Zaccheroni fielded a 4-3-1-2 formation with Diego in support of Del Piero and Amauri in the attack.
The two teams are determined to play a good match and on the 2nd minute, there is a corner for Bari: Cannavaro clears the area. One minute later, there is a fee-kick for Juve: Camoranesi's cross is cleared by Almiron.
The 4th minute sees a corner for Juve: the ball is returned to Diego who from outside the area shoots at goal with Gillet well placed to save. Two minutes later, a Diego shot goes well high over the bar.
It is the 7th minute when a Camoranesi long ball towards Del Piero is a bit too long for the captain. Two minutes later, Diego shot is a bit too weak to worry Gillet. Free-kick for Juve: Del Piero's attempt goes straight into the wall.
On the 10th minute, Buffon is forced to a good save following a Koman header and one minute later, a Del Piero shot goes well high over the bar.
A De Ceglie cross escapes Gillet but Juve win a corner on the 14th minute: from the flag the ball goes straight into the hands of the keeper. Three minutes later, Marchisio shows some excellent play as he dribbles past two defenders putting in a cross towards Amauri but the ball is too high for the striker.
Great attacking by Juve on the 20th minute. First Stellini clears on Del Piero. Then Diego enters the area with a beautiful move and crosses towards Amauri with the keeper just managing to save. A powerful Marchisio shot goes just wide, seconds later.
Juve are denied a penalty as Diego is fouled in the Bari area on the 21st minute. Four minutes later, a precise Camoranesi cross sees Amauri anticipated just in time by Bonucci.
On the 27th minute, there is a corner for Juve after Diego holds a good ball in the area and then crosses low: Chiellini heads wide. Two minutes later,there is a good cross into the area by Camoranesi towards Amauri whose header goes wide. Once again Diego is fouled in the area with the referee signalling to play on.
The 33rd minute sees a Diego shot being saved by the keeper after some really good play by Juve. A beautiful shot by Del Piero grazes the bar but the flag was up for off-side, one minute later.
On the 35th minute there is a good ball by Diego for Del Piero but the captain is off-side. Juve are playing a good match but on the 41st minute, Buffon makes a great save on a dangerous Koman shot.
It is the 42nd minute when Marchisio makes a beautiful move to free himself from two defenders but his shot goes well high over the bar. One minute later, an Almiron shot goes high and wide.
The 44th minute sees a corner for Juve with Cannavaro heading wide and on the first and only minute of stoppage time, there is another corner for Juve: Corner for Juve: Del Piero's cross is headed away by Almiron. The first half ends in a goalless draw.
Iaquinta and Candreva come on for Amauri and Camoranesi before the start of the second half and the two substitutions made by Zaccheroni soon prove to be well made. On the first minute, there is a free-kick for Juve: ball into the area with Chiellini shooting at goal but Gillet performs a miracle. From the rebound a good Candreva shot goes high.
It is the 4th minute when De Ceglie puts a good cross into the area and Del Piero sees his header hitting the post. Two minutes later there is a free-kick for Bari: Iaquinta clears the Juve area.
On the 8th minute, Diego puts a ball towards Iaquinta who from a rather difficult position manages to beat Gillet and post the ball into the back of the net for the opener: 1-0. Two minutes later, Cannavaro clears well on what could have been a dangerous Bari initiative.
Free-kick for Juve on the 15th minute: Diego crosses towards Iaquinta who shoots high. Juve benefit of a corner 4 minutes later: Candreva puts the ball in, Chiellini heads towards Iaquinta whose header is saved by Gillet.
It is the 21st minute when Juve score a beautiful goal thanks to Diego who exchanged with Iaquinta but the referee disallows the goal for off-side. Three minutes later however, there is a penalty for Juve following a foul on Diego in the area: Del Piero beats Gillet from the 11 metres for the 2-0.
On the 25th minute, a Rivas shot goes just high over the bar. Salihamidzic comes on for Marchisio on the 33rd minute after the midfielder is forced to leave due to injury. Two minutes later, Zebina risks an incredible own goal forcing Buffon to save into corner. From the flag the ball is cleared by the defence.
