Italian Serie A: Juventus, Roma face off in mouth-watering clash

Both sides look to overturn unfavourable results registered on opening day.

News Desk August 30, 2015

French striker Cyril Thereau struck for Udinese 12 minutes from time to give Juventus their first home defeat on the opening day in 87 years. PHOTO: AFP

Having lost their opening game to lowly Udinese 1-0 at the Juventus Stadium last week, the Serie A champions will look to make amends when they meet last year’s runner-ups Roma at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday.

While losing the opening game at home — that too for the first time in 87 years — to a side that finished 16th last season would unsettle any manager vying to win their fifth consecutive Serie A title.

However, manager Massimiliano Allegri remains calm. “Serie A is not a 100m race but a marathon,” said the 48-year-old. “You need patience to find the right rhythm. We know we have a great team, with players that have to grow, but we need to be given time to do so. We will improve game by game. We just have to think about working and getting back to winning ways.”

The Old Lady confirmed the loan signing of Chelsea winger Juan Cuadrado earlier this week and Allegri may choose to hand the Colombian his debut, while Lucas Digne will hope to make his first appearance for Roma after joining Rudi Garcia’s side on loan from Paris Saint-Germain.

“It’s a great game to be involved in and a really important one for the team,” said Digne. “This is a great club, and a project that also includes the Champions League.”

Garcia, whose side is seen by many as the biggest threat to Juventus’s dominance over Italian football, wants Roma to start as if they were already chasing the game and press the defending champions from the word go.

“I would like to see a higher tempo from the start. Against Verona we only played to win after going a goal down. I want to see that attitude from the get-go this time, as if we were chasing the game already,” said the 51-year-old, whose side has had a poor record against the Turin giants, winning only one of their last 10 Serie A games against Juventus — that victory coming in February 2013 when Francesco Totti secured a 1-0 home win.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30^th, 2015.

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