Lazio vs. Juventus: Focus On Nedved
MILAN, November 25 (DS) - Juventus midfielder and Czech international Pavel Nedved made the following comments before the Serie A match against Lazio.
"The match against Lazio at Olympic stadium is really a nightmare. I don't know what could happen with those supporters I loved for many years."
Nedved arrived in Turin this summer