Icon Juventus sekaligus Kapten Bianconeri, Alessandro Del Piero sangat optimis timnya dapat menyusul Inter di puncak klasemen. Juventus yang tengah berusaha untuk meneruskan rekor 5 kemenangan beruntun akan berusaha untuk mempersempit selisih poin dengan pimpinan klasemen, Internazionale Milan.
“We know we have what it takes to catch up with Inter and have the weapons to fight right until the end. One thing is sure; now is the time for us to put our foot on the accelerator and reduce the gap to the league leaders. The coach (Claudio Ranieri) has reminded us of the concepts we must always keep in mind. The first thing is that we must never give up. We must also maintain the air of a smaller club. We should respect our adversaries whilst paying attention to particular details. Every ball and tackle is important.”
La Vecchia Signora sangat menginginkan 3 poin di laga besok siang mengingat rekor Juventus v Siena di Turin yang tak terkalahkan sejak musim 1979 / 1980.
Ranieri masih dipusingkan dengan masalah cedera Jorge Andrade, Mauro Camoranesi, Vincenzo Iaquinta, Dario Knezevic, Hasan Salihamidzic, David Trezeguet dan Jonathan Zebina..
Sementara pelatih Siena Marco Giampaolo cukup senang meski harus menjalani laga tandang yang cukup berat. Persaingan dipapan bawah cukup berat dan Giampaolo harus berjuang untuk menghentikan rekor mereka yang belum pernah menang di 3 pertandingan terakhir.
“The lads have worked well over the break. Now our legs are slightly heavy from the training but that is how things should be, In our preparations for this weekend’s game we will concentrate on worrying about ourselves, as we have done until now. We will also take into account the characteristics of our opponents as the work we have been doing during the break has been mainly technical and physical. We decided not to look at tactics until closer to the game as I preferred to concentrate on getting the lads back into shape.’
Direktur olah raga Siena, Manuel Gerolin mengatakan bahwa perjalanan mereka ke Turin tidak untuk mencari kekalahan.
“We will look to play our game in Turin. Siena always plays with an open mind, looking for a result, whether at home or away. We will continue with this attitude, even against Juventus.”
Hal yang merugikan di kubu Siena adalah absennya sang keeper Gianluca Curci. Posisinya akan digantikan oleh Emanuele Manitta. Selain itu Nicola Belmonte, Luca Rossettini dan Simone Vergassola juga masih cedera.
Sosok penting di lini belakang Daniele Ficagna hampir dipastikan fit dan akan mengisi bench.
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