Coppa Italia, Quarter Finals
Who: Inter Milan vs. Juventus
When: Wednesday, January 23 3 pm ET
Where: San Siro
Inter Milan stroll into this Coppa Italia battle having won a remarkable 13 games in a row. Their past fixture, a 3-2 win against Parma, had all of Italy, and much of theoffside, talking. Those talks will stop today, when Juventus come into the San Siro looking to stop the Nerazzuri winning streak. In week 19 Juventus were held 0-0 to a "Cassano-less" Sampdoria. With Claudio Ranieri already saying he will field his strongest team, we can expect a terrific battle. Usually, the Coppa Italia for these two huge clubs are a second or third (if you include the Champions League) priority. However with Juventus struggling in Serie A, and not qualifying for the Champions League due to their regulation penalty, this is has become their main target. And only chance at a trophy.
It's too bad we will be missing the intriguing match up of Ibrahimovic/Chiellini. Chiellini will be out in this one due to a knee injury he picked up during Juventus' Coppa Italia win over Empoli. Ibrahimovic is also not on the roster for this fixture. In their last meeting, November 4th, which ended in a 1-1 tie, these two battled it out all game. From the start Chiellini was extremely physical with Ibra, and seemed to "knock" his concentration a bit.
Positional Standings:
Inter are in 1st with 49 points, 7 points clear of second place Roma.
Juventus are in 3rd with 37 points, 5 points behind second place Roma.
Injuries:
Inter: Luis Figo, Olivier Dacourt, Walter Samuel, Douglas Maicon, and Dejan Stankovic will all be watching this one. And, accroding to inter.it Julio Cesar and Ibra will be absent for this game as well. (Most likley not a injury. Maybe just fatigue.)
Juventus: Jorge Andrade, Jonathan Zebina, Giorgio Chiellini, Mauro Camoranesi, Gianluigi Buffon, Pavel Nedved and Hasan Salihamidzicand are all sidelined.
Probable Lineups:
Inter: I'm not sure how to call this one. (Here's the roster.) Mancini may counter Ranieri's bid for his strongest lineup with a top notch 11 of his own. However, I feel he'll let his youth run wild in this one. But, also put in a mix of the usuals.
Toldo
Nelson Rivas Cordoba Materazzi Maxwell
Maniche Vieira Cambiasso Cesar
Jimenez
Cruz
Juventus:
Belardi
Birindelli Grygera Legrottaglie Molinaro
Marchionni Zanetti Nocerino Palladino
Del Piero Trezeguet
Prediction
Obviously, this is a bigger game for Juventus than for Inter. (Just look at the lineups.) It's too bad we're not going to be able to see that great Ibrahimovic/Chiellini battle. However we may get to see some on Inter's talented youngsters. Mancini has called up Mario Balotelli, Ivan Fatic, and Saverio Macrì, this should at some interest for the Nerazzuri fans.
Inter is at home, Juventus is fielding the stronger lineup. Things will balance out, I'm calling a tie in this one, 1-1.
I do have a bit of a problem. Where can I watch this game?!?!? I know Rai Uno bought the rights to it, but I only have Rai International and FSC. Any suggestions?