Ancelotti Wary as Juventus Hosts Roma in Key Clash
Posted: Thursday February 24, 2000 01:10 PM
ROME (AP) -- Carlo Ancelotti was a member of AS Roma's last Serie A title-winning team. He doesn't want to have anything to do with that club's next championship.
Ancelotti, who has guided Juventus into first place in his first full season as its coach, knows he needs to beat his old team Sunday to keep Roma at bay in the standings.
"This game comes at the right time. Both teams are in top form and both are aware of their capabilities," Ancelotti said of the Week 23 encounter at Turin's Delle Alpi Stadium.
"And both know that this game is very significant. It's a head-to-head matchup that could allow us to take a firmer hold on first place or allow them to cut into our lead. We -- both us and Roma -- know that more than ever the title race is on."
With a third of the season remaining, Juventus has parlayed an 18-game unbeaten streak into a 13-8-1 record for 47 points. Defending champion AC Milan has suddenly pulled into the hunt and is next with 44 points, one more than third-place Lazio. Roma (12-6-4) is another point back, at 42.
A Roma win would put it just two points behind Juventus, with three straight, relatively easy games on tap. A loss would drop Roma to an eight-point deficit and likely kill its hopes for a first crown since the 1982-83 season, when Ancelotti was a starting midfielder.
"Unlike past seasons, Roma has proven consistent. It is solid and thinks clearly on the field, and fully deserves to be in the title chase," Ancelotti said, noting that Roma coach Fabio Capello "has lent that team the mentality of a winner."
Ancelotti knows well what Capello, who is in his first season with Roma, can do for a club. Ancelotti was on the 1991-92 Milan squad that Capello coached to the first of four titles in five years there.
Sunday's clash features the league's best defense (Juventus has allowed 10 goals) against one of its top attacks (Roma has scored 48, tied with Milan for league honors).
The first time the clubs met, at Rome in Week 6, the immovable object won the game-within-the-game, as a second-half free kick by French World Cup hero Zinedine Zidane lifted Juventus to a 1-0 win.
While Roma will try to better exploit its speed advantage on offense this time, it must avoid the sort of defensive breakdowns on corner kicks and free kicks that have plagued it all year. Juventus, meanwhile, has tallied a third of its goals off those two types of plays.
Capello's charges insist they aren't intimidated by the setting. Juventus boasts a league-best 9-2-0 home mark, having outscored opponents by a combined 19-4, and Roma hasn't won at Turin since 1995.
"This year, for the first time, we're heading to Turin to play for the title," striker Marco Delvecchio said.
Added Vincenzo Montella, who ranks second in the league with 15 goals but has never scored against Juventus in his four-year career: "Afraid of Juventus? Not a chance. We're going to Turin with one thing in mind: winning."
Each team has a wing-back suspended: Roma's Vincent Candela and Juve's Gianluca Zambrotta. Roma captain Francesco Totti, who missed last week's 4-0 rout of Fiorentina through suspension, is back in the lineup.
Milan will play at Cagliari on Sunday, while Lazio hosts Udinese on Saturday.
Milan coach Alberto Zaccheroni has to devise a lineup without three key players, all sidelined: defensive stalwart and captain Paolo Maldini, Brazilian playmaker Leonardo, and Brazilian winger Serginho.
Lazio, meanwhile, sees Yugoslav free-kick specialist Sinisa Mihajlovic return after serving a two-game suspension for elbowing Torino striker Marco Ferrante.
But defender Paolo Negro is a doubtful starter because of a right thigh injury, and Argentine midfielder Juan Sebastian Veron -- whose inconsistency has hurt Lazio al season -- may get the day off.
Sunday's other matchups are Bari vs. Torino, Bologna vs. Piacenza, Internazionale of Milan vs. Venezia, Perugia vs. Verona and Reggina vs. Lecce, while AC Parma hosts Fiorentina on Saturday night.
