Serie A teams lick wounds
Champions Juventus tackle city rivals Torino with pride at stake as Italy’s top teams return to the home comforts of Serie A this weekend licking their wounds after a bruising week in Europe.
Juventus travel cross-town to the Stadio Olimpico looking to maintain their eight-point advantage at the top of Serie A after their year-long unbeaten record away from home ended with a shock 2-1 Champions League defeat by Young Boys in Bern.
Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates’ pride took a knock in Switzerland, but the defeat was ultimately painless as Juventus still won their group ahead of Manchester United who lost 2-1 in Valencia.
Both Napoli and Inter Milan crashed out of the elite European competition as Roma – already through to the knockout rounds – fell 2-1 at Viktoria Plzen.
AC Milan were eliminated from the Europa League with a 3-1 loss to Greek club Olympiakos, as Lazio were beaten 2-1 by Germany’s Eintracht Frankfurt, but still advanced to the last 32.
The 33-year-old Ronaldo tasted victory in his first “‘Derby d’Italia” against Inter last weekend with Mario Mandzukic scoring the only goal.
And next up is the “Derby della Mole” against Torino which Juventus have not lost since April 2015.
“A derby is always beautiful and we have to win,” warned the former five-time Ballon d’Or winner.
Captain Giorgio Chiellini was rested this week in preparation for Torino, who are sixth, but just four points off the Champions League places.
Walter Mazzarri’s side held AC Milan to a goalless draw at the San Siro last weekend.
“Torino have improved a lot. They can aim for Europe and they can certainly cause us problems,” said Chiellini.
Carlo Ancelotti’s Napoli head for Sardinia to play Cagliari after a dramatic 1-0 defeat at Liverpool.
“Going out like this hurts, but we have to pick ourselves up and focus on the trip to Cagliari,” said captain Marek Hamsik whose side visit Inter Milan on Boxing Day.
Luciano Spalletti’s Inter had been on a seven-match winning streak at the start of November.
But four points in as many games has seen Inter drop 14 points behind Juventus. And they crashed out of the Champions League after being held 1-1 at home by PSV Eindhoven.