PALERMO, 4 October 2009 - Juventus were well beaten in Palermo. The Bianconeri suffered their first loss of the season in the 7th round, but it was a serious one. It ended 2-0 to an excellent Palermo, with goals from Cavani and Simplicio in the first half. Whether or not Zenga had a point to prove about his management of the team, the mission was more than accomplished: his lads dominated in the first half, and took few chances in the second half; in fact they might have had a third goal on the counter-attack from an unstoppable Miccoli. So Juve remain stuck in third place on the table, two points behind Inter and Sampdoria who head the Serie A standings. They have not won in three matches in the league, and repeated their negative and submissive first half performance from the first half in the Munich Champions League match. They brought back the ghosts of last season, when they looked timid away from home and suffered from having too many followers and not enough leaders. Today with Diego in subdued mood, as he is still not fully fit, and the highly athletic pairing of Amauri (who has not scored since half-way through February, and for 20 consecutive matches) and Iaquinta, the spark of some real skill was lacking, with only Camoranesi trying occasionally to ignite it. The absences of Marchisio and Del Piero through injury and also Giovinco, the natural deputy to Diego who was confined to the bench, had a bearing on the result.
 
SUPER PALERMO - They dominated the first half. Zenga had a three-man defensive line, and concentrated his troops in the midfield, with Pastore always ready to give Cavani and Miccoli a hand. And it was the "Romario del Salento", as he is known, who caused all sorts of problems right across the attack. Juve stuttered. It looked like a replay of the first half in Munich, despite the fact that they didn't have to deal with either Ribery or Robben  阅读全文>>