With the success of the Rossoblu the short drive to Torino to face Claudio Ranieri's Juventus is the next big challenge for the club to face if they are to make their way into upper tier of Serie A.At present Juventus sits directly above Genoa in sixth place with twenty-one points yet with the exception of a two-match stumble against Palermo and Napoli, they have been nearly unstoppable. Over the previous six matches, including Champions League, they have yet to drop a point including victories over Real Madrid and Roma with Alessandro Del Piero experiencing a brilliant renaissance that reminds us his artistry a decade ago. While they have been without the services of the legendary Gigi Buffon since the Palermo loss, Austrian international Alexander Manninger has filled-in with top-shelf 'keeping and has kept the opposition of the score-sheet for the previous three matches.
Genoa's task against the Bianconeri must not only deal with one of the hottest clubs in all of European football but equally their own problems of playing away from Stadio Luigi Ferraris. While recent road performances have shown significant improvements, they still need to register their first victory on the road if they are to climb into a European spot.
Gian Piero Gasperini will be without Giandomenico Mesto,Omar Milanetto,Francesco Modesto and Matteo Paro for the match. On the road he has shown a more defensive strategy using ex-Crvena Zvezda man Boško Janković in either a striker or wing position. I expect them to employ the following lineup:
Genoa
Rubinho
Giuseppe Biava/Salvatore Bocchetti,Matteo Ferrari,Domenico Criscito
Marco Rossi,Thiago Motta,Ivan Jurić,Giuseppe Sculli/Boško Janković
Raffaele Palladino, Diego Milito,Andrea Gasbarroni/Boško Janković
I will report on it as it concludes.
