2nd; 17 points) vs Juventus (5th; 12 points)
When: Saturday 30th October, 2010, at 19:45 UK time
Where: Giuseppe Meazza, Milan, Italy
Getting Back Up
Few would have bet on an AC Milan win at the Santiago Bernabeu last week in the Champions League, but even fewer would have thought Milan would be dominated by Real Madrid in the way they were. And even though the 2-0 scoreline doesn’t speak for itself, the truth remained that Milan’s flaws were exposed greatly against the Spaniards.
Back to Serie A business however, and it was serious, The Rossoneri needed a win to get back on track and shrug off the Madrid defeat and that duly came at the expense of Napoli, confirming their second spot is no fluke, but a more substantial revival. Now the team is fully confident ahead of the Juventus clash, according to Brazilian forward Robinho: "I think our mentality is to win everything. It’s a difficult match but we’re working hard to play a good game.”
Floppy Form
Juventus on the other hand will have to improve should they want to come back from the San Siro with more than just a point, as frustrating draws with Salzburg and Bologna, in the Europa League and Serie A respectively, have raised question marks around Turin as to whether the Bianconeri can compete at the top of the table.
The major news surrounding Italy’s most successful team has centered on Milos Krasic’s two-match ban following a masterminded dive against Bologna that only Jurgen Klinsmann could have outperformed. The Serb’s antics have raised the issue of deliberate diving once again, but what’s certain is that Juve have to learn to win matches without the help of their figurative wingman, who is certainly proving to be one of the best Italian buys of the summer.
Recent form
AC Milan:
AC Milan 3-1 Chievo (16/10; Serie A)
Real Madrid 2-0 AC Milan (19/10; Champions League)
Napoli 1-2 AC Milan (25/10; Serie A)
Juventus:
Juventus 4-0 Lecce (17/10; Serie A)
Salzburg 1-1 Juventus (21/10; Europa League)
Bologna 0-0 Juventus (24/10; Serie A)
Key absences
AC Milan: Marek Jankulovski; Ignazio Abate; Ronaldinho (doubt); Gianluca Zambrotta (doubt); Thiago Silva (doubt); Massimo Ambrosini (doubt)
Juventus: Zdenek Grygera; Davide Lanzafame; Armand Traore; Gianluigi Buffon; Amauri; Milos Krasic (suspension)
Players to watch
AC Milan – Zlatan Ibrahimovic: No name will be bigger in this game than that of “Ibra”. Juventus fans still hold sour memories of the Swede and the way he forged his exit out of the club after the Calciopoli scandal, especially given that his destination after that was none other than fierce rivals Internazionale. Ibrahimovic has been in good form for Milan and knows how to score in for fun Serie A – and scoring against his old side most certainly would be.
Juventus – Giorgio Chiellini: The Azzurri international’s battle with Ibrahimovic will certainly one of the key areas of the match. Having had some memorable duels in the past, Chiellini will be handled the task of keeping the Milan hitman at bay. Should the Old Lady star be on full alert, don’t fancy anybody getting past him.
Match prediction
The Milos Krasic variable certainly spices things up. With the winger sitting this one out, La Vecchia Signora will be without their most influential player in midfield, who otherwise would be expected to run circles around Seedorf and co. Furthermore, Milan have done a good job in returning to winning ways this past weekend, something that will most likely give them the edge over their guests. Milan 3-1 Juventus.
