Derby D'Italia Preview: Juventus Fight for Honor Against Inter Milan

Just a week after another epic Derby della Capitale showdown, the time has now come for the highly anticipated second Derby d’Italia of the season as Juventus play host to league leaders Inter Milan.

The rivalry between two of Italy’s most storied clubs is old and traditional, and has only grown fiercer in recent years. On Saturday the ideologies of Lo Stilo Juve and Pazza Inter will clash in order put the Scudetto race to bed—or add an extra bit of excitement.

Expect a heated atmosphere as the predecessor of the Italian throne and its successor lock horns in a sold-out Stadio Olimpico.

Just as usual Alessandro Del Piero and Javier Zanetti will be captaining their respective sides and while the duo can be considered two of the truest gentlemen of the game, the same can hardly be said for the rest of the players.

Juventus are currently trailing Inter by ten points and considering that their Scudetto hopes have all but been eliminated, this clash will come to centralize around one thing:

Honor.

Juventus

Despite the 10-point deficit, the Bianconeri are refusing to give up their slimmest of hopes when it comes to lifting the Scudetto and coach Claudio Ranieri has stated that Juventus will keep fighting until it’s mathematically impossible to land the trophy.

Club president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli isn’t as positive as his coach and has pointed out that a victory in clash can be a way for Juventus to save face and silence the critics despite a rather frustrating season—and safeguard the second place in the league table.

Juventus had a golden opportunity to gain on Inter as José Mourinho’s men unexpectedly dropped points in last week’s encounter with Palermo. Instead of capitalizing on their rival’s sidestep, Ranieri’s men fell to a 2-3 defeat away to fourth placed Genoa, who put in a rather impressive performance.

The Italian referees have received massive critic at times and sometimes rightfully so. Last week referee Rocchi put himself in the spotlight as he blew the whistle just seconds before Thiago Motta’s lead goal but then decided to revoke his own decision and thus allow Genoa’s 1-0 goal.

He then went on to settle the score as he handed Juventus a rather controversial penalty which Alessandro Del Piero converted exquisitely.

The visiting side’s Mauro Camoranesi was sent off before Motta once again put the home side in the lead—only to have it cancelled out once more by super-sub Vincenzo Iaquinta.

The game was, however, not over as Juventus-schooled Raffaele Palladino managed to put a third past Gianluigi Buffon in the dying minutes of the game to hand Genoa all three points.

This week Ranieri will be without the services of Hasan Salihamidzic, Claudio Marchisio, Mohamed Sissoko, as well as the suspended Mauro Camoranesi.

Worth remembering is that Pavel Nedved is bowing out at the end of the season which makes this the Czech fury’s final derby against Inter. Since the left winger’s dream of lifting the Scudetto at the end of the season is hanging on by a thread, a derby victory will be essential for the player.

This subsequently means that the pint-sized playmaker Sebastian Giovinco will be given a substitute role at the best.

On Saturday the pressure will be on Juventus and with a victory the team can not only save what has been a rather off target season but also spice up the Scudetto race by putting some much needed pressure on the reigning Italian champions.

A defeat, on the other hand, would risk Juventus losing second place to AC Milan who are only trailing two points behind.

Juventus probable (according to La Gazzetta dello Sport): Buffon; Grygera, Legrottaglie, Chiellini, Molinaro; Marchionni, Poulsen, Tiago, Nedved; Iaquinta, Trezeguet

Inter Milan

Adriano is still in Brazil and according to the latest reports from the Italian peninsula it looks as though club president Massimo Moratti is ready to take legal action in order to terminate the Brazilian’s contract with the club.

Last week Mario Balotelli and Zlatan Ibrahimovic had put Inter two up against Palermo—the latter on a dubious penalty—and it looked like Mourinho’s men were headed to another victory. Instead they dropped two points towards the end of the game thanks to two goals in quick succession from the visiting side.

Ibrahimovic scored his 20th goal of the season thanks to the spot kick and thereby passed Bologna's Marco Di Vaio as top scorer. If things continue like this the Sweden international look set to crowned Capocannoniere at the end of the season.

José Mourinho will have to make do without Adriano who is still in Brazil as well as Armantino Mancini and Douglas Maicon due to injuries. Maicon has flourished into arguably the world’s best full back this season and his absence will be a huge blow for the Portuguese mastermind.

The Special One is likely to continue with the pairing of Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Mario Balotelli up front. The Swedish hitman is once again pegged against his former club and whether or not the forward plays a central role this time remains to be seen.

Inter won the last fixture courtesy of a bizarre Sulley Muntari goal and could with another derby-win finally put the title race to bed. The Nerazzurri is sure to be expecting a hostile atmosphere and will have to go out with all guns blazing if they are to snatch maximum points.

Inter Milan probable (according to La Gazzetta dello Sport): Cesar; Santon, Cordoba, Chivu, Maxwell; J.Zanetti, Cambiasso, Muntari; Stankovic; Balotelli, Ibrahimovic