Barcelona are without Jordi Alba, Ibrahim Afellay and Isaac Cuenca for the Champions League match with Milan. The Blaugrana step into San Siro on Tuesday evening in this Group H encounter. Barcelona are without Jordi Alba, Ibrahim Afellay and Isaac Cuenca for the Champions League match with Milan. The Blaugrana step into San Siro on Tuesday evening in this Group H encounter. Coach Gerardo ‘Tata’ Martino is without Jordi Alba and Afellay, while he has chosen to leave behind Isaac Cuenca. UEFA have chosen German referee Felix Brych to officiate. Milan will name their squad later today, but are pessimistic on Mario Balotelli, Christian Abbiati or Mattia De Sciglio being able to make it. Barcelona squad for Milan: Victor Valdes, Pinto, Olazabal; Montoya, Piqué, Puyol, Mascherano, Bartra, Adriano, Dani Alves; Fabregas, Xavi, Iniesta, Jonathan Dos Santos, Busquets, Song, Sergi Roberto; Pedro, Alexis Sanchez, Messi, Neymar, Tello
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Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti hinted Gareth Bale could “start against Juventus” in the Champions League. The Coach was speaking after today’s 2-0 victory over Malaga, as they face the Turin giants on Wednesday. “It was a very good game. I hope we will play with the same intensity against Juventus in the Champions League next week. Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti hinted Gareth Bale could “start against Juventus” in the Champions League. The Coach was speaking after today’s 2-0 victory over Malaga, as they face the Turin giants on Wednesday. “It was a very good game. I hope we will play with the same intensity against Juventus in the Champions League next week. “We worked harder in defence. We focused on recovering possession faster and creating chances in attack – and that’s definitely something that happened this afternoon. “I'm happy with how we played, but we have to continue improving. Bale is fit to play. He has three days of training and then we will decide if he starts against Juve. “I think Varane will also be available for the match.”
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Barcelona director Andoni Zubizarreta is again looking forward to a European Cup clash against Milan. The two teams have been regularly drawn with each other in recent seasons and they will meet at San Siro again on Tuesday night. “It wouldn’t be the Champions League unless we played Milan,” Zubizarreta smiled on Monday ahead of the trip to Italy. Barcelona director Andoni Zubizarreta is again looking forward to a European Cup clash against Milan. The two teams have been regularly drawn with each other in recent seasons and they will meet at San Siro again on Tuesday night. “It wouldn’t be the Champions League unless we played Milan,” Zubizarreta smiled on Monday ahead of the trip to Italy. “We have played each other a lot. We are going to a stadium in which the opponent does not mind closing up against us and that to us will make things more complicated. “In no way do we have to explain to our players the trajectory of Milan. It is always a good time to play Milan – whether before a Clasico game against Real Madrid or not. “It’s another opportunity to play against a great side. If you were to ask Carles Puyol, he will tell you that this is the best team that we can play.” Barcelona have a 100 per cent record in Group H, while Milan have beaten Celtic and drawn with Ajax in their two games so far.
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Javier Zanetti has wished Inter a happy birthday, as the Nerazzurri turn 104 years old today.
Following a break from Milan Cricket and Football Club, FC Internazionale was formed on March 9, 1908, partly because of the wish to create a club more open to foreign players than other Italian sides had been up to then.
Fittingly in celebrating entering their 105th year of existence today, the club received a birthday message from Argentine captain Zanetti.
“Happy birthday greetings to my dearest Inter,” the 38-year-old began in a statement from the team hotel.
“Being part of this beautiful family for so many years is a source of great pride. I can never stop thanking President [Massimo] Moratti for having given me this opportunity.
“And over these many years it has been a great honour to share in the triumphs, but also the difficult times, with many directors, Coaches, teammates, staff members, and all the fans who love this club and who I thank for having always been so supportive.
“We are all special, because we are Interisti. So once again - happy birthday Inter, and may there be another 100 more years like these!”
La Beneamata are in League action tonight, looking to end a winless run of seven Serie A games with a visit to Chievo.//football-italia.net
Cesare Prandelli believes 2012 is Italian football’s year with the Champions League and European Championships, but how would he solve Inter’s woes?
There are three Italian sides in the last 16 of Europe’s top club competition, as Milan beat Arsenal 4-0 while next week Napoli face Chelsea and Inter visit Olympique Marseille.
Cesare Prandelli believes 2012 is Italian football’s year with the Champions League and European Championships, but how would he solve Inter’s woes?
There are three Italian sides in the last 16 of Europe’s top club competition, as Milan beat Arsenal 4-0 while next week Napoli face Chelsea and Inter visit Olympique Marseille.
“In a one-off game, Napoli can beat anyone,” said Prandelli. “Nowadays all clubs would prefer to avoid taking on Walter Mazzarri’s men in a decisive match.
