Brief Points Before Juve / Borussia Dortmund

By: vin | September 13th, 2008

This one’s going to be quick, both because I’ve already posted some of my thoughts regarding the Juve match, and because my (grad school) semester just kicked into top gear.

On Juventus

It appears as though my fears regarding their roster were not unreasonable, as pretty much anyone who was injured (minus Chiellini, which helps a bit) is back in action. That means that they’re likely to start Trez, possibly accompanied by Old Man Del Piero up front, and a full clip of midfielders behind them (Nedved, Camo, Sisssssssssoko and Zanetti are all in).

The interesting thing to note from the Udinese side of the equation is the inclusion of Domizzi, the last-minute defensive transfer from Napoli. Apparently, Marino thinks the new player has acclimated himself sufficiently to Udinese’s system, which is promising, although with no *real matches* under his belt for any team this season, we won’t know for sure until Sunday. (I’m skeptical, in case you haven’t guessed; I like Domizzi, but not the circumstances.) Felipe and Zapata are both still hurt, although the back four seemed to do OK without them last time… but Palermo and Juve are different animals entierly. Anyway, even if we ignore the fact that it’s basically trial by fire for Domizzi, this would still be *the* true test for the Zebrette defense.

That’s the bad news.

The good news is that Strike Force Udinese is locked and loaded. Expect Di Natale, Quagliarella, and Pepe up front, supported by Inler, D’Agostino and Isla. Basically, it’s the best-case scenario, and if Juve don’t take our ragazzi seriously, they will pay. On a related note, Di Natale says that he and Quags often joke that they’re not really even acknowledged as one of the big-name strike partnerships in Serie A, but that’s fine with me. Stealth is good. Speaking of which…

On Borussia Dortmund

This is great: Marino sent a “spy” (his word, not mine) to Germany at least half a month ago to gather intel on this squad.

If that doesn’t give you some idea of the level if importance being placed upon the UEFA competition this year, I don’t know what will. This match is scheduled for Thursday the 18th, which means that our Zebrette have three days (Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday) to lick their wounds before this match, although travel’s going make that feel like two days.

I have to admit that I’m a little concerned; to follow Juve with this isn’t going to be easy, especially for a team that hasn’t yet played in Europe since before the Marino era. Hopefully, Borussia Dortmund knows as little about Udinese as I do about Borussia Dortmund, although with Antonio “I score braces” Di Natale’s celebrations on the front page of every Italian newspaper, I doubt that’s the case. Let’s just hope everyone comes through this weekend injury-free.