Serie A: Del Neri banishes all ideas of complacency from Juventus
Juventus’s new coach, Del Neri has made it clear that no form of complacency will be tolerated at the Italian club as they are set to face Shamrock Rovers in Ireland. Juventus have recently had quite a few dreadful seasons in the Serie A, after they were relegated because of the Calciopoli scandal, Juventus immediately made their return into Serie A by finishing as champions of Serie B.
However, since their return to top flight football, Juventus have yet to win the Serie A title again. Despite being the most successful team in Italy because of their 28 Italian league titles, Juventus have found it hard to compete against the likes of Roma and Inter Milan in Serie A.
Juventus finished third during the 2007-2008 season as their rivals Inter Milan won the league. In 2008-2009 season, they finished second to Inter Milan again. In 2009-2010 season, Juventus recorded a seventh placed finish which means that they will not be participating in the UEFA Champions League next season. However, Juventus do face some consolation in the form of the Europa League.
Juve as the club is known to its more familiar fans will play their third round qualification match for the Europa league against Shamrock Rovers. Juventus’s only hope of playing European football lies in the Europa league, so the club will be looking to quickly secure their spot in the group stages of the competition.
Del Neri, who took over at Juventus from Alberto Zaccheroni told juventusmember.com that, Juventus are not guaranteed to win the match against the Rovers and thus progress to the next round, because the match will consist of both teams taking each other on with an equal number of players.
He stated that, Italy underestimated New Zealand at the World Cup and ended up drawing with them, so Juve should take heed from that match and take their opponents seriously. Del Neri also added that a physical team like Shamrock Rovers can hurt Juventus’s chances of progressing to the next round of the Europa League.
The former Sampdoria manager further said that, even though Shamrock Rovers have played more football over the past month, Juventus will be ready when both teams meet on 5th of August, 2010. Del Neri also praised his squad as he said that, players are doing well in training because they are training with conviction, attitude and attention.
Del Neri was brought in as Juventus’s manager so that he can work towards reviving club itself. Juventus are quite famous in European football and have won the European Cup twice in their history. In 2002-2003, they finished as runners up in the UEFA Champions League, after they lost the final on penalties to their rivals A.C Milan.
Juve’s striker Davide Lanzafame expressed his delight at travelling to Ireland rather than facing a long arduous journey to Israel in the Middle East. He also said that, currently Juventus are working on their targets and tactics for the upcoming season. He concluded by commenting that, Juventus will be ready for their friendly match against Lyon which is scheduled to take place today and the Italian giants will also be prepared to face Shamrock Rovers when the time comes.
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