“I am confident all three Italians will go through to the quarter-finals. Milan have practically booked their ticket with that 4-0 victory over Arsenal.
“Inter are going through a strange season of highs and lows. At the moment it is difficult for them, but they have the players to rise up again. They need to push back with the pride of their champions.”
This year also sees Euro 2012 and Prandelli’s Italy qualified unbeaten, although they face Spain, Croatia and the Republic of Ireland in the first round.
“We’ll see what happens, but it’s not easy, as we have Spain in our group.
Juventus boss Antonio Conte used his Press conference ahead of the Parma game to label Milan as the “super favourites” for the Scudetto.
The Old Lady actually sit at the top of the standings, one point ahead of the Rossoneri, but the tactician has piled the pressure on his rivals.
“Milan’s ability to win so easily is surprising,” Conte noted after the San Siro giants disposed of Cagliari 3-0 last night.
“Yesterday, with so many absences, they took the points with absolute tranquillity. They have a great champion like Zlatan Ibrahimovic who, at times, gives the sensation that he is Gulliver, a giant.
“They are so impressive that they are the super favourites to win the title. Up until now we are keeping up with them and we hope to keep the championship alive until the very end.
“There are still 18 games to go and there are 54 points on offer, so anything can happen amongst the top six or seven sides.” Source : http://www.football-italia.net
Juventus boss Antonio Conte wants to fight for more than just a third-place finish in Serie A this season.
Speaking ahead of Saturday’s trip to Atalanta, the tactician underlined how hungry he is to get the Old Lady back to the very top.
“I wouldn’t sign for third place right now if it was offered to me,” the former Juve midfielder, who arrived from Siena in the summer, stated.
“I am obliged to give my best and dream about big targets. I wouldn’t have signed in June for just minimal objectives.”
The Bianconeri are currently first in Serie A and a win in Bergamo will see them crowned as Winter Champions.
“We are top because we have shown a great amount of determination, enthusiasm and a desire to win. I want to put my faith in players who want to achieve extraordinary things.
“We have another half of the season to go to confirm everything that we have done well so far. It won’t be easy.”
Diego Milito feels the derby victory will give Inter “the confidence to face the next games” in the Scudetto race.
“I am so very happy. We had a great performance against an opponent of excellent quality,” he said after scoring in the 1-0 result over Milan.
“We knew it would be difficult and remained concentrated throughout, so we’re happy to have won the derby.”
The Nerazzurri had previously lost the head-to-heads against Juventus, Udinese and Napoli, but are back in the title race and now fourth.
“We really needed to beat one of the other big clubs and knew winning this would give us the confidence to face the next games.
“Winning the derby is wonderful, especially for all those who stayed close to me in difficult moments. Being fortunate enough to score the only goal makes me doubly happy.”
While Adriano Galliani says Milan have a meeting with Manchester City on Thursday, Silvio Berlusconi insists Carlos Tevez “is not my type.”
Confusion reigns at San Siro after City confirmed they would not release Tevez on loan, therefore rejecting the Rossoneri’s first offer.
Vice-President Galliani said “we have an appointment with Manchester City on Thursday. However, it probably won’t be the decisive one to conclude a deal.”
This evening ahead of the rescheduled Week 1 game with Cagliari, President Berlusconi painted a very different picture of the situation.
“I am not courting Tevez, as he is not my type. Besides, he’s too expensive,” Berlusconi told news agency adnkronos.
“We already have a squad that can win the Scudetto as it is. As for Alexandre Pato, he needs to play more.” // http://www.football-italia.net
It was a shock evening in the Champions League, as both Manchester City and Manchester United crashed out of the competition.
This means that Italy are the only country with three teams in the last 16 of the Champions League.
The friendly match between Indonesia Selection vs LA Galaxy that was held today on Wednesday, November 30th, 2011 at the Bung Karno Stadium, Jakarta. eventually won by David Beckham thin CS with score 0-1. LA Galaxy scored the winning goal in minute 14 by Robbie Keane.
Indonesia Selection it self appears quite good and can provide significant resistance, several times a team we get a chance at the game, hopefully the future held more events like this, because in addition can add this experience can also sharpen mental Indonesia Team.
Teams:
Indonesian Selection: Andritany Ardhiyasa (Kurnia Meiga 45'), Zulkfli Syukur, Hamka Hamzah, Victor Igbonefo, Diego Micheils, M. Ridwan, Egi Melgiansyah, Firman Utina, Andik Vermansyah (Okto Maniani 51'), Patrich Wanggai, Greg Nwokolo
LA Galaxy: Josh Saunders (Brian Perk 45'), A.J Delagarza, Todd Dunivant, Sean Franklin, Omar Gonzalez, David Beckham, Landon Donovan, Juninho (Michael Stephens 31'), Mike Magee (Hector Jimenez 56'), Adam Cristman, Robbie Keane
The Bianconeri goalscoring poll on Facebook continues to be a roaring success. Fans have responded in their thousands to vote for their favourite strikes so far this season. But while there are plenty of excellent goals to choose from, a familiar face remains in pole position.
