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17th January: Juventus v Palermo: Italian Cup 1/4 Final 2nd Leg (agg 1-0)

I told the players not to rest on the away goal and to put the game beyond Palermo. They did just as I had asked as we dominated Palermo in the opening exchanges, we managed to score on the 18th as Zebina scored form the edge of the area. I was really pleased with the way my players were performing and they nearly doubled our lead as Trezeguet just fired wide. The seocnd half started poorly as Palermo fired in the equaliser early on to give them an away goal. Our half got worse as Lincoln had to be replaced on the 65th minute afater a bad fall. However on the 72nd minute Trezeguet restored our two goal aggregate lead with a fine individual goal. Palermo threw everything forward but my defence kept them out and we were into the semi-fianls.

Juventus 2 - 1 Palermo (agg 3-1) (Zebina 18, Trezeguet 72)

Lincoln will be out for anything up to two monthes with fractured ribs, its a big blow because he was playing so well for us. The draw for the Semi of the Italian Cup had us tied with Inter Milan.


20th January: Albinoleffe v Juventus

We were slow out of the blocks as the after affects of the recent cup game seemed to catch up with them. We couldn't get past the tight defence of Albinoleffe. Luckily Albinoleffe were just as bad and couldn't punish us for a mistakes. It took us till midway through the first half to get our first meaningful shot off but it was a very poor effort. Our luck changed on the stroke of half time as Palladino was fouled in the area and referee awarded us a penalty which Del Piero fired in. The second half was different as we came out strongly, we were started to control the game. It only took a couple of minutes for Del Piero to rattle the crossbar from 20 yards. Unfortunatly we made one mistake in the half and it cost us a goal as Albinoleffe equalised. However there joy was short lived as on the 90th minute Del Piero broke there hearts with a fine individual goal

Albinoleffe 1 -2 Juventus (Del Piero pen 45, 90)

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24th January: Inter Milan v Juventus: Italian Cup Semi Final 1st Leg

A mouth watering tie as Inter are top of Serie A. We did play well and kept a strong Inter attack at bay. Inter offered very little in the way of attacking momentum and this showed as they changed tactics midway through the first half. We however nearly scored on the brink of half time but Nedveds effort was just wide of the upright. The second half was pretty quiet with very few chances, luckily we took our chance as Tudor broke the deadlock on the 83rd minute, and at the full time whistle Inter were booed off the pitch.

Inter Milan 0 - 1 Juventus (Tudor 83)


27th January: Juventus v Vicenza

With the news that Bojinov was on the bench it seemed to lift my players. We put Vicneza on the back foot from the start of the game and created chance after chance, It took us till the 18th minute to score as Palladino's cross landed perfectly on Trezeguets head. Within five minutes we made it 2-0 as Del Piero ran free of the Vicenza defence to round the onrushing keeper and score in the empty net. Del Piero doubled his tally on the 27th minute with a bullet of a header and we were cruising. At half time I brought on Bojinov for Trezeguet. Nine minutes into the half Del Piero completed his hatrick. Vicenza's day got worse as they were reduced to ten men, but they did managed to score late on but it was nothing more than a consolation goal.

Juventus 4 - 1 Vicenza (Trezeguet 18, Del Piero 23, 27, 54)

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31st January: Juventus v Inter Milan: Italian Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg (agg 1-0)

With that vital away goal I knew we had a good chance of progressing, but I told the players not to rest on there lorals and to try and stifle anything Inter will throw at us. Just like the first match Inter offered very little in the first half but neither did we. Unfortunatly Boumsong had to replaced after an awful tackle on him, which didn't even earn the offending player a card. We started pretty well in the second half and on the 65th minute we took the lead via a freekick by Del Piero. The goal woke Inter up and they started to come forward alittle more, On the 77th minute they managed to equalise and get an away goal. Luckily we were still leading on aggregate. We started to lose control of the game and Inter took advantage and scored the winner in the 86th minute, and we ended losing the tie on the away goal rule, but I was happy overall with how my players had played over the two games

Juventus 1 - 2 Inter Milan (agg 2-2 Inter win on away goal rule) (Del Piero 65)