Juve seal the victory on the 41st minute: Great play by Diego who passes to Iaquinta but the defence puts the ball into corner: the ball reaches Candreva who puts in a low ball towards Iaquinta who scores for the 3-0.
The last real bit of action of the match comes on the 43rd minute when there is a free-kick for Juve from just outside the area: Del Piero's ball is destined to the net but Gillet manages to punch away.
Juve win the first of the 4 finals with 3 goals and if 3 is a magic number there are 3 matches left out of which 3 points are asked in each case.
Serie A 2009/10 35th Match Day
Turin, Stadio Olimpico
Sunday 25th April, 2010
JUVENTUS - BARI: 3-0
Scorers: Iaquinta (53rd), Del Piero (69th pen.), Iaquinta (86th)
JUVENTUS: Buffon, Zebina, Cannavaro, Chiellini, De Ceglie, Camoranesi (Candreva 45th) Poulsen, Marchisio (Salihamidzic 77th), Diego, Del Piero, Amauri (Iaquinta 45th). Coach: Zaccheroni. Reserves: Manninger, Legrottaglie, Grosso, Salihamidzic, Marrone, Candreva, Iaquinta.
BARI: Gillet, Belmonte, Bonucci, Stellini, S. Masiello, Alvarez (Gosztonyi 70th), Almiron, Donati, Koman (Rivas 63rd), Barreto, Castillo (Meggiorini 55th). Coach: Ventura. Reserves: Padelli, Diamoutene, Parisi, Gosztonyi, Rivas, De Vezze, Meggiorini.
REFEREE: Gervasoni
Yellow Cards: Almiron (30th), Camoranesi (37th), Iaquinta (53rd), Meggiorini (60th), Gillet (69th).
www.juventus.com
Juve three times stronger!
Benitez has Juve agreement
La Gazzetta dello Sport claims that Juventus have an agreement with Rafael Benitez but everything depends on his contract at Liverpool.
The pink paper has made a lot of the fact Benitez met with his agent Manuel Garcia Quillon at Liverpool's training camp in Madrid yesterday.
Juventus and Quillon have apparently ironed out a contract worth €4.5m a year.
They also managed to get Benitez to accept to reduce his staff from 12 to six personnel.
However, the conclusion of any deal depends on Liverpool's new President Martin Broughton who is currently trying to find a buyer for the club.
The Reds are said to be reluctant to lose Benitez, especially if it comes to him resigning and asking for a golden handshake on his four-year contract worth €16m.
La Gazzetta believes it will take time for the Spanish tactician to extricate himself from his Liverpool contract, but that hasn't stopped Juventus setting a deadline of May 10 to conclude proceedings.
If Benitez can't free himself, Juventus President Jean-Claude Blanc has devised a Plan B whereby Fiorentina boss Cesare Prandelli will be hired.
The Bianconeri have also moved to make Sampdoria's Beppe Marotta their new director of sport.
www.juvefc.com
Juventus on tour
The season for Juventus will see its end across the ocean: after the end of the championship, in fact, the bianconeri will bew embarking on a fascinating tour in the USA and Canada.
The stages of the trip will be New York and Toronto. In the Big Apple, on the 23rd May, they will play against the New York Red Bulls, a Major League Soccer team. It is one of the historical teams of the American championship, known since 2006 with the name of MetroStars, a team which saw players of world class like Lothar Matthaus, Roberto Donadoni and Youri Djorkaeff.
At the moment, the Red Bulls are at the head of the Eastern Conference, tahnks to 3 victories and one defeat. The Major League Soccer started on the 27th March and will continue until October, and thus the match against Juventus will be between two championship matches: the home one against Colombus Crew and the away match against New England Revolution.
The match between Red Bulls and Juventus will be played at the Red Bull Arena, a futuristic stadium of 25,000 places that as from this season is hosting the home matches of the American team.