Last time out, Claudio Marchisio’s opener against Milan topped the leaderboard. And we recently took to Facebook again, asking you to select your favourite goal from our last four games against Genoa, Fiorentina, Inter and Palermo.
The Bianconeri goalscoring poll on Facebook continues to be a roaring success. Fans have responded in their thousands to vote for their favourite strikes so far this season. But while there are plenty of excellent goals to choose from, a familiar face remains in pole position.
Last time out, Claudio Marchisio’s opener against Milan topped the leaderboard. And we recently took to Facebook again, asking you to select your favourite goal from our last four games against Genoa, Fiorentina, Inter and Palermo.
Following another phenomenal reaction from the fans, Marchisio has topped the charts once more. His coolly taken finish in the 2-1 victory over Inter received more than 60 per cent of the votes, while Matri’s effort against Genoa put the frontman in second place.
The ‘Little Prince’ is in fine goalscoring form and also claimed third position with his low drive against Palermo, “for the resounding nature of the move (Matri’s stepover in particular was MAGNIFICENT)”, explained Pierpaolo Pedicini, who like many others elected to comment on his choice.
But the immense joy provided by the strike in the San Siro appears to have been the deciding factor. “I don’t know if it’s the best but, it’s the one that made me celebrate the most!!”, wrote Fabrizio Sciolla, summing up the thoughts of all those who opted for the same goal. //http://www.juventus.com
Inter President Massimo Moratti has said that he wouldn’t hesitate in re-signing Manchester City’s Mario Balotelli.
Moratti allowed Balotelli, who scored his first goal for Italy on Friday, to join City in the summer of 2010 for a transfer fee of €28m.
“I’d take Balotelli back tomorrow if I could,” the Nerazzurri patron stated on Monday morning. “Why would I say no? He’s one of the best players around.
Inter President Massimo Moratti has said that he wouldn’t hesitate in re-signing Manchester City’s Mario Balotelli.
Moratti allowed Balotelli, who scored his first goal for Italy on Friday, to join City in the summer of 2010 for a transfer fee of €28m.
“I’d take Balotelli back tomorrow if I could,” the Nerazzurri patron stated on Monday morning. “Why would I say no? He’s one of the best players around.
“I’ve always had a lot of respect for him. It seems to me that he is making a breakthrough and this experience in England with Roberto Mancini is good for him.
“However, I’m not thinking about him and I have no regrets in selling him. Certain things happened that year and it was difficult to keep him here.”
Balotelli was signed by the Beneamata in 2007 after Inter hijacked Fiorentina’s move for the then Lumezzane youngster.
Last week the Palermo-born forward stated that he could possibly consider a return to Inter if the right conditions were in place.
Inter boss Claudio Ranieri also revealed today that he would welcome the player with open arms if a move back to San Siro was possible.
Source : http://www.football-italia.net
Tuesday’s showdown between Barcelona and Milan has been labelled as the “Derby of the World” by Adriano Galliani.
The two teams meet in their opening match of Group H as the Champions League kicks off this evening.
“Barcelona are the best team in the world right now, but Milan are the club with the most titles,” the Rossoneri Vice-President noted.
“Therefore, this game can be called the Derby of the World.”
Former Barca ace Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be missing from this global tie though after he picked up an injury in training on Monday.
That initially led to the understanding that Antonio Cassano and Alexandre Pato would start in attack, but that may not be the case.
As boss Massimiliano Allegri is also without the injured Robinho and the unavailable Pippo Inzaghi, there are suggestions that he could just start with Pato up front on his own.
The suggestion made by the Gazzetta dello Sport is that the Brazilian will be backed up by Kevin Prince Boateng and Urby Emanuelson in a 4-3-2-1.
Juventus returned to their brand new stadium this afternoon for the first time since Thursday’s workout against Notts County.
Antonio Conte decided to hold the team’s final training session at Juventus Stadium, allowing his players to fully acclimatise to the new pitch and surroundings.
A stadium in silence before the rapturous welcome the Bianconeri will be afforded tomorrow. Conte used the opportunity to appeal to the supporters, reminding them of the vital role they can play in spurring the team on to victory. “We’ve chosen to train in the stadium in order to put the finishing touches on our preparations. I hope that from Sunday, and for all the other home games, the public’s contribution proves to be fundamental. I’d like the fans to create an electric atmosphere all around the ground and I’m certain that thanks to the new arena and their proximity, they’ll be our twelfth man on the pitch.”
