Sampdoria vs. Juventus: Complete Serie A Final Day Preview

The final game of the 2012-13 season is upon us.

It would be nice to say that there was a lot riding on the matchup between Sampdoria and Juventus at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.  Unfortunately, that isn't the case.  Juve clinched the title with three matches to go.  The relegation battle is now over with Samp seven points and three places clear of the drop that claimed them two seasons ago.  Even Juve's quest for a club record for points in a season was nixed last week at the Juventus Stadium when they drew 1-1 against Cagliari.

So what is at stake on Sunday?  For Juve there's revenge—Sampdoria came from behind on a pair of second half goals to beat Juve in their house on the return from the winter break.  Antonio Conte's men have likely not forgotten that night, but they are also not going to be playing at full strength.  Conte has been resting starters since clinching the title, and injury and suspension will mean changes on the bianconeri's vaunted back line.

Let's take a look and see what this game has to offer the fans who won't be glued to the battles for the league's final three European qualification places.

Tale of the Tape

Samdoria		Juventus
1946	Founded	1897
Blucerchiati	Nickname	Bianconeri
15 (39)	Table Position (Points)	1 ((87)
10-10-17	League Record (W-D-L)	27-6-4
1 (1990-91)	Scudetti	29 (officially, two-time defending champions)
1 UEFA Cup Winner's Cup (1989-90) European Cup runner up (1991-92)	Continental Cups	2 UCL (last in 1995-96) 3 UEFA Cups/Europa Lge. (last in 1992-93)
Delio Rossi	Coach	Antonio Conte
Angelo Palombo	Captain	Gianluigi Buffon
DLLDL	Last 5 Matches	WWWWD

Sampdoria Overview

Sampdoria has acquitted itself well since returning to the top flight following a year's absence.

It was a surprise to see Samp back in Serie A this year.  They finished in sixth before barreling through Sassuolo and Varese in the playoffs to get back to the promised land.

The Genoese club immediately positioned themselves to stay in the top flight.  Midfielder Andrea Poli returned from a loan spell at Inter.  Maxi Lopez was brought in on loan from Catania, as was winger Marcelo Estigarribia—who spent last year at Juventus—from Uruguayan club Deportivo Maldonado.

They started the season with a bang, beating Milan 1-0 on the season's first day and garnering 11 points in the first five rounds of the season.

From there, the bottom fell out.  Seven straight losses put them as far back as 17th, and from the end of September through the winter break they garnered only seven more points.

They came roaring out of the gate in 2013, claiming their biggest scalp at the Juventus Stadium and going on a 5-3-1 (W-D-L) run from the start of the year through the beginning of March.

Since their 1-0 win against Parma on March 3, however, they haven't won a single match.  They've drawn enough that their good start has kept them out of the relegation zone all year long, although they did get some help from point penalties to teams like Siena and Torino (and were on the receiving end of one themselves).

Safe in the top flight next season, Sampdoria will look to end on a high note and build up the squad to finish higher up the table next season.

Juventus Overview

Last week's 1-1 draw might have ended Juve's quest for a record number of points in a season, but the night was rocking as the bianconeri were presented with their second straight scudetto.

Juve gained first place in the second week of the season and never relinquished it.  They carried their unbeaten streak from last year to 49 games before losing at home to Inter.

A controversial loss to Milan, the shock to Samp and an away loss against Roma were the only blemishes on their record.

The team's three-game victory lap will conclude in Genoa, and eyes will look towards the summer acquisition of Fernando Llorente—and any other strikers that the team may bring in to finally solidify the final phase of the team.

Key Players: Sampdoria

Mauro Icardi

Twenty-year-old La Masia product Mauro Icardi is Samp's leading scorer despite having not scored a goal in nearly two months.

Still, the Argentine has been impressive since the turn of the calendar.  Eight of his nine goals have been scored since the winter break, including a brace against Juve and four goals against Pescara.

His scoring spree in the new year has attracted attention, however.  Three weeks ago he was included in an alleged statement by Inter director Marco Fassone as one of five confirmed summer signings.  Inter immediately denied that Fassone gave such an interview in the immediate aftermath of the report, but only Tuesday Samp president Garrone confirmed that Icardi will be playing for Inter next year

One thing is for sure, if Samp are to scalp the Turin giants one more time, Icardi will need to have a stellar performance in his last game in a Sampdoria shirt.

Andrea Poli

Poli spend last season on loan at Inter, and this year he's been a fixture in the center of Sampdoria's midfield.

A defensive force with plus potential as a passer, Poli has averaged three tackles and 1.8 interceptions per game this season to go along with three goals.  He'll be the man tasked with bottling up Andrea Pirlo—or whoever is playing in his place on Sunday—and keeping the passing lanes between Juve's midfield and forwards clogged.

