► Juventus F.C. -- La Vecchia Signora

[PNE-Adz]

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► CLUB INFORMATION
- Full Name: Juventus Football Club S.p.A.
- Nicknames: La Vecchia Signora (The Old Lady),
La Fidanzata d'Italia (The Girlfriend of Italy),
I Bianconeri (The White-Blacks),
Le Zebre (The Zebras),
La Signora Omidici (The Lady Killer.)
- Founded: 1st November, 1897.
- Rivals: Torino, Inter Milan, A.S Roma, Fiorentina
- Home Ground: Stadio Olimpico di Torino
- Chairman: Giovanni Cobolli Gigli
- Manager: Ciro Ferrara
- Captain: Alessandro Del Piero (ST)
- League: Serie A
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► STADIUM INFORMATION


STADIO OLIMPICO DI TORINO- Location: Turin, Italy.
- Capacity: 27,994.
- Built: 1933, 2006.
- Opened: May 14th, 1933, February 10th, 2006.
- Renovated: 2006
- Owner: City of Turin
- Surface: Grass.

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► KITS


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► MANAGER INFORMATION


CIRO FERRARA
- Full Name: Ciro Ferrara.
- Date Of Birth: February 11th, 1967.
- Place Of Birth: Naples, Italy.
- Age: 42.
- Managerial History:
::: Juventus (2009-????)
- Player History:
::: Napoli (1984-1994)
::: Juventus (1994-2005)

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►HONORS


- DOMESTIC HONORS
Serie A
Winners (27): 1905; 1926; 1931; 1932; 1933; 1934; 1935; 1950; 1952; 1958; 1960; 1961; 1967; 1972; 1973; 1975; 1977; 1978; 1981; 1982; 1984; 1986; 1995; 1997; 1998; 2002; 2003
Runners-up [20]: 1903; 1904; 1906; 1938; 1946; 1947; 1953; 1954; 1963; 1974; 1976; 1980; 1983; 1987; 1992; 1994; 1996; 2000; 2001; 2009

Coppa Italia
Winners (9): 1938; 1942; 1959; 1960; 1965; 1979; 1983; 1990; 1995
Runners-up [4]: 1973; 1992; 2002; 2004

Supercoppa Italia
Winners (4): 1995, 1997, 2002, 2003
Runners-up (4): 1990, 1998, 2005

Serie B
Winners (1): 2007

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-EUROPEAN HONORS

European Cup/UEFA Champions League
Winners (2): 1985, 1996
Runners-up (5): 1973, 1983, 1997, 1998, 2003

UEFA Cup
Winners (3): 1997, 1990, 1993
Runners-up (1): 1995

UEFA Cup Winners' Cup
Winners (1): 1984

UEFA Intertoto Cup
Winners (1): 1999

UEFA Super Cup
Winners (2): 1984, 1996

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►THE SQUAD

GOALKEEPERS


1. Gianluigi Buffon
13. Daniel Ospina

DEFENDERS


15. Jonathan Zebina
21. Zdenak Grygera
5. Fabio Cannavaro
33. Nicola Legrottaglie
3. Giorgio Chiellini
2. Martin Cáceres
23. Lorenzo Ariaudo (On loan to Lazio)
19. Cristian Molinaro
29. Paolo De Ceglie

MIDFIELDERS


18. Christian Poulsen
4. Felipe Melo
22. Mohamed Sissoko
16. Mauro Camoranesi
40. Fausto Rossi (On loan to Hamilton)
30. Tiago
8. Claudio Marchisio
27. Albin Ekdal (On loan to Udinese)
28. Diego
20. Sebastien Giovinco
43. Iago (On loan to Lazio)

FORWARDS


10. Alessandro Del Piero
17. David Trezeguet
9. Vicenzo Iaquinta
11. Amauri
23. David Lanzafame (On loan to Empoli)
26. Michele Paolucci (On loan to Genoa)
13. Angel Di Maria

[Whitesox]

I'll be glad to follow, because I like the style of the updates. However, please stick with this one?

[PNE-Adz]

Quote: Originally Posted by whitesox

I'll be glad to follow, because I like the style of the updates. However, please stick with this one?

Yeah I will, just thatsomehow, the other ones, I have either been sacked, or soemthing has happened to my PS3. I full blame myself for getting sacked with Atlético, selling Forlan and Simao was stupid.

