By Petar Todorovski
Title challengers Juventus will try to go further with good results on the tricky away game in Verona against favorite’s killer Chievo. Despite being dropped from UEFA Europa League the Old Lady players play very well in last few weeks and managed to stay only six points behind leaders Milan.
Juventus was close to two draw games in last two, but they were lucky to score victory against Lazio with the late own goal by Aquile keeper Muslera. Three days later the fortune wasn’t on their side and played 1-1 in Europa League game against English super expensive side Manchester City. Unfortunately it wasn’t enough to extend their stay in European competitions in spring due to being not serious about it and getting awful results for their standard as well.
Now Juve will focus completely on Calcio matches in attempt to secure the Scudetto, or at least a Champions League spot for next year. Currently they are placed on the second position, sharing it with Lazio and Napoli, all of them six points behind Milan, as it was mentioned previously.
Juventus show that whether they play on home turf or away, it doesn’t have any importance for them. They have identical score of four victories, three draws and one defeat on each side. However, there’s a difference in scoring: they score more on home pitch, but concede less away, meaning that we might expect close game where Juve will have to try hard to break the Flying Donkeys.
Chievo, on the other hand, is slightly better when play at home. They’ve always been tough side in front of their own fans but this season things are a little bit worse. They sit the twelfth position with 20 points, five above the relegation zone.
Flying Donkeys will have to cope with Juventus without Luciano Siqueira, Cyrile Thereau, Luca Rigoni and Santiago Morero, while Bianconeri will miss first keeper Gianluigi Buffon, Felipe Melo, Amauri, Paolo De Ceglie, Jorge Martinez and Leandro Rinaudo.
It is clear that Juventus travel to Verona seeking for victory. And they have to, as their President Andrea Agnelli encouraged by the three points against Lazio now clearly states that he wants the Championship in Turin.
Coach Luigi Del Neri confirmed that the Scudetto is the goal now, sending a warning to San Siro. “They are able to win games easily. Of course, they will fight to the end, but the championship is still long, and so you don’t know what can happen in future. After Sunday’s win we are more convinced now, and things are going well. There is more cohesion and the group believes in what they are doing,”he told the press, commenting their competition and claiming championship ambitions.
It’s true that Juventus form goes up and they have more quality than Chievo. However, the Old Lady has had a lot of problems in Veron in recent years and it’s probable to happen again. Whether they are going to win it or not, it’s going to be a very tough and close game.
