Juventus Vs. AC Milan, Preview: Old Lady, Delneri Looks To Continue Success Against Top Two

AC Milan’s Serie A-best defense was on display Monday, where a superior plan from Maximiliano Allegri helped hold Napoli scoreless, allowing the Rossoneri to extend their league lead to five. Milan’s only allowed 20 goals in 27 matches, holding their opponents to one or fewer goals 23 times. Given an attack led by Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Robinho and Alexandre Pato - one that’s help the team tie for the league’s lead in goals (49) - it’s becoming easy to imagine a club that hasn’t won a title in seven years breaking their scudetto drought.

This weekend, however, Milan has to travel to Turin, and while the Stadio Olimpico has seen four teams take full points from Juventus this season, the Old Lady is one of those four clubs that has able to score multiple times against Allegri’s team. On October 30, the Old Lady had a surprisingly easy day at the San Siro, using goals from Fabio Quagliarella (24’) and Alessandro del Piero (66’) make Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s late tally mere concession. The 2-1 loss is one of two times Milan’s lost at home all season.

So while Milan is certainly the form side coming into Saturday’s match, Juventus can’t be dismissed. Milan’s unbeaten streak in league may be up to 10, but their last loss was at home to another club (Roma) whose talent has failed to meet expectations. Yet the Giallorossi, able to lift their game on December 18, derailed the Rossoneri. With Juve having recently beaten Inter (1-0, February 13), they’ve shown they’re also capable of rising to an occasion. And if a visit from Milan isn’t an occasion, Juventus may as well throw in the towel on the season.

Judging by the Old Lady’s form since the win over Internazionale, the players may be close to doing just that. One week after derailing the Nerazzurri, Juventus lost at Lecce, Gianluigi Buffon seeing a red card in the 12th minute. Last week, Marco di Vaio had a brace to give Bologna a 2-0 win in Turin. Juventus has not scored since Alessandro Matri’s 30th minute match winner against Inter.

As a result, Juventus sit seventh in league, five points behind sixth-place Roma, despite expectations that they would compete near the top of the league, making Luigi Delneri’s first season in Turin has been a disappointing one. Having guided Sampdoria to fourth last season, Delneri moved to Juve as one of the most well respected coaches in Italy, rebuilding his reputation in Genoa after failing in his last big job (Roma, 2004-05). Handed the reins at another premier club, Delneri’s results have let to rumors that Fabio Capello or Luciano Spalletti will be sought come summer.

If Delneri’s to turn it around at Juventus, he needs a good result on Saturday. The one thing he has going for him is an undefeated league record against the two Milano clubs (2-1-0). If they can do the double over Milan, Delneri can at least argue that he’s capable of getting a certain level of performance out of the team. Combining that with appeals to Fabio Quagliarella and Buffon’s injuries, he might be able to buy himself another season, provided he can use a Saturday win to make a run toward fourth.

To get that win, Delneri likely needs a strong match from his dangerman, Milos Krasic. Tied for second in the squad in goals (four) while recording twice as many assists (six) as his next most generous teammate, Krasic’s pace and his ability to dominate wide right will stress a Milan team that’s thought to be slow and narrow. On Monday, Milan seemed neither of these things while dominating a Napoli side that’s used to exploiting the wide areas. Krasic, however, being one of the world’s best at his position, represents a significantly more difficult challenge.

At the other end of the pitch, Leonardo Bonucci, Andrea Barzagli and Felipe Melo will have to contain former Zebra Zlatan Ibrahimovic. Ibrahimovic leads his club in both goals and assists, though his totals dwarf the Serbian’s. The key to Milan’s attack, Zlatan has accumulated 14 goals and 11 assists, the latter figure ranking second in league.

And while it’s tempting to cite the teams’ first match as evidence Juventus can overcome their former striker’s virtues, that match is more readily seen as evidence the scoring first is really, really important. Juventus got the first goal and was able to play a very conservative match, eventually getting insurance when Milan’s defense committed an error. If Milan’s defense holds out longer than 24 minutes (or if they get the first goal), they may seal Delneri’s fate.

Juventus will be missing Fabio Quagliarella (the team’s leading scorer), Simone Pepe and Mohamed Sissoko. Midfielder Alberto Aquilani is questionable.

Milan will still be without Massimo Ambrosini, Andrea Pirlo, Luca Antonini and Filippo Inzaghi, all of whom are hampered by long-term injuries.

Juventus’s record against the league’s best is impressive, and given the talent on this team, the results don’t appear to be a fluke. If anything, Juventus’s failures are the flukes.

While it feels “hunch-y” as I type it, I like Juventus to replicate the October result. I see Milan having trouble containing Krasic, which should open-up Matri in the middle. Juventus 2, Milan 1.