Poli was expected to have gone to Juventus on a co-ownership this past winter, but a foul-up in communications lines at the hotel that teams were using as a communications hub on deadline day delayed the deal too long for it to go through until the summer.  It is expected that the deal will go through over the summer, with Poli adding depth behind Juve's MVP midfield—although recent reports say that AC Milan is looking to hijack the deal.

Eder

Icardi's strike partner at the top, Eder has scored six times this year and notched four assists in 29 games.

A veteran of Serie A after seasons with Brescia and Cesena, the Brazilian likely knows Juve's back line better than any other of the forwards likely to see the team sheet.  If anyone other than Icardi is likely to steal a goal against the bianconeri, Eder is one of the likely candidates, especially against a back line that is going to be missing some key pieces.

Key Players: Juventus

Alessandro Matri

Alessandro Matri has started both games for Juve since the team clinched the title.  With a high-profile attacking option arriving next season and more possibly on the way, I think the Juve brass are seriously evaluating what he has to offer to the club before deciding on his fate after the season.

Matri has scored 10 times this season in all competitions, and has been surprisingly efficient.  He has converted 21 percent of his shots into goals this year over league competition and the Champions League.  Compare that to Manchester United's Robin van Persie, who has scored 28 times between the EPL and Champions League but scored on only 18 percent of his shots.

Still, Matri is much-maligned for having never replicated the form he had in 2010-11, when he scored 20 goals between Cagliari and Juve.  A pure goal-poacher, Matri's first touch is key for him.  If it's true, he is as dangerous as anyone—but if it's off, he'll usually look silly.  It's been his inability to put himself in position for more shots that has Juve fans clamoring for his exit.  His hold-up play also leaves something to be desired—against Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarterfinal it was one of the reasons Juve was never able to get a foothold in possession.

Matri can use this last game to show everyone that he's worth having around next year.  Otherwise, he's going to be playing for another, lesser team.

Luca Marrone

Is he a midfielder or a centre-back?

That's been the question about Marrone this season.  In 11 matches between the league and Champions League he's played in the midfield only once, with a few other turns in the middle in the Coppa Italia.

In that midfield role Marrone hasn't really impressed.  Starting in Andrea Pirlo's deep role in the Coppa quarterfinal against Milan, Marrone was eventually hauled off for the man himself in the 77th minute after not doing much to influence play.  Last week against Cagliari he again wasn't particularly impressive when sent to the middle of the field.

He does have the skills to make it in the midfield.  He's completed 91.8 percent of his passes this season in league play and averages 6.1 successful long balls per game.  He has done well when moving to the back three, and was especially valuable there when Giorgio Chiellini and Martin Caceres were out injured.  He may be back there this week with Chiellini suspended for yellow card accumulation and Barzagli uncertain after leaving the Cagliari game due to injury.

Look for the youngster to play as much as possible again, so that the team can decide just where his future lies.

Mauricio Isla

Arguably the worst move of the Conte/Marotta era, the Chilean was expected to be Juve's vice-Lichtsteiner, but has done little and less this season.  He's only contributed one assist and no goals, only finding his way onto the field 10 times in the league and another five in the Champions League.  In the team's November loss to Milan he was abused on the right-hand side and was hauled off at halftime for Simone Padoin.  Some also point to him for conceding the penalty that was the difference in the match, but in that he's blameless—the handball call against him was terrible.  Regardless, he didn't play again until the middle of January.

Isla will likely play on the right again this week, and he'll need to show something very, very special to Juve's brass, or else he'll find himself back at the Stadio Friuli while his traveling companion Kwadwo Asamoah stays in Turin.

Manager: Sampdoria

It's really quite amazing that Delio Rossi has a job in soccer anywhere after his actions last season.

For those who don't remember, Rossi was in charge of Fiorentina last year when he substituted Adam Ljaijc in the 32nd minute of the third-to-last game of the season against 19th-placed Novara.  Down 2-0 at the time and not far from the drop themselves, Rossi decided he needed to do something.  Ljajic, however, took offense at being hauled off in the first half and sarcastically applauded his coach, then gave him a further thumb-up from the dugout.

The lack of respect apparently caused something to snap in Rossi, who shoved Ljajic and then jumped down after him throwing punches.  The viola immediately fired him, and FIGC gave the coach a three-month suspension.

Rossi took over the job at Samp in December after Ciro Ferrara, who after picking up 11 points in the team's first five games only managed seven in the next 12.

Rossi has won five games since coming on and has ensured that the Genoese outfit will stay up next season.  He's a proponent of the 3-5-2 that has been sweeping Italy, using it in most matches, including Samp's last three.

