Cagliari 0-1 Juventus: Amauri Taking Injury-Plagued Bianconeri By the Hand… (Serie A Matchday 3)

“Calcio-Champagne“:
noun
Composite word formed by “calcio” and “champagne“.
Typically utilized by the Italian press to describe a free-flowing, short-passing, very technical and spectacular kind of footy.

In other words, pretty far from the spectacle Cagliari and Juventus gave us Sant’Elia today. I wouldn’t go as far as to call it a snooze-fest, but damn was it scrappy. Plenty of ball possession intertwined with bad passing, and not a lot of shots on goal to show for it. In everyone’s defense, Juve had Del Piero and Trezeguet out injured (not to mention Camoranesi), while Cagliari… well, are last, so that would explain a few things.

“Thank God for Amauri” must be saying Claudio Ranieri though. The ex-Palermo striker once again provided his team with the GWG, something which in the absence of David Trezeguet (kicked to the curb for three months at least, due to knee problems) may become more and more of a regular feature at Juve.

(From Gazzetta dello Sport): So, while the ADP-Trez duo was left to watch the match from the sidelines, Ranieri proceeded to a more-or-less revolutionized line-up for this one: Mellberg on for Legrottaglie at center-back, Salihamidzic for Grygera on the right, Marchionni for Camoranesi, Marchisio for Poulsen, and a two-man striking duo composed by Iaquinta and Amauri. On the other end, Cagliari manager Massimiliano Allegri opted for Alessandro Matri as his main striker (in lieu of Jeda and Acquafresca), supported by Larrivey.

The match started with Juventus taking charge early on (a seemingly valid Amauri goal was called off in the 3^rd minute), but without Camoranesi, the team severely lacked in the unpredictability department. Even the energy of Pavel Nedved wasn’t sufficient to energize the visitors’ midfield, in which Marchionni’s dribbling accuracy left to be desired and Sissoko was shining, but for all the wrong reasons (losing half a dozen balls in less than 10 minutes due to poor passing).

Thus, the main first half Bianconeri tactic became long balls kicked towards Amauri, who exploited one his strong points (aerial play) and tried to redirect to the passes to Iaquinta. It was really the component that was working best in Ranieri’s team, with both strikers running energetically after every ball, and imposing their physical play to shield it and wait for their teammates’ overlaps. Thus in minute 39, the pair got rewarded for their good efforts: a Marchisio cross from the right-wing was “cushioned” by Iaquinta, enabling Amauri to apply a short-range (near) bicycle kick. 1-0 Juventus.

After the restart, the Cagliari tried to re-invigorate his team’s efforts by inserting Acquafresca, Jeda, and Lazzari in quick succession. On the other end, Ranieri substituted Sissoko (getting overly nervous) with Tiago (who, amidst general incredulity, did not play badly during the short time he was on the field) and Marchisio with De Ceglie. Unfortunately for the home team, the changes had very little effect on the pace of the game: the Bianconeri still kept most of the ball possession (in particular thanks to a very highly-motivated Amauri), while Cagliari struggled to create any substantial scoring (in fact, shooting) chance.

Before the match ended, Matri went for a repeat of his good first-half shot on Buffon (who had to be substituted by Manninger at half-time, due to a minor groin strain) and nearly gave Cagliari the equalizer: his 90^th ripping half-volley effort was however well parried by Manninger into corner. Close, but no cigar for Cagliari: the Sardinians remain at the bottom of Serie A, while Juventus share the lead with Inter.

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	CAGLIARI-JUVENTUS 0-1 [Match Highlights]
GOALSCORERS: 39’ Amauri (J).
CAGLIARI (4-4-2): Marchetti – F.Pisano, Bianco, Lopez, Agostini – Fini (62’ Jeda), Biondini, Cossu, Parola (79’ Lazzari) – Matri, Larrivey (46’ Acquafresca). (bench: Lupatelli, Astori, Burrai, Matheu). Coach: Allegri.
JUVENTUS (4-4-2): Buffon (46’ Manninger) – Salihamidzic, Mellberg, Chiellini, Molinaro – Marchionni, Sissoko (60’ Tiago), Marchisio (75’ De Ceglie) Nedved – Iaquinta, Amauri. (bench: Knezevic, Legrottaglie, F.Rossi, Giovinco). Coach: Ranieri.

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