The wounds are definitely still fresh, and playing away at Sampdoria on Sunday isn't going to help either. Antonio's rumoured to be starting for the Blucerchiati side that has discovered quite a bit of self-confidence in their own abilities during Cassano's extended absence, which should be a genuine concern for Zaccheroni and his men. However, perhaps the Zac's biggest worry will be how his men react to this week's latest embarrassing European elimination.
Speaking of European competitions we may or may not deserve, this match against Sampdoria will most definitely have Champions League consequences for both teams as a win for the Bianconeri will see them leapfrog Palermo by the smallest of margins into fourth, while Del Neri's side will leapfrog Juventus and go level with the Rosaneri for the last CL spot at 47 points with 9 games remaining. We cannot let another opportunity go by to gain points on Palermo for the second straight week if we still want to talk about objectives this year. Big if I know...
Bianconeri call-ups:
3 Chiellini
4 Felipe Melo
5 Cannavaro
6 Grosso
7 Salihamidzic
8 Marchisio
9 Iaquinta
10 Del Piero
11 Amauri
12 Chimenti
13 Manninger
15 Zebina
16 Camoranesi
17 Trezeguet
18 Poulsen
20 Giovinco
21 Grygera
22 Sissoko
26 Candreva
28 Diego
33 Legrottaglie
39 Marrone
40 Immobile
41 Pinsoglio
God only knows who are starting eleven will be. Newbies are available but we have no clue as to their fitness levels. For Samp, Cacciatore, Castellazzi, and Pozzi won't be available so Luigi Del Neri has called up two Primavera players Scepovic and Testardi as a result. The other call-ups include M. Cassano, Guardalben, Storari, Accardi, Gastaldello, Lucchini, Rossi, Zauri, Ziegler, Franceschini, Guberti, Mannini, Padalino, Palombo, Poli, Semioli, Tissone, A. Cassano, and Pazzini.
Keep an eye on the young Samp midfielder Andrea Poli. At just 20 years old the kid plays with an incredible desire to work extremely hard and has some serious technical potential as well. A more honest version of Marchisio maybe. He's a great prospect and will be a fine catch for any team looking to pick up his services in the near future. Hopefully Juventus make a move to lock him up fast because now it's all about the future. Prediction: 2-0 Sampdoria
[update] Links: myp2p.eu (match thread) atdhe.net (direct match link)
IERI... OGGI... DOMANI... SEMPRE JUVE!!!