Boumsong will be out for a month with damaged ankle ligaments

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Results:
6/1: Serie B - A - Frosinone 2-0 (Del Piero 2)
10/1: Italian Cup 1/4 Final 1st leg - A - Palermo 1-0 (Trezeguet)
13/1: Serie B - A - Genoa 1-1 (Trezeguet)
17/1: Italian Cup 1/4 Final 2nd Leg - H - Palermo 2-1 (agg 3-1) (Zebina, Trezeguet)
20/1: Serie B - A - Albinoleffe 2-1 (Del Piero 2)
24/1: Italian Cup Semi Final 1st Leg - A - Inter Milan 1-0 (Tudor)
27/1: Serie B - H - Vicenza 4-1 (Trezeguet, Del Piero 3)
31/1: Italian Cup Semi Final 2nd Leg - H - 1-2 (agg 2-2 lost on away goal rule) (Del Piero)

Serie B: 2nd
Italian Cup: Knocked out in Semi Final

Top Scorers:
Trezeguet 18
Bojinov 15
Del Piero 14
Nedved 10
Camoranesi, Palladino 5
Paro 2
Boumsong, Lincoln, Piccalo, Zebina, Tudor 1

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3rd February: Brescia v Juventus

Both teams started well with some real good football, Brescia fired the first shot in but Buffon just managed to tip it round the post. Yet again Buffon saved our bacon as he got his body in the way. We started to get back into the game and bagan to dominate the midfield, unfortunatly we seemed to struggle to deliver the final ball to our attackers. It was left however to Chiellini to fire us into the lead on the stroke of half time.
The second half was quite entertaining as Brescia were reduced to ten men, after the referee had sorted out the complaining, Nedved fired in the free kick and Trezeguet headered it into the net. Brescia didn't lie down and die they kept coming at us and managed to score on the 83rd minute after Buffon had dropped the ball. Unfortunatly in injury time Piccolo got a straight red card for a needless two footed lunge.

Brescia 1 - 2 Juventus (Chiellini 45, Trezeguet 66)

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10th February: Crotone v Juventus

A good game for us as we piled pressure on lowly Crotone from the start. It took us till the 14th minute to score as Del Piero ran onto a Palladino through ball, it took us five more minutes to double our lead as Nedved scored a glorious chip from 30 yards, a definate possibility for goal of the season. Yet again we scored within a short space of time as four minutes later Trezeguet made it 3-0. We were completely out playing Crotone and on the 33rd minute Trezeguet headed in a Del Piero cross to make it a convincing 4-0 lead at half time. The second half was only two minutes old when Trezeguet was fouled in the area and we were awarded a penalty, Del Piero did the honours and fired in the goal. After the goal I brought on some of my fringe players, we played out the half with some excellent football but no extra goals

Crotone 0 - 5 Juventus (Del Piero 14, pen 47, Nedved 19, Trezeguet 23, 33)


14th February: Juventus v Rimini

A great start as after only 2 minutes Tudor headed us into the lead, well so he thought as the referee blew for a foul on the goalie. However Del Piero did give us the lead on the 18th minute as he fired in from close range. Seven minutes after the opener we scored again as Zanetti got onto the scoring charts. The second half was poor as my team seemed to have relaxed alittle too much, our passing game became very sloppy, Rimini nearly scored after one such sloppy pass but Buffon was alert enough to save it. We killed the game off in the 81st minute as Trezeguet headed in

Juventus 3 - 0 Rimini (Del Piero 18, Zanetti, Trezeguet 81)

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17th February: Juventus v Spezia

Another easy game that we managed to make look hard. Our passing game was still poor from the last game, we managed to score however on the 30th minute through Trezeguet but in truth it was a dissapointing half. The second half was no different as our passing and general play wasn't good enough, it by a pure fluke that we scored a second goal as Tudor managed to fire in from longe range. The 2-0 win flattered us and if we were playing a bigger team we could easily have been turned over.

