Showing posts with label Giorgio Chiellini. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Giorgio Chiellini. Show all posts

Friday, 25 March 2016

Aduriz Hits First Gol for La Roja


Aritz Aduriz scored his first goal for Spain at the age of 35 to give the reigning European champions a fortuitous 1-1 draw against Italy in a friendly in Udine.

Lorenzo Insigne ended Spain’s run of six successive clean sheets when he finished off a counterattack to give the hosts a deserved lead midway through the second half at the Stadio Friuli.

However, Aduriz, who made his only previous appearance for Spain six years ago and was recalled thanks to his prolific form with Athletic Bilbao, replied three minutes later with Spain’s first shot on target.

The result ended Spain’s run of seven successive wins and they would have lost if had it not been for an inspired performance by their goalkeeper David de Gea.

Italy were missing the midfielders Claudio Marchisio and Marco Verratti and the defenders Andrea Barzagli and Giorgio Chiellini, while Spain were without the forward Diego Costa.

The hosts fielded a 3-4-3 formation and were far livelier than a pedestrian Spain. Antonio Candreva nearly put them ahead with a long-range shot in the first half that De Gea turned around the post.

Italy took the lead in the 67th minute when the substitute Insigne diverted Emanuele Giaccherini’s low cross past De Gea following a quick break.

They led for only four minutes before Cesc Fàbregas floated a free-kick into the area, Gianluigi Buffon failed to hold Álvaro Morata’s header and Aduriz fired the rebound into the roof of the net.

Insigne thought he had won the game for Italy with a delightful chip over De Gea but the goalkeeper managed to tip the ball over the bar.



Sunday, 6 March 2016

Suarez Set to Make Uruguay Return


Luis Suárez is set to play his first competitive international later in March since being banned for biting an opponent at the 2014 World Cup. The Barcelona player was called up on Friday for qualifiers against Brazil and Peru.

Suárez was suspended for nine games after biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup in Brazil.

He was among 28 players named in Óscar Tabárez’s squad to face Brazil away in Recife on 25 March and Peru in Montevideo four days later, the Uruguayan FA announced on Friday.

The uncapped Genoa midfielder Diego Laxalt and Manchester United right-back Guillermo Varela were called up for the first time.

Uruguay are second in the 10-team South American standings behind Ecuador with three wins in four games.

The top four qualify automatically for the 2018 finals in Russia, while the fifth-placed team goes into an intercontinental play-off against a team from the Oceania zone.

Wednesday, 16 September 2015

Old Lady Beats City Blues


Juventus came from behind to consign Manchester City to a disappointing 2-1 home defeat in their Champions League opener.

Raheem Sterling missed a good early chance for the Premier League leaders before Giorgio Chiellini headed into his own net in the 57th minute under pressure from Vincent Kompany.

The Italian side replied through Mario Mandzukic and then a fantastic 81st-minute strike from Alvaro Morata secured their first victory since winning the Italian Super Cup at the start of August.

Even the late introduction of Sergio Aguero could not inspire City as they were beaten in the Group D clash.

The defeat ends City's perfect start to the season and will again raise questions over their European ambitions ahead of a trip to Borussia Monchengladbach, who lost their opener 3-0 to Sevilla.

With five wins from five league matches, City started as favourites against a Juventus side who had taken just a point from their opening three Serie A games and lost Andrea Pirlo, Carlos Tevez and Arturo Vidal in the summer.

Manuel Pellegrini sprang a surprise by naming Aguero among the substitutes, just a day after saying he would not be fit to play. Kevin De Bruyne was also on the bench while David Silva and Sterling both started.

It was Sterling who had the best opportunity of the first half as he was played through by Fernandinho in the second minute but saw his shot saved by Gianluigi Buffon.

The Italians thought they had taken the lead in the 12th minute when Paul Pogba headed in Juan Cuadrado's right-wing cross, but it was ruled out as Morata was offside and interfering with play.

Despite their contrasting fortunes domestically this season, there was little between the sides as City struggled to make any inroads against a compact defence.

