Another week and another Europa League fixture. We are in the quarter finals now so there’s not much margin for error. Lyon have a huge list of injured players and that will probably be decisive for Juventus. Meanwhile Juventus have their own injury issues, while Arturo Vidal is suspended for this match and Carlos Tevez is one yellow card away from joining him.
Juventus
The injury “crisis” has lessened as the likes of Andrea Barzagli and Federico Peluso return to the squad sheet. It’s highly unlikely that either will start, and in fact it’s unlikely to see Barzagli playing versus Lyon. Peluso may make an appearance as a sub, but he is also a player who Conte will not want to rush back to fitness only for said player to get injured again.
That leaves us with Martin Caceres, Leonardo Bonucci, and, Giorgio Chiellini as the starting centerbacks. They have slowly become the “injury crisis” first choice centerbacks. The trio have had some fine performances but they have also appeared shaky at times.
Out on the flanks, both Mauricio Isla and Stephan Lichtsteiner are fully fit, but it’s being reported that Isla is preferred for the start. Isla played very well versus Napoli in my opinion, so for once I am excited to see him get the start. Meanwhile out left Kwadwo Asamoah is the obvious choice. Peluso may be fit, but Asamoah is far better than a fully fit Peluso let alone a just returning from injury version of Peluso.
With Vidal suspended, the midfield choices are rather obvious. Barring Antonio Conte pulling a swerve and starting his favorite player – Simone Padoin – we should see Andrea Pirlo, Paul Pogba, and, Claudio Marchisio. I’m sure they have what it takes to get the job done. Perhaps playing in his native France will spur Pogba on to a masterful performance.
The big surprise comes with the strikers. Obviously Tevez will start. But who partners him? Fernando Llorente is in poor form and was dreadful against Napoli, Osvaldo wasn’t any better but has been playing well in the Europa League, and we also have Giovinco and Mirko Vucinic. Guess who is being reported as the likely starter? Vucinic. Mirko subbed on versus Napoli and played well, well enough to earn a start it seems. We haven’t seen Vucinic-Tevez for a very long time, practically since Llorente broke into the starting line up. However I was excited by their partnership early on in the season, so I look forward to seeing them work together again.
Lyon
Lyon are in a tight spot. Eight (!) players are doubtful for the game tomorrow – well, three are 100% out and five are very doubtful – and this includes one of their starting centerbacks, Miguel Lopes. Lopes is out for the season, and Maxime Gonalons has been filling in for him. Gonalons is a defensive mid, and a pretty good one at that, but he has had to play centerback a few times due to the injuries at Lyon.
Also missing is ex-Milan man Yoann Gourcuff, and dangerman Clement Grenier. Lyon’s injuries have taken a toll on their league form and they lost over the weekend to Saint Etienne.
Perhaps most interesting is the presence of French forward Alexandre Lacazette. Juve have recently been linked with a transfer move for him over the summer, and now he is playing against Juve. He is also Lyon’s leading scorer. Also not to be ignored is the striker Bafetimbi Gomis who has bagged 11 goals and won the “Worst Name in Ligue One” award.
Bottom Line
With Tevez, Juve should be fine. Any lapses from the makeshift backline of Lyon will be exploited by the Argentine, and it looks very unlikely that they have the depth or the class – due to the injuries – to outlast Juve through two legs. Perhaps they can scratch out a draw at home, but even that seems unlikely.
We’ll win 0-2!
Oh and first, suck on that John 😛
hahahah you dick :p
Haha, I couldn’t resist! 😛
The new site looks sick!
REAL MADRID – DORTMUND SPOILER (I say this just in case anyone wants to watch the highlights later on, i hate spoilers myself, thats why)
Dortmund is losing 3-0 currently and it might get even worse. I know they don’t have some of their star players, but Real Madrid are one of the favorites to win the Champions League. With this i just wanna make clear how we played 2 great matches against them and were unlucky with how it turned out. There are people who doubt this team, but our team can be world class.
We still need to step it up in Europe, though. I want to see us steamrolling small teams as other “big teams” do it. If it means loosing some league games in order to rest the starters, so be it.
our team is world class 🙂
I hate to be Debbie Downer, but RM was not in great form when we played them. Luckily for them, we are never in great form in the CL except against British teams it seems.
i wish we got a british team this season.
