Juventus have been preparing for their Europa League qualifier which will be played against Shamrock Rovers with friendlies against Hamburg (0-0) and Lyon (2-1 for Juventus). Juventus will play the Irish club over two legs, and the team with the best results over the two legs will go through. The first leg will be played July 29^th in Ireland at the Tallaght Stadium, and the return leg will be played at the Braglia stadium of Modena. But first here’s what happened against Lyon, what went wrong, and what went right.

Juventus played with a 4-4-1-1 starting with Storari in goal, and a backline (right to left) of Motta, Legrottaglie, Chiellini, and De Ceglie. In front of the back line there was Martinez on the right wing, Lanzafame on the left wing, and Sissoko and Marchisio in the middle of the midfield. Delneri decided to start with Del Piero behind Amauri instead of Diego and Trezeguet who replaced the Italian attacking duo at the beginning of the second half.

Lyon went in front in the 22^nd minute thanks to Chiellini fouling Ishak in the penalty area, giving the French club a penalty for Storari to face. Ederson had little trouble with the penalty as he scored to put Lyon in front. But Lyon’s fortune took a change for the worse in the 26^th minute, Martinez was giving Cissokho trouble down Lyon’s left side, and Cissokho went in hard with the ball far away from the tackle. This resulted in Cissokho’s expulsion with a direct red card, leaving Lyon in 10 men ahead by a goal.

After the goal Juventus attacked more, Lanzafame pushed forward on the left wing, and he was able to filter through a pass for Amauri, and in the penalty box there was contact between the Brazilian/Italian and Lovren, earning Juventus a penalty. Del Piero took the penalty, scoring the equalizer for Juventus in the 38^th minute of the first half.

In the second half Juventus was solid, Motta was a wall on the right side as he also provided Martinez with support on the wing. The defense was compact and organized, and the midfield also began to click with Pepe and Diego combining for the winning goal. It was a triangle outside the box closed by Diego’s chip which is finished off by Pepe who scores the final goal of the 2-1 scoreline.

Diego was a dangerous presence for the Lyon defense, and the Brazilian’s creativity and technical skill are beginning to show as he gains more confidence with his team-mates. And as Diego and Trezeguet’s attacking partnership grows, Del Piero and Amauri’s doesn’t shine as brightly. It seems like Delneri has already chosen that it will be Diego and Trezeguet who will start against Shamrock Rovers, but Delneri would like more from the Brazilian. Here’s what the Juventus coach said regarding Diego’s performance,

“He’s doing very well, from him I expect performances like this, even if I would like more consistency. I’d definitely say that I’m very satisfied with everybody.”

Now there are no friendlies left before Juventus plays Shamrock Rovers on the 29^th of July, while Juve will be favored, they shouldn’t underestimate the Irish champions. It will be interesting to see whether Juventus will be able to defeat Shamrock Rovers, or whether they’ll have trouble in their first seasonal competition. What do you think? Share your thoughts below by commenting!

On Saturday Juninho showed why he is the master of the free kick after bringing Lyon single-handedly back into this one, with a clinical display of scoring from the deadball situation.

While waiting for Inter - Catania to start I decided to turn the dial to TV5 and have a look-see of French Ligue One with Lyon vs. Nice. I wasn’t disappointed as everything wasn’t going Lyon’s way early on and made for entertaining viewing, especially after the home side would need a come from behind win with a Benezma penalty in extra time and some Juninho magic on the other goals.

 Nice had the lead early in the 3rd minute on a ball played behind Les Gones center defense where Habib Bamago was perfectly positioned to run unto leaving only the keeper to beat. The visitors would strike again with a second goal in the first 25 minutes, before Juninho and his deadball magic caused French announcers to cry out “très fantastique”.  After winning a free kick just outside the visitor’s 18 yard box Juninho stepped forward and scored his first goal by cooly bending the ball round the wall of players and watching it dip into the top corner. Absolutely no chance for keeper Lionel Letizi, 1 – 2 Nice at the half.

Second half play was end-to-end but the score wasn’t equalized until the 71st minute when once again Juninho was called upon to weave his magic this time from distance (almost the centre circle area). Off another free kick by the Brazilian the ball was played with height and first looked likely to be headed or redirected at goal by a teammate but instead bounced once off the pitch and past the stunned keeper.  The final winner for Lyon would come in extra time after a penalty was awarded for a handball in the box. Karim Benezma made no mistake on this one and Lyon walked off the water logged pitch relishing a great victory over their south coast rivals. 

For any Serie A fans who are unfamilar with Juninho (very few I’m sure), and why the intrusion of French football on Serie A Talk, well this is the man who Andrea Pirlo calls his idol, the master at dead ball skills.

In the July edition of FourFourTwo Pirlo (the player the Azzurri look to for freekick perfection) explains his technique known as the “l’ascensore” or the lift, (the ball goes up and then dips quickly) was invented by Juninho. “I started watching how Juninho kicked and tried to learn” said Pirlo.

Goal Highlights

see all five goals in the second video link
[display_podcast]

Related Articles

frenchleague.com – Ederson sounds Nice warning
AFP – Juninho hails Lyon´s character in fightback win

It’s true Lyon have finally been knocked from their pedestal, and Bordeaux win 5 – 4 on penalties, the first Cup of the season and the first Girondins’ Super Cup victory since 1987.  Lyon having won the Super Cup 6 years running makes this a huge change of scenery for French Football.

Bordeaux started the shoot out in the worst way when Fernando Cavenaghi missing the first attempt. The next five penalties were scored and than another missed attempt for Bordeaux this time by striker David Bellion.  However, the tide turned once both Sidney Govou and Italian connection uno Fabio Grosso missed for Lyon, while Italian connection due, on-loan AC Milan playmaker, Yoann Gourcuff , scored for the eventual winners.  Here’s hoping more to come from Bordeaux this 08-09 season.

It’s said a vacation does wonders so hurrah Gourcuff, but of course there’s no place like home, so can you say Grosso and Inter in the same sentence?  Moratti I say, show him the money! 

Rumours of Tiago Mendes leaving Juventus are circulating, after vacating his home in Turin.  The talented Portuguese midfielder was previously linked to both Tottenham and West Ham United of the English Premier League in January of this year. 

Tiago, who is a regular in the national team, spent one season at Chelsea after Jose Mourinho took him from Benfica and he played a substantial part in the Premier League winning season of 2004-05, making 34 appearances.

Things have not been as bright in Italy after the 13 million euro transfer from French side Lyon. Manager Claudio Ranieri has played the Portuguese sparingly and Goal.com described Tiago in his first term as, the third biggest flop of the season.  Missing a penalty Tuesday evening during the Trofeo TIM against AC Milan hasn’t improved the player’s situation. 

References:

1. Football Italia - Tiago vacates Turin home
2. UK Telegraph – Tottenham line up bid for Tiago Mendes
3. FIFA.com – Juventus sign Tiago and Almiron 
4. Goal.com – Calcio Debate: Serie A Awards