Lazio – Juventus

By: cathal | September 11th, 2009

It has been a long two weeks and it seems like years since the mercato closed and all the moaning and groaning began. In a way, there was a danger of tearing the backside out of this game before kick-off. This will be the real test, the true indicator of where we are or perhaps where we are not and above all, it gives us the opportunity to concentrate on the game yet again. The build-up to the game has been overshadowed by injuries and I have avoided talking about it for as long as I possibly could. Why? Mainly because most of it was simply the media guessing.

As far as I could see, Zarate was never in doubt. He picked up a knock but there were varying reports on what his injury actually was. This morning, he was declared fit to play having passed a medical but the latest news is that he will not feature. Confused? So am I. This is a blow but it appears Ballardini doesn’t want to take the risk. I guess that is understandable but this is Juventus and if you want to win against the big guns, risks are necessary. However, with so many injury doubts, I guess you have to calculate the risk and pick and choose accordingly.

Siviglia and Diakite’ may just be fit enough to start tomorrow but if they fail to make it, we have the successful duo from Zaragoza, Radu and Stendardo waiting for their chance. Cribari is suspended. In midfield, Baronio has been a doubt but it looks like he will play with Mauri and Dabo flanking him. Brocchi is injured. Matuzalem should be the man linking midfield to attack while Foggia partners Cruz in attack. Rocchi is out I believe. This is the formation I expect, the truth is, nobody really knows what is happening but I’m going to stick my neck on the line with this team:

Lazio (4-3-1-2): Muslera, Kolarov, Siviglia, Diakite’, Lichtsteiner, Mauri, Baronio, Dabo, Matuzalem, Foggia, Cruz.

As for Juve, everybody is talking about one man and one man only; Diego. The strategy from our perspective is similar to the one we deployed against Inter; stay compact, take a few gambles here and there and hit them on the counter with pace. With an under par line-up, this will be difficult and even when you take the Brazilian out of the equation, we have a quality defence to break down and top strikers to stop. As Davide said in his press conference, that is easier said than done but I’m confident we can grab something from the game. They will have many tired internationals and you hope that will play into our hands as the match wears on. Forza Lazio!

Previous Encounter: Juventus 2-0 Lazio (Iaquinta, 3, 59)
Last Season: Lazio 1-1 Juventus (Ledesma, 25, Mellberg, 30)
Stream: http://www.atdhe.net/9156/watch-lazio-vs-juventus