Bresica Vs Juventus

By Dave Eadevic
March 6 2004

Brescia are on Cloud Nine after hammering Inter in their own back yard, but face another tough customer as Juventus come to the Stadio Rigamonti.

Brescia-Juventus
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Stadio Rigamonti

Brescia are on Cloud Nine after hammering Inter in their own back yard, but face another tough customer as Juventus come to the Stadio Rigamonti.

The Rondinelle caused shockwaves throughout Serie A with their first ever victory at the San Siro, beating sorry Inter by three goals to one. The fact that this result was achieved without star Roberto Baggio and with half the team suffering from a bout of flu made it all the more remarkable.

There are still doubts over whether the Divine Ponytail will take part in this match due to an ankle problem, but youngster Simone Del Nero is filling in admirably with his first Serie A goal now under his belt. Under-21 international Andrea Caracciolo has also rediscovered his scoring boots following a long drought, while Francelino Matuzalem can always provide that spark of creativity from midfield.

Juventus have every right to be worried stepping into a Stadium where Roma have already been defeated in 2004. It should also be noted that last season Bianconeri supporters suffered a 2-0 defeat in this same fixture.

However, overall Brescia’s home form is quite poor thanks to three wins, five draws and four defeats. Their last match here saw Lecce run out 2-1 winners, but at the same time Juve have hardly set the world alight over the last few weeks. Honorary President Umberto Agnelli claimed this side was "reaping more than it sowed," and a perfect example of that was the dire performance that nonetheless handed Marcello Lippi’s men a 3-0 win over Ancona last Sunday.

With Enzo Maresca and David Trezeguet out for at least a month and the Champions’ League clash with Deportivo La Coruna looming, Lippi is likely to shelve the trident attack. Pavel Nedved returns from suspension to provide support for Alessandro Del Piero and Marco Di Vaio, while Mauro Camoranesi hopes to repeat his splendid strike from last Sunday.



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Brescia (probable): Castellazzi; Petruzzi, Di Biagio, Castellini; Schopp, Mauri, Guana, Matuzalem, Colucci; Baggio, Caracciolo

Juventus (probable): Buffon; Thuram, Ferrara, Iuliano, Zambrotta; Camoranesi, Conte, Appiah; Nedved; Del Piero, Di Vaio