But yeah, i'll stick with this. I'll start with a 2008-09 review, simming my season and writing the story as it goes along, and for really big matches in the season, i'll write full reports. Other biggish matches will be longer box-scores, and the not so important ones will be just thw score and a picrure.

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WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS!

[Juventus won the Serie A and Coppa Nazionale this season.]

TURIN, Italy - Before the season had gotten underway, Claudio Ranieri had already announced that he would be leaving at the end of the season, wheter Juventus' form was good or bad. However, his main priority for the time being, was to focus on the coming season, the 2008-09 campaign. Juve had a tough start to their season, with an away clash with Fiorentina, and two wonderkids were on the scoresheet in a 1-1 draw. Zdravko Kuzmanovic was on target for Fiorentina, but Sebastien Giovinco netted an equaliser 13 minutes from time for Juventus. That was the only game of August, and Juventus were 13th in the table.


[Sebastien Giovinco celebrates his goal against Fiorentina.]

And they gained another point in their next fixture. Genoa visited the Stadio Olimpico di Torino, the ground that Juventus shared with fierce rivals Torino, and Genoa were able to capture a point. A late David Trezeguet volley grabbed Juventus a late point, after Hernan Crespo's brace cancelled out Alessandro Del Piero's opener. Next up, it was the battle of the teams who played at different Stadio Olimpico stadiums. Juventus travelled to the capital of Italy, Rome, to face Lazio, and it ended up another draw. 1-1 was the outcome, but it took a late equaliser from Brocchi to cancel out Trezeguet's opener. Ranieri's change of tactics finally worked, as they recorded their first win of the season on the 21st of September over Catania. They routed to a 3-0 win, as first half goals from Del Piero, Christian Poulsen and Amuari sealed the win. Juve were moving up the table now, and had an easy game against Lecce to round off September. Amauri and Sissoko scored to give Juve a comfortable 2-0 win. Juve were now 6th in the table, but there were still 33 games to play in the season.


[Amauri's goal against Catania sealed a 3-0 win.]

October kicked off with a sizzling tie, a home clash with Inter Milan. Last year's Serie A champions met off with Italy's most successful team, and the champions walked away with a loss. Amauri's 47th minute header sealed the win, and more importantly, got one over their long time minor rivals. Juve knew there next match wasn't going to be easy, as they faced Sampdoria, and the fierce twosome of Cassano and Pazzini up-front, but they pulled out with yet another win to their name, thanks to a brace from Del Piero. Juventus were going from strength to strength, but the following week, they could only manage a 1-1 with Palermo.Amauri netted against his former club, but Migliaccio scored 5 minutes from time to give Palermo a point. Amauri kept up his fine goalscoring form in the final league game of October, in which he scored the winning goal to defeat Udinese. In the second rond of the Coppa Nazionale, Juventus thrashed Pisa in the first leg of the tie. 6-2 was the final score, and 6 away goals all but put Juventus in the next round. Del Piero, Grygera, Giovinco, and a hat-trick from hitman Amauri grabbed Juve a win, as La Vecchia Signora were in red-hot form at the moment.


[Alessandro Del Piero wheels away in celebration, after scoring versus Pisa.]

Juventus kicked off November with a game against another one of Amauri's former clubs, this time Chievo. It was Amauri who got the only goal, taking his season tally to 9 goals in 11 games. The second leg of the clash with Pisa followed, but Juve could only win 2-0 on their own turf, and their were different scorers; newboy Diego netted his first for the club, and Mauro Camoranesi scored his first of the season, putting Juve through, with an aggregate score of 8-1. Then, the biggest game of the season arrived on the 9th of November. Juventus faced deadly rivals Torino, and they won by a resounding score of 5 goals to 3. Ventola was the star man for Torino, scoring two of their goals, but the strike force of Del Piero and Amauri stole the show, as they each grabbed two goals. Felipe Melo grabbed the other. The confidence was growing within the club, and Juve were now top of the table, two points clear from Napoli. After their 2-0 win over Catania, they got a chance to go even further away form the Naples based club. A double from Diego, and a goal from Camoranesi, made Napoli drop to fourth in the table.


[Ezequiel Lavezzi struggled against Juventus.]