Manager: Juventus

Not much more can be said about Antonio Conte than what has already been said.

The former Juve captain took over a team that had suffered through back-to-back seventh-place finishes—the ramifications of calciopoli finally hitting them full in the face—and led them to a 49-match league unbeaten run from September of 2011 to November of 2012 and consecutive scudetti.

The hallmark of his great run has been tactical adaptability.  On his arrival, he willingly gave up on the 4-2-4 formation that he had made his name with as a manager in Serie B in order to play to the strengths of newly-arrived Andrea Pirlo.  The team's shape morphed from a 4-4-2 to a 4-3-3 until a lack of a decent left-back and an abundance of quality centre-backs saw the 3-5-2 installed, and Juve has never looked back.

Conte has recently tinkered to a 3-5-1-1 to give Paul Pogba more playing time and to cover his lack of a killer edge at the forward position.  The biggest questions, though, are about the future.  There are rumblings that Conte is dissatisfied with the transfer limitations Juve—and all Italian clubs—are being forced into by the Italian financial crisis, and he has no shortage of interest elsewhere.

Chief amongst the theoretical destinations for the coach are London side Chelsea, but president Andrea Agnelli said Tuesday that he is confident that his coach will stay next season.

Recent Matchups

The teams met for the first time in two years on January 6 at the Juventus Stadium, and Samp pulled a huge surprise.  Sebastian Giovinco opened the scoring with a penalty in the 24th minute, and the champions were further out on the front foot seven minutes later when Gaetano Berardi was shown a second yellow card.

But an uncharacteristic error in goal by Gianluigi Buffon gifted Mauro Icardi an equalizer seven minutes into the second half, and the Argentine completed the comeback 16 minutes later with a screamer that Buffon had no chance to stop.  Juve couldn't even press for an equalizer despite being a man up, with Sampdoria looking always the better team throughout the second half.

In the two seasons before Sampdoria's relegation after the 2010-11 season, the two sides played to two draws (3-3 and 0-0 in '2010-11) and split in 2009-10, Juve winning the first game 5-1 and Samp taking the return match 1-0.

Key Matchup 1

Sebastian Giovinco v Daniele Gastaldello

Sebastian Giovinco has appeared in 30 games for Juve in Serie A this year, but until last week's game against Cagliari, he hadn't played in a month.  Much was expected of the Atomic Ant after his return to the team from Parma, but he just hasn't delivered.  There's no guarantee that he starts here, but I think he will, as Juve will need to know what they have in him.

Ironically, Juve's recent move to the 3-5-1-1 might be most beneficial to Giovinco if he were plugged into the system.  He's much better as a "secunda punta" than he is as one of a striking pair.  Much of his struggle this season can be attributed to playing in a spot that doesn't maximize his abilities.

Unfortunately, the point of the formation shift was to get Paul Pogba on the field while keeping Claudio Marchisio there, so the Italy international has stayed on the bench, and the 3-5-2 has returned ever since Pogba's season-ending suspension after the Palermo game.

On the other end, Gastaldello has been Samp's most consistent defender this season.  He is tied for the team lead with 32 starts and has been playing excellently in Delio Rossi's own three-man back line.  He is averaging 1.2 tackles, 2.1 interceptions and a whopping 8.7 clearances per match.

He will be the key to keeping Juve away from Sergio Romo stealing some more points from the champions.

Key Matchup 2

Leonardo Bonucci v Mauro Icardi

With Giorgio Chiellini suspended and Andrea Barzagli unlikely to be risked after leaving Saturday's game with an injury, Antonio Conte probably doesn't have many options in the back, and Bonucci will likely start.  He will instantly become the team's best defender in the case and will be handed the assignment of locking down Icardi.

Added to his defensive abilities are his passing skills, easily the best for any defender in Italy and possibly in Europe.  His skill with the long ball is unmatched by any of his teammates except Pirlo, and he's completed 88.7 percent of his passes on the season.

As already said, Icardi leads the team with nine goals and is bound for Inter.  He scored twice against Juve—once on a gift and once on an unstoppable screamer—in January and hasn't scored since March, so he will be motivated to show that his huge run of form when 2013 began was no fluke and that he deserves his move to a big club.

Prediction

This is a game with nothing riding on it except pride.

That being said, even Juve's reserves should have enough to handle a team like Samp.  I do, however, think that the potentially indifferent attitude towards the matchup and the likely presence of many secondary players in Juve's lineup—especially in the back—will make for a dull affair low on entertainment.

There are players with individual points to prove, but this game is played with 11 men a side, and I feel the overall attitude towards the game will be to stay in shape for upcoming summer international duty.

I say the score ends 1-1.