From New York, Juventus will fly to Toronto, for the second friendly match of the tour: on the 25th of May, Juventus will play against Fiorentina at the Rogers Centre, a multifunctional stadium of 50,000 places which hosts baseball, Canadian football and soccer.
www.juventus.com
Buffon: «We must play the last 4 matches as though they were finals»
The world’s best goalkeeper had a great performance, saving the goal on a number of occasions but the result cannot but leave him disappointed at the end of the match: « In the heat of the moment many things can be said but from the field you cannot always be certain of what heppened. I think we had a good performance and until we were shown the red card we played on equal terms.We were obtaining a good result but playing with one man less against a team with great power and quality is never easy. We have 4 matches left and we must try to end the championship in a decorous and fitting way. I think that unfortuantely our situation depends on other teams. We must play the last 4 matches as though they were finals and try to win.I think that the defence was good and compact, conceding the ineviatble against such a team, but I think that everybody was careful».
www.juventus.com
Sacked Allegri in demand
Cagliari are refusing to discuss why Massimiliano Allegri was fired, but he’s now free to consider offers from Juventus, Fiorentina, Milan and more.
Last night the Sardinians caused shockwaves when they sacked their Coach and handed the reins to Primavera youth team boss Giorgio Melis and former player Gianluca Festa.
President Massimo Cellino is not speaking to the media and won’t return from Miami until Friday, while the club has now imposed a Press silence over players and staff.
It is widely reported the reason behind this sudden split was Allegri’s refusal to sign a contract extension, as he has been of interest to several top sides.
Although the 43-year-old’s deal does not expire until 2011, it’s unlikely Cagliari will try to block his passage to another club in the summer.
Fiorentina were looking at Allegri as a replacement should Cesare Prandelli opt to move on for Juventus or the Italy bench.
However, he was also challenging Prandelli for that job at Juve along with Rafa Benitez of Liverpool.
Rumours that Milan are set to part company with Leonardo are increasingly common and Allegri would represent a similar push towards young, relatively inexperienced Coaches.
In fact, he had been among the favourites for San Siro last season when Carlo Ancelotti left for Chelsea, as his entertaining approach to football is a favourite of President Silvio Berlusconi.
Sampdoria are more contenders after Gigi Del Neri hinted he was unsure about his future with the Blucerchiati.
Del Neri is currently in joint fourth place, but his contract expires in the summer.
www.juvefc.com
Juventus may not pitch for Rafa if they fail in Champions League
London, Italian football club Juventus may have second thoughts about roping in Liverpool coach Rafa if they fail to make the Champions League knock-out round.
The Turin giants are insisting that they have met Benitez' representatives and want a definite commitment by the end of next week. The Kop chief's camp is, however, in a state of denial over this development, The Sun reports.
Juventus, sixth in Serie A, last summer used a hefty slice of the 2010-11 season's budget to bring in Brazilian duo Felipe Melo and Diego for a combined amount of nearly 50 million pounds. But that backfired as they failed to have the desired impact and there is growing turmoil at the club.
Bringing in Benitez, plus a couple of his backroom team and top stars, would cost around 100 million pounds, stretching Juventus to breaking point.
That means a place in the Champions League is essential if they are to finance a rebuilding campaign.
Failure to do so would mean the Agnelli family, which owns the club, having to pump in a fortune, which they are unwilling to do.
www.news.oneindia.in
Two days before Inter-Juventus
The countdown for Inter-Juventus is coming to an end and is marking -2. While the nerazzurri only started thinking of the match today, due to their Coppa Italia fixture (yesterday they won and qualified for the final), the bianconeri continued with their preparation in Vinovo.
After the test against the Berretti team, yesterday, Zaccheroni’s team was once again on the field today for a morning session. Diego and Caceres once again showed good signs, taking part in all the activities, including the end of session mini-match. Zebina followed a different work programme. Trezeguet and Grygera, who will miss the match against the nerazzurri, trained in the gym.
Both players underwent more tests. The Frenchman suffered an elongation of the left femoral biceps. The Czech national suffered a first degree distraction to the right femoral biceps and will be out for 20 days.
In view of the match on Friday night at the Meazza, there is one remaining session to go, the one to be held tomorrow afternoon. This will be preceded by a press conference addressed by Mr. Zaccheroni. The appointment is at 13:45hrs at the press room of the Juventus Media Center and it will be transmitted live on Juventus Channel.
www.juventus.com