The next game of the Coppa Nazionale was in the third round. Livorno held Juventus to a 1-1 draw, as two goals in the space of a minute determined the outcome of the game. Amauri opened the scoring on 10 minutes, however in the 11th, Danelvechius scored to level the game. The second leg would be played the following week, but Juve had the advantage, getting a crucial away goal. Infact, their next game was against Livorno, and Juve crusied through; by a scoreline of 9-1! 5 goals were scored in the firts half, through Melo, Grygera, Chiellini, and an Amauri brace, and four in the second half, from Diego, Melo again, and a brace from sub Iaquinta. The fans were surely entertained, and in their next game, they faced rivals Roma in Turin. A 12th minute screamer from Del Piero won the game for Juventus, who were still unbeaten this season. Two easy games followed in the league. Juve beat Reggina away, as Diego and Chiellini got the goals in a 2-0 win, and Juve were also able to grab a win convincingly gainst Bologna, 3-0 was the score. Camoranesi, Amauri and Diego scored for La Vecchia Signora, as they looked to get their 28th Serie A title, and they were on their way there already.


[Claudio Ranieri claps to the fans after Juventus' win over Reggina.]

And so the January transfer window began. New players like Cannavaro and Diego were brought in back in August, but now, Ranieri wanted new players. It didn't help that he had a fairly old team, and the first job he had to do was try and bring in a back-up, younger 'keeper to replace Alex Manninger. Before any transfers took place though, Juventus faced Atalanta in an away league clash. Still unbeaten in all competitions, Juventus delivered an expected win, but by a narrow scoreline. Young midfielder Giovinco netted for Juve, giving them another 3 points. After the game, Ranieri announced the new signing. David Ospina, a 20 year old goalkeeper, had beeen brought in from French club OGC Nice for just £500,000. He had been scouted for a while by Juventus, and he will be the substitute 'keeper behind Buffon, as Alex Manninger joined fellow Italian side Genoa for £1,400,000. Now 8 points clear of Inter, Juventus needed to pick up wins over big teams like AC Milan, their next opponents. Gattuso opened the scoring for Milan, but Amauri and Del Piero got the goals to give Juve yet another win. Another departure was rife from Juventus, as centre-back Jorge Andrade ended his spell at Juventus, moving to rivals Torino for £2,100,000. Juventus were in action in the Coppa Nazionale quarter-finals against Bologna, and in their home leg, Juve ran away with a 2-0 win. Del Piero kept up his fine form with a goal, and Camoranesi also got on the scoresheet. Following a win over Siena in the league, the Juve chairman announced that Angel Di Maria has joined the club from Benfica. The fee was set to be around £4,000,000 for the Argie winger, and Claudio Ranieri said that would be the last of transfers this January. Juventus got through to the semi-finals of the cup, with a 3-0 win over Bologna in the second leg. Del Piero was soon catching up to Amauri in the scoring charts, and they were the best strike pairing in the league, scoring 31 goals between them. In the final game of January, against Fiorentina, Melo thought he would be plagainst his former club, but he was dropped, allowing Sissoko to enter the fray. This didn't effect the team play, but they only drew 2-2, as Mutu salvaged a late comeback for the Viola.


[One of Juve's new signings in January, David Ospina, is unveiled.]

So, the month of February started off with a semi-final clash with Palermo, in the Coppa Nazionale. Juventus took the first leg 2-1, but Palermo grabbed an away goal, which could prove to be decisive in the second leg. February looked like another easy month, with Atalanta, Reggina and Bologna to face in the league. Del Piero had took over the scoring reigns from Amauri, as the tall Brazilian was on a scoring drought. Juventus then thrashed Bologna 6-0 away from home. Del Piero scored a hat-trick, but no goals from Amauri. Fans were beginning to question his performances, and hoped he would score against his former club Palermo in the second leg of the semi-final. Before that though, they faced Reggina in Turin. Camoranesi scored twice, and Chiellini netted a header from a tight angle to keep Juventus unbeaten this season. They were now 9 points ahead of Udinese who were their nearest challengers, and with two games in hand over them it seemed like The Old Lady could not be caught.....for now at least.


[Mauro Camoranesi celebrates his goal against Reggina.]

March started with a tricky tie away to A.S Roma. Their rivals weren't doing so well this season, and were below their usual standards, but they turned up the tempo for this game, and came out with a draw, thanks to an equaliser from Totti. Juve then had back-to-back games with Palermo. First, in the second leg of the cup, Juve were leading 2-1 from the first leg. Amauri scored for the first time in ages, but Marco Bresciano equalised for Palermo. It didn't matter though, as Juve were through to the final, where they would play Fiorentina. In the league game between the two teams, Juventus pulled a 3-0 win out of the bag. No goal for Amauri, but defender Grygera got a shock goal for Juve. The last two games of March were against Udinese and Chievo. Juventus were held to a 0-0 draw by Udinese, while Chievo dropped 3 points, as Sissoko netted the winner for Juventus. With 11 games left in the season, Juventus were 9 points clear of Udinese, but anything could happen in the space of 11 games in Serie A, it's just so unpredictable.