Juventus 2 - 0 Spezia (Trezeguet 30, Tudor 80)


24th February: Napoli v Juventus

Napoli wasted no time in testing Buffon as he was at full stretch to save the ball within the first five minutes, They kept coming at us and it was left to Tudor to clear off the line. Yet again we couldn't pass the ball and very rarely ventured into Napoli's half. Again Buffon saved the day with a save, and from his clearance we managed to fire in our first goal totally against the run of play. At half time I laid into my players and told them we were lucky to be in the lead. The second half was just as poor with Napoli dominating the play. Again we had a massive piece of luck as Marchionni fired in again to make it a very flattering 2-0 victory. If it wasn't for some very good keeping and defending we would have been routed.

Napoli 0 - 2 Juventus (Marchionni 45, 88)

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28th February: Juventus v Modena

I've made the players train extra hard this last week after the recent poor form. The training looked like it was reaping immediate rewards as we played a thousand times better than we have been doing. It took us till the 37th minute to open the scoring as Del Piero slotted home from just inside the area. The scond half was only eight minutes old when Nedved scored a typical cracking free kick. we were so dominant and on the 66th minute Marchionni added another goal, Modena scored a belter from 25 yards but it was nothing more than a consolation goal as four minutes from time Nedved tapped in our fourth

Juventus 4 - 1 Modena (Del Piero 37, Nedved 53, 86, Marchionni 66)


Results;
3/2: Serie B - A - Brescia 2-1 (Chiellini, Trezeguet)
10/2: Serie B - A - Crotone 5-0 (Del Piero 2, Nedved, Trezeguet 2)
14/2: Serie B - H - Rimini 3-0 (Del Piero, Zanetti, Trezeguet)
17/2: Serie B - H - Spezia 2-0 (Trezeguet, Tudor)
24/2: Serie B - A - Napoli 2-0 (Marchionni 2)
28/2: Serie B - H - Modena 4-1 (Del Piero, Nedved 2, Marchionni)

Serie B: 1st
Italian Cup: Knocked Out in Semi Finals

Top Scorers:
Trezeguet 23
Del Piero 18
Bojinov 15
Nedved 13
Camoranesi, Palladino 5
Marchionni 3
Paro, Tudor 2
Boumsong, Lincoln, Piccolo, Zebina, Chiellini, Zanetti 1

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3rd March: Juventus v Piacenza

The first half was very tight as both teams struggled to keep control of the ball, in truth it was a very sloppy start to the game. It was however very entertaining for the fans. The second half was only nine minutes old when we opened the scoring via Bojinov. It got even better though as Del Piero made it 2-0 on the 69th minute. It was an improved half but not to the standard I require.

Juventus 2 - 0 Piacenza (Bojinov 54, Del Piero 69)


7th March: Juventus v Bologna

This was definately a game of two halfs as the first half was to be blunt crap. Some of the fans must of thought they were at a funeral it was that dull. At half time I let the players know that if they contiue to play like this there might be some fans commiting suicide. The second half thank god was alot better as my players decided they needed to attack. It took us till the 65th to open the scoring as Del Piero slotted home from short range, then only four minutes later Bojinov made it 2-0. Bologna had there chances too and scored with one of them on the 78th minute to add a bit of nerves to the game. Luckily on the 89th minute Lincoln scored to restore our two goal advantage, but deep into injury time we conceded again but it was too little too late for Bologna

Juventus 3 - 2 Bologna (Del Piero 65, Bojinov 69, Lincoln 89)

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10th March: Juventus v Cesena

We started brightly as within 11 minutes Lincoln had headed us into the lead and the fans were expecting us to rout Cesena. We nearly doubled our lead but a poor finish by Bojinov cost us that chance. The second half was no different as we struggled to finish all our attacking moves and Cesena punished us with a brilliant counter attack and we lost two points. at full time I laid into my team for there poor performance and told them that they had to improve.

Juventus 1 - 1 Cesena (Lincoln 11)


19th March: Verona v Juventus

The players seemed to be struggling again and it showed as Verona started to gain much of the possesion from the game.Luckily for us Buffon was on form to stop any shots they had.Just before the half time whistle Verona took the lead after some very poor tema play by my players. The second half was just as poor for us as Verona kept the ball well. However on the 76th minute they made there one mistake of the match and Del Piero punished them for it with a wicked shot form just outside the box. Verona didn't waste any time in coming bakc at us and they eventually took the three points they deserved with a last minute effort

Verona 2 - 1 Juventus (Del Piero 76)