Id have liked an english team but not a british one. I couldnt be bothered with celtics sh*t again
i forgot to mention this earlier… the site looks sexy! if i were i a female website, i would want to make sweet passionate love to this site.
Site looks awesome ! Love it, looks great !
Can’t wait for the match against Lyon, I expect a lot from Juve tomorrow!
site looks awesome .. good work .. i know i was an asshole about it before, but im giving credit when credit is due. Love it.
so who are you guys supporting in the CL? im going for Psg. i know, theyre money whores, but Ibra deserves the Cl. also, i dont want Madrid to win a 10th title. we need to catch up to them as fast as possible(and them not winning the Cl for a while would help). we are not lesser of a club than they and the world needs to know that. Barca and their plastic fans can suck it. as for Bayern, i want Juve to be the first team to win back to back Cl s, so for the time being, Bayern can suck it as well. Chelsea, Man U and Dortmund i feel are all already eliminated and quite frankly, i want the english clubs out, so you know im not cheering for them.
i only support one team. once my team is out of something, I’ll never root for someone else.. I’m happy when I see a team that i dislike lose, but i dont cheer or root for another team.
i agree. maybe i shouldve not used the word “support”. i shouldve said who i “prefer” to win.
Dont really care about it, but I dont want barca or bayern to win it especially. So yeah madrid or psg, maybe atletico if they actually beat barca
Chelsea. Atlético would be great too
PSG here too.. They have the most italians so are the obvious choice for me. I too want the english teams out as the bpl is the league most likely that serie a will be able to overtake
Usa! Usa! no? no one watching Usa vs Mexico? im only a passionate usa fan when we face them mexicans.
me, dude, I’m loving this match. I try to watch Mexico matches so I can see them lose. Bradley is so good, he is far above everyone else on the field. Mexican coach was cussing at the ref, surprised he didn’t get thrown out. No, not surprised actually.
yea Bradleys everywhere! i dont know how he didnt make it in Roma. honestly, i feel he has been U.s.a’s best player since 2010
this was definitely some of the worst reffing I have seen. US had that win already. Refs were scared to get mobbed I bet.
haha i wouldnt know. i didnt really pay attention in the 2nd half. my poor dog was acting sad for some reason and i felt i had to tend to him. although i did see that pk appeal and it was quite audacious to not give that a call. it was obviously a foul…
and that Julian Green kid looks sort of promising. he displayed glimpses of great agility and hes only 18!! im mostly excited about his age because theres still hope for me :p tho im sure he was scouted when he was younger.
we love him at TFC – he’s already becoming a big star here in this city ..
as he should be. he belongs in europe tho
Its sad that Mexico has the ‘home’ field advantage in the US. Immigration needs to start going to games.
yea, they should go undercover and be the ticket staff and be like “yo to enter this stadium, you must have your green card at hand” :p
No lie, in Europe, or at least Italy, if you are a foreigner, you are required to have a passport present to enter any stadium to watch a game. Not only that, you must give your name when buying a ticket in advance, so that they can put your full name on the ticket for verification. Cuts down on scalpers.
Normal service resumed tonight i hope,FORZA JUVE!
Tevez will score tonight!
You read my mind dude,i know tonights the night for him,and us!
Idd! Lyon is nothing more than midtable team, we should beat them and make the return a formality!
starting XI: Buffon, Caceres, Bonucci, Chiellini, Isla, Pogba, Pirlo, Marchisio, Asamoah, Tevez, Osvaldo
Subs: Storari, Lichtsteiner, Peluso, Padoin, Giovinco, Vucinic, Llorente
JUVE JUVE JUVE JUVE
Lyon: Lopes; Tolisso, Koné, Umtiti, Bedimo; Ferri, Gonalons; Malbranque, Lacazette, Mvuemba; Briand
MERDA MERDA MERDA
xD I hardly know anyone from this team. Lacazette is said to be the best, he also said he wants to play for Juve and he was(is) a transfer target. Besides that I know Gonalons aaaand thats it xD
Edit: Lots of injuries for Lyon too, Gomis one of them
They used to be a force,im hoping for a good performance from us tonight,and the result.Get the napoli result out our minds quick style.
Yeah, used to be. Back when they had Benzema, Juninho, Toulalan, players like them. And indeed we need a boost to continue our winning ways
And to ultimately get to the final,CASA JUVE!!!!!!!!!!
To ultimately WIN the final* xD JUVEEE
i kno umtiti from football manager lol. he’s great on there but idk if he’s actually any good or not haha
haha it’s more than I know of him 😛
vucinic should’ve started ahead of osvaldo
Osvaldo seems to do well in Europe though, not sure.
he did well against trabzonspor. a midtable turkish team.
Yeah but check that line-up from Lyon, its Trabzonspor 2.0 in my eyes 😛
lmao lets hope so
Well yeah Lyon is better but still should be easy job for Juve to beat them
so guys, im confused. is the game on in 30 mins or an hour and 30 mins?
They start at 21:05, Central European Time (Italian time), so half an hour later.
30mins
ahhh stupid clock confusion!! i havent even had breakfast
xD I know your pain, I hate the changes
not to worry! i made it to the library with five mins to spare!
Yellow kits!
that pogba and umtiti clap, priceless xD
Pirlo territory
Aaaaand it’s gone.
Close to a goal there Tevez
@JuventusVidal:disqus You’re right, it should have been Vucinic
midfield needs to man up and take control of the game. Bonuccis long balls are becoming irritating
Yeah way off target
heres a daunting fact:
we havent won a european quarter final in 10 years
Or a final in 18 😛
God what was that, Grazie Buffon for keeping that one out
And another one so close
That was nicer to see, if only Tevez could have finished that 😀
we should try and hold on to the ball a little longer instead of throwing it away or making long balls after 3-4 passes. its frustrating to watch.
I think my commentator said ”Alberto Conte”
Youll be watching a stream of english tv im guessing
Yup. I don’t have that channel on my tv. Only BBC stuff. Stupid Belgian tv is showing the Porto match….
Yeah shitty Sporza
Watching the game on english tv and i have to say the commentry is great aside from them calling conte ‘alberto conte’.
YES :DDD I heard it right
loooooooooooooool
Missing some midfield steel from Vidal here, tired of these long passes going nowhere
These Lyon fans are really loud. Respect to Lyon for actually having real fans (as opposed to some other French teams).
We are playing horribly baaad..I really don’t get it with the long balls to nowhere, what is Conte up to?
Not exactly a great first half, hoping for a more entertaining second half
sometimes, Conte can be overl astronomically specific in his tactical approach and this game is an epitome of that. Marchisio and Pogba were consistently pushing up and are they or one of the strikers supposed to lash onto tho long balls from Bonucci? or are the strikers supposed to header down those balls onto an onrushing Marchisio/Pogba? well point is, its not working. it wasnt up until the 38-40th min till i finally saw Marchisio drop down and support the toughly marked Pirlo. please Conte, more basic movement and passing.
Just combining would be great instead of throwing everything away with bad long passes. Keep possession to start with and try to go forward by combining. This long ball tactic needs Llorente at the very least, so indeed switch to a new tactic here
Bring on mirko
Not even getting out of our own half..
and there is a problem with tevez
This is really sad. We’re just making ourselves look bad…
Seeing Tevez go off with no obvious reason, this game aint improving much. Hoping for Vucinic to bring some magic
Something was wrong. He requested a sub
Yeah I know, but he wasn’t showing any pain or injuries or whatever, it’s as if he said “I cant be bothered with this game anymore” Not saying he did that ofc
Meanwhile all other games have seen goals, Benfica and Porto both 1-0 and Basel beating Valencia with 2-0.
And we struggle against a team that cant compete in Ligue 1
Seriously fuck off Osvaldo.
Fucking hell osvaldo
Come on Osvaldo, you can do better than that, no?
I hear Juve fans 😀
It’s amazing how hard we’re trying to make ourselves look bad.
Yeah Gio and Vucinic, things can only get better. Osvaldo was disappointing anyway
Finally attacking, getting more hope for a goal now
Giovinco dangerous right away
Atleast we’re doing well now.
This same commentator is saying ”Vukenic”
Another chance in a short period of time, Gio and Vucinic doing what Tevez and Osvaldo were failing to do, now all we need is a goal
Just fuck Isla
I’m seriously hating Isla and Osvaldo ffs
What a pass by pogba
Dafuq just happened
ROUGH HIM UP GIO 😛
They say chihuaha’s are stronger than pitbulls because all their anger is built up due to their size.
A pitbull can bite a chihuahua in half, a chihuahua can’t do that to a pitbull :p
If a pitbull bites, there is no chihuahua left
What the fuck is wrong with that keeper?
What the fuck……… This GK is 3 times Giovinco’s size and he claims Giovinco can hurt him? Go home Lyon GK, you’re drunk…
Gio’s ass punch > Lyon keeper
Much better from isla
Vucinic and Gio making a difference
Looking at this, they can start in the weekend too
Seriously Mirko deserves a start next game.
Wasn’t off, good defending by Chiellini.
He said it again -_- Alberto Conte.. So it wasn’t just a mistake.
he finally corrected his self :p
Did he?
George Chiellini isn’t playing well.
Hahaha 😀
Gio is looking great. quick foot work and confidence.
Fiiinally he realises its antonio
When i didn’t hear
Just. one. goal. thats all i ask
Lmao
Hooray for that guy 😀
I’m gonna get a heart attack
He still thinks it’s Vukenic
WTF MIRKO WTF WTF
Oh god this isn’t the moment to fail like that Vucinic, not now
I’m laughing so much right now
Vukenic…. how :s
BONNY GOAL!!!!!!!
BONUCCCCCCCIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK YEAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
Leoooooooo!!!!
yaaahooooo!
LEOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONARDOOOOOOOOOOOOO BONUCCIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Lionel Bonucci*
Not Leonard? If thats how you write it
Lorenzo maybe?
Let’s just say Frank 😛
Bob Bonucci
Thats sounds great
We should become commentators, we know the actual names and we’re so original we can make up new ones xD
We would be great advertisement for paid channels. People would pay so much to hear us think up bullshit.
I know right
Lawrence I think
OLE OLE OLE OLE, JUVE JUVE!!!
ok, Gios footwork and agility is sexy today
Why can’t Caceres pass when he gets the ball instead of clearing?
We waste so many corners with those stupid short intricate attempts
Didnt we just score from one..?
yea, but we waste most of the corners we have.
Agreed but we wasted too much in this game overall
When we go 1-0 up Pirlo usually takes a short one for possession.
This ref is incredible. Never gives Pirlo fouls
”First Juventus player to be booked all night” Giovinco got booked for that ass bump….
Who is commenting on that channel, for fuck sake xD
Maybe his name is Alberto Vukenic.
Or he’s on crack. Either way, he’s shit.
Or Franky
Frank Bobson
So Basel’s through for sure. Benfica have a comfortable advantage while the Porto game is in their favour.
Don’t underestimate AZ though. They nearly scored just now in their first chance in the match in the 92nd min!
Don’t underestimate AZ though. They nearly scored just now in their first chance in the match in the 92nd min!
They nearly scored just now in their first chance in the match in the 92nd min!
in their first chance in the match in the 92nd min!
first chance in the match
Dangerous as heck if you ask me!
It’s going to look as expected.
Juventus
Porto
Benfica
Basel
In all honesty Basel are scary. Always put up good fights against big teams. I wanna avoid them for the semis.
I actually expected valencia to win that game, Basel seems to thrive on killing bigger teams
i want basel
According to the commentator:
Luca Buffon
George Chiellini
Lorenzo Bonucci
Mike Caceres
Maurice Isla
Bob Pogba
Clyde Marchisio
Andrè Pirlo
Carlo Tevez
Danielle Osvaldo
Steve Lichtsteiner
Marco Vukenic
Scott Giovinco
Kyle Asamoah
you beat me to it :p
LMAO
Dont forget Alberto Conte
good thing luke brown wasnt playing
And Pablo Nedved in the stands for good luck
you think lucy moggi will ever return to the club?
Nah Peepe Marrot is doing just fine lol.
Oh right 😀
dammit. Gio is finally looking like the beast Gio and hes likely to leave this summer. i almost couldnt recognize Gio today. you could even see in his face that hes much more confident and focused. i hope he gets a chance over the weekend.
likely to leave? 😮
ye. after that incident with the fans and the booing, he said that he was going to leave and the media has been strongly linking him to Lazio
Yeah gio has been brilliant lately, he should really be getting more playing time
new thread