Hassan Chamas

What: Italian Serie A
Who: Juventus (3rd; 27 points) vs. Internazionale (1st; 35 points)
When: Saturday 5th December, 2009, at 20:45 CET
Where: Stadio Olimpico, Turin, Italy


Last Chance Saloon

It’s been quite a week in Italian soccer. Former Juve mogul Luciano Moggi launched yet another torpedo at his Calciopoli detractors, Giorgio Chiellini’s broken nose was a concern; and Mario Balotelli’s club future along Ciro Ferrara’s managerial post were the most talked-about rumours in Turin and Milan. People even nearly forgot that the two most decorated clubs in Serie A will lock horns this Saturday in the 211th derby d’Italia, a 90 minute slugfest that will probably dictate the rest of Juventus’s season.

It’s been torrid times for the Turin giants of late. Injuries to star strikers Vincenzo Iaquinta and David Trezeguet, along with their defensive woes have made coach Ferrara a target for press and pundits. Whatever good form Juventus had earlier this season seems to have vanished as two successive defeats for the Bianconeri sent alarms hollering at the Olympic Stadium, where they now sit eight points behind runaway leaders Inter. Should La Vecchia Signora fail to produce against the Nerazzurri, Ferrara’s tab at the Last Chance Saloon will be running low.


Precious Chance

Over at Milanello, the sour defeat to Barcelona was quickly treated with a narrow, yet important 1-0 win over Fiorentina in the league. Jose Mourinho’s men find themselves now eight points clear of their visitors, and seven away from their resurgent neighbours AC Milan. While half of the league is not yet passed, the general feeling is that the Beneamata will knock one giant out of contention for good – the other being Milan – should they come up with all three points against a wounded Juventus.

Gossip-wise, Inter’s corridors never seem to be quiet. The future of starlets Davide Santon and Mario Balotelli have been up the air 24/7, and the constant rumours linking Mourinho with his dream Manchester United job never seem to die down. These, along with key absences such as Maicon and Wesley Sneijder may prove costly for the league leaders should they mentally fail to show up when the two meet.

Recent form

Juventus:
Juventus 1-0 Udinese (Serie A)
Bordeaux 2-0 Juventus (Champions League)
Cagliari 2-0 Juventus (Serie A)

Internazionale:
Bologna 1-3 Internazionale (Serie A)
Barcelona 2-0 Internazionale (Champions League)
Internazionale 1-0 Fiorentina (Serie A)


Key absences

Juventus: Vincenzo Iaquinta; Fabio Grosso (doubt); Felipe Melo (doubt)
Internazionale: Douglas Maicon; Davide Santon; Ricardo Quaresma; Wesley Sneijder (doubt)


Players to watch

Juventus – Gianluigi Buffon: Buffon’s awareness this Saturday will be key should the Old Lady want to rebuff their Milanese visitors and open up the Scudetto race all over again. The World Cup winner has been the best custodian in Europe this season, a reputation that will be further put to test when dealing with Diego Milito and Samuel Eto’o.

Internazionale – Walter Samuel: Samuel is without a shadow of a doubt the most rejuvenated player in this year’s Inter squad. An absolute rock in a handful of matches, he will be looking to keep the Juventus attack at bay. Has certainly returned to his past Roma form.


Match prediction

Possibly the worst time ever for Juventus to dispute a derby d’Italia. The Bianconeri are approaching the danger zone at great speed, seeing in their championship hopes morph into nothing more than puffy smoke. Ciro Ferrara doesn’t have the depth to challenge a team such as Internazionale at this point. A 3-1 win for Inter.

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