At the end of the workout, the manager submitted 20-man selection for the game. Iaquinta is the only one to miss out due to injury, while Krasic and Vucinic have been passed fit.
1 Buffon
3 Chiellini
5 Pazienza
7 Pepe
8 Marchisio
10 Del Piero
11 De Ceglie
14 Vucinic
15 Barzagli
17 Elia
19 Bonucci
20 Toni
21 Pirlo
22 Vidal
24 Giaccherini
26 Lichtsteiner
27 Krasic
30 Storari
32 Matri
33 Sorensen
Seeing your name next to that of the great Juventus legends in the new stadium in which the bianconeri will be writing many glorious pages in the history of the club, is a dream which the Juventus supporters can see come true as from today thanks to the initiative “Accendi una stella”.
The initiative will allow Juventus supporters to be protagonists in the new stadium: in fact the paving which leads to the second tier of the stands has been planned in a way as to welcome the public through a section of space divided into 50 sectors. Each of these sectors will be dedicated to the 50 champions in Juventus history which received the greatest number of votes by the Memebers and the Clubs DOC. Inside each sector metal plaques in the shape of a star with the names of the supporters inscribed in them will be placed.
The stars will be of two types: a Gold star worth €250 and a Platinum star worth €350, with which one will have the opportunity of seeing the star with his or her name inscribed around that of one of the 50 champions which include Platini, Del Piero, Boniperti, Sivori and many others. The project was conceived in a way to allow each interested supporte to choose his favourite sector. It will also be possible to give this unrepeatable and extraordinary emotion to someone who shares the love for the black and white stripes, changing the subscription to this initiative into a present. Whoever subscribes by the 28th February 2011 will see his name inscribed in time for the inauguration of the stadium.
This is not all: whoever subscribes to the initiative will receive a pack containing a reproduction of the star, a limited edition t-shirt of the project and access to the Juventus Membership project which will allow him to become part of the Member community.
The stars can be purchased through the website www.accendiunastella.com or through the call center on 899.999.897, from the Sales Center at Galleria San Federico 38 in Turin, from Pinzolo during the summer training camp from the Summer Village where one can find a space entirely dedicated to the project, from the Juventus Store in Via Garibaldi, from the Truck Juventus Store or from the Juventus Shop at the Stadio Olimpico and by the prepaid card which will allow you to activate the online service. source : www.juventus.com
Milan patron Silvio Berlusconi insists he will not interfere with Massimiliano Allegri’s team selection after spending big in the summer.
Berlusconi got his wallet out after a couple of lean years and brought in Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Robinho to great fanfare.
Interviewed in La Gazzetta dello Sport, Berlusconi was asked why he had suddenly fallen in love with the club again.
“It’s not true that I have re-found love for Milan, because I always had it. But in the last two years, I didn’t share the way with which the team was put on the pitch, first with Ancelotti and then with Leonardo.
“I have always respected the role of our Coaches, but I felt pain seeing that the resources available to them weren’t used opportunely.
“In some games we didn’t even have a shot in a half, because instead of being close to goal Ronaldinho and Pato were 45m away from it.”
Berlusconi was also keen to take the spotlight off his galacticos and turn it on some of Milan’s unsung heroes.
“Further to Pato, Ibra, Ronaldinho and Robinho there are other class players like Pirlo and Seedorf, but it will be up to Allegri to decide who play on the basis of form and the health of everyone.
“I am not the last person to arrive in football so I believe that I am able to say my piece. I have spoken with Allegri. I have told him what I think and he knows that I wanted to set up a very spectacular Milan, capable of entertaining, in which all the best players can play together if they are well. But, as always, he has the last word.”
When asked if he agreed with Ibrahimovic’s sentiment that Milan are now stronger than Inter, Berlusconi said: “I’ll let the others say something on that.
“I only know that, as always, we are aiming to be protagonists in Italy and in Europe. If there aren’t any injuries, our squad is of the highest order. It was last year and it is even more so this year.”
Finally Berlusconi gave his reaction to reports linking Inter with a move for former Milan talisman, Ricky Kaka.
“If Kaka were to go to Inter I’d also applaud Inter because he has always been a great player,” he concluded.[www.football-italia.net]
With the two days of absolute rest having come to an end, Juventus is ready to concentrate fulltime on Sampdoria. Six days before the match against the blucerchiati, on schedule for Sunday at the Olimpico, the bianconeri will get back to work tomorrow afternoon at the Juventus Center.
It will be the last session of work in the absence of the 5 internationals who are still busy with the Euro 2012 qualifiers. Italy of the 4 bianconeri (Chiellini, Bonucci, Pepe and Quagliarella) and Krasic’s Serbia will be on the field in the evening for the last match before returning to the team.{Juventus.com}