[Alessandro Del Piero was angry that he couldn't score against Udinese.]

And April started with a huge game. The Stadio Olimpico di Torino was filled to see Juventus knock out their rivals Torino, with 6 killer blows, or goals, in football terms. Del Piero got a hat-trick, and Grygera got a brace in a 6-1 drubbing of Torino, as the fans partied all night. They followed that win up with a 2-1 win over Cagliari. Del Piero's target was to get to 30 goals this season. At the start of the season, he may of thought he was trying to overachieve, but his two latest goals showed he could still reach it. He netted another goal to take his tally to 25 in a 4-2 win over Napoli, but more importantly, Amauri was back on the scoresheet for Juventus. Their final game of April was against Sampdoria, and their hotshots of Cassano and Pazzini. Luckily for Juve, the pairing of Del Piero and Amauri was working now, and they sealed the 3 points with a 3-0 win. 14 points clear from Inter seemed a long way off, but with 7 games remaining, they wanted to seal the title as soon as possible.


[Alessandro Del Piero celebrates his goal against Cagliari with Giorgio Chiellini.]

The start of May brought a big game along, Inter Milan vs Juventus at the San Siro. 80,000 fans watched a boring 1-1 draw between the two big clubs, with the two league hot shots, Del Piero and Eto'o baggng the goals. Their was a pretty easy run-in towards the end of the season now. Lecce didn't feel the wrath of Juve, but unluckily lost 1-0, thanks to a Del Piero free-kick. The Juventus captain was on fire during the last third of the season, and took over from Amauri as Juve's leading scorer. Amauri showed his true colours though, and his predatory instinct won the game against Catania. Juventus wanted the Serie A AND Coppa Nazionale trophies this season, and they faced Fiorentina in a two-legged affair in the final. The first leg was in Turin, and Juventus had the advantage of more fans behind them. They secured a win thanks to a lone Del Piero goal, and he only needed one goal to reach his target of 30 goals. Before the second leg of the final, Juventus faced Lazio in the league, with no Del Piero goal. Trezeguet made a cameo appearacnce off the bench, and netted two stunning goals. That game effectively won them the title, as Udinese couldn't catch up with them with only a few games remaining. The second leg of the final arrived, and Juventus claimed the double, as two full-backs, Molinaro and Grygera, netted to give Juventus the Coppa Nazionale trophy.


[Samuel Eto'o scores for Inter Milan against Juventus.]

And so, Juventus played out their final 3 league games, with absolutely nothing to play for. They hardly had any rest during the last few weeks, but they had a chance to relax, and play slow football. It helped lots in their 4-0 thrashing of Genoa, as Del Piero passed 30 goals with a brace, and Angel Di Maria scored his first goal for Juventus, since signing in January. AC Milan were Juve's last away game in Serie A this season, and Juventus finally lost, ahving being unbeaten all season long. Jankulovski netted in the 14th minute to break the Juventus' fans hearts, who thought they were going to go a full season unbeaten. And so, Ranieri managed his final game for Juventus, against Siena. It was a teary goodbye for Ranieri, and his team sent him off with a 4-0 win over Siena. It was a brilliant and successful season for Juventus, and it was made sweeter by the fact their rivals, Torino were relegated! Ranieri did the double this season, and his successor, Ciro Ferrara, will be hoping to add the UEFA Champions League to Juventus' long line of trophies during the past few years.


[Angel Di Maria heads the ball over the Genoa 'keeper to make it 1-0.]

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- TEAM OF THE SEASON

GOALKEEPERS
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus)

DEFENDERS
Javier Zanetti (Inter Milan)
Francesco Modesto (Genoa)
Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus)
Zdenek Grygera (Juventus)

MIDFIELDERS
Daniele Di Rossi (A.S Roma)
Riccardo Montolivo (Fiorentina)
Gaetano D'Agostino (Udinese)
Antonio Nocerino (Palermo)

STRIKERS
Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus)
Samuel Eto'o (Inter Milan)

[PNE-Adz]

UDINESE WIN SUPERCOPPA NAZIONALE
UDINESE 1-0 JUVENTUS
Felipe S/O 17'
Di Natale 59'


[Antonio Di Natale scored the winning goal in the Supercoppa Nazionale, as Udinese took the trophy home.]