When they did create a clear chance, Wilfried Bony sliced wide from a promising position just outside the box.

Other than that, the hosts were largely restricted to long-range efforts, with Fernandinho going closest with a well-struck shot that flew just past the post.

It looked like it would be more of the same after the break as Juve continued to frustrate City.

However, the deadlock was broken in the 57th minute when Kompany climbed above Chiellini from a corner and the Italian was unable to prevent the ball bouncing off his head and into the net.

Juve protested that Kompany should have been penalised for a foul but they were fortunate not to fall further behind a few minutes later as Sterling was again denied by Buffon.

Stefano Sturaro missed the visitors' best chance in the 63rd minute when he had a shot from the penalty spot saved by Joe Hart.

But Juve did draw level a few minutes later as Paul Pogba was given too much time to curl a ball into the box for Mandzukic to guide in off the post.

City responded by throwing on De Bruyne for his Champions League debut and bringing on Nicolas Otamendi for Kompany, who appeared to pick up a thigh injury.

However, Otamendi could do nothing to prevent Juventus snatching victory as Morata curled a brilliant left-footed shot around Hart from the right.

A desperate Pellegrini threw on Aguero for the final few minutes but he was unable to save City from defeat.


Saturday, 6 June 2015

Barcelona v Juventus - Preview


Juventus and FC Barcelona are in their eighth European Cup final; Massimiliano Allegri says "we have to be winners", Luis Enrique wants another prize for "a unique generation".

Juventus and Barcelona meet in Berlin, both teams' eighth European Cup final.

Massimiliano Allegri, Juventus coach
We started the season with an important objective – to get to the quarter-finals. Now we've got to the final and we have to be winners. We need to take the last step; that's always hard, especially in a Champions League final.

Messi, Neymar, Suárez, it's the usual question since the semi-final – how do you stop them, how do you stop them? We need to be very skilled but we need to recognise we're not going to draw; we need to score. How do you stop Barcelona? We need to think how to score. We need to be strong technically because they're a technical team and attack is their best weapon so we need to be very, very aware of that.

We need to stay focused for 90 minutes, right until the end. We need to be mentally strong and turn things around because we're second favourites to Barcelona. It's a one-off match, no chance to play again, so we need to be fit. We are physically fine and the same goes for our mental strength. We need to be good against a great team but, like all teams, they do have faults and weaknesses.

One of the two teams will win a treble, either Juventus or Barcelona – hopefully us. We need to recognise this isn't easy. It's not easy to manage great teams, despite how it seems from the outside. Luis Enrique was a great manager at Roma; this is a new league and a new situation but even back then it was clear he was right in his ideas. My role as manager is trying to add value to a team who were already capable, improving them even more.

It should be a great game. As with all Champions League finals, we'll need some luck and we'll need to work for that.

We're very sorry for what happened to Chiellini but I guess it was meant to be. We lost a player who had been great for us from the start of the season. Barzagli and Ogbonna are both fit; if Barzagli feels OK he's going to play, otherwise it's Ogbonna.

Luis Enrique, Barcelona coach
[Getting better] is a normal process throughout a season, especially bearing in mind this is my first season in charge. The team is now where it wants to be – with two trophies and the possibility of a third. We're entering this game with great excitement and hopes of playing a great match so we can be better than our opponents.

Midfield is where the game takes shape, whether that's attack or defence. We have to dominate both the offensive and the defensive side of things. We want to play our game – have the ball, create danger and minimise any opportunities for our opponents.

There is some euphoria among the fans and we're delighted to see that – that feeling has been there for several months. As players and coaches, we're focusing on this match with a great sense of seriousness and responsibility. We have to handle the occasion properly and make sure we have a good day so we can deal with such powerful opponents.

I imagine we'll have more possession, we hope to spend more time in their half. We'll have to play at a high level, it's going to be a difficult match. Juve have a very similar style to ours, they also need the ball. They're very good in defence, they're very resourceful and that's why they're in the same position as us – they can win the treble too. We know Juve will want and they're going to pressure us. Who will win depends on who adapts better to those situations.