+ MATCH EVENTS
- GOALS
59' Di Natale

- ASSISTS
59' Inler

- SUBSTITUTIONS
17' Domizzi on for Sanchez
59' Coda on for Ferronetti
59' Di Maria on for Camoranesi
59' Trezeguet on for Felipe Melo
89' Corradi on for D'Agostino

- BOOKINGS
52' Domizzi
17' Felipe [RED]

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+ PLAYER RATINGS
Gianluigi Buffon: 5
Zdenak Grygera: 8
Fabio Cannavaro: 7
Giorgio Chiellini: 5
Cristian Molinaro: 6
Angel Di Maria: 4
Sebastien Giovinco: 7
Diego: 9
Alessandro Del Piero: 6
David Trezeguet: 6
Amauri: 7
Mauro Camoranesi: 5
Felipe Melo: 3

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[PNE-Adz]

JUVENTUS SIGN NILMAR ON DEADLINE DAY

[Nilmar joins Juve from Internacional.]

TURIN, Italy - Earlier on yesterday, Juventus and Brazilian side Internacional both agreed a fee for the Brazilian striker Nilmar. Thetransfer seemed unlikely, as he seemed to be heading for Villarreal, but he had a change of mind, and opted for the switch to Turin.

It seemed like a bolt out of the blue, as Internacional lost their 2nd brilliant player in 8 months, having lost Alex Meschini to Spartak Moscow in January. Juventus don't need another striker, but it seems Nilmar will be played out on the right flank, after Juve had only one player to play their; Mauro Camoranesi.

Nilmar started his career at his previous club, Internacional, and played professionaly their from 2003 to 2004. He then moved on to French giants Lyon, where he had a brief two year spell, going on loan to Corinthians in that time, joining them permanently in 2006. He then joined Internacional, and when Villarreal looked like they had beaten off stiff competition to sign the wanted Brazilian, Juventus popped up with an extrodinary bid, and he was on his way to Turin.

Ciro Ferrara's motives behind this move are unknown, bt he didn't want to ruin Villarreal's chances of getting the player, he genuinally wanted him fo rthe right side of his midfield. He can slot in as a makeshift striker anytime, and time will tell to see if Nilmar will be a success or a failiure at Juventus.

[PNE-Adz]

JUVE EDGE SAMPDORIA IN ONE GOAL GAME
JUVENTUS 1-0 SAMPDORIA
Diego 80'


[Diego celebrates his first Juventus goal, which put them on top against Sampdoria.]

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JUVENTUS BACK ON TOP FORM
GENOA 0-3 JUVENTUS
Diego 26'
Nilmar 45'
Amauri 82'


[Nilmar marked his first start for Juventus with a goal.]

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ANOTHER 3 GOALS FOR JUVENTUS
JUVENTUS 3-0 BOLOGNA
Iaquinta 24'
Nilmar 74'
Trezeguet 84'


[David Trezeguet celebrates his goal for Juventus in the thrashing of Bologna.]

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JUVENTUS CONQUER THE BERNABEU
REAL MADRID 0-2 JUVENTUS
Amauri 34'
Del Piero 88'


[Amauri's goal broke the deadlock for Juventus, as they shocked Real Madrid with a 2-0 win.]

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TREZ MISS IN FINAL MOMENTS COSTS JUVE POINT
OLYMPIACOS 0-1 JUVENTUS
Patsatsoglou 60'


[A goal from Christos Patsatoglou put Juventus to bed in a Champions League encounter with Olympiacos.]

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[PNE-Adz]

JUVE GET REVENGE FOR SUPERCOPPA NAZIONALE DEFEAT
JUVENTUS 3-1 UDINESE
Sissoko 45'
Di Maria 50'
Del Piero 52'
Quagliarella 58'


[Mohamed Sissoko's goal set the way for Juventus to defeat Udinese.]

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JUVE TOO STRONG FOR ROSSONERI
AC MILAN 0-2 JUVENTUS
Del Piero 68'
Amauri 90'


[Alessandro Del Piero celebrates the 68th minute goal for Juve against AC Milan.]

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JUVE UNBEATEN RUN DASHED BY NAPOLI
JUVENTUS 1-3 NAPOLI
Hamsik 20' (pen)
Denis 76'
Hamsik 88'
Camoranesi 90'


[Marek Hamsik ended Juve's unbeaten run with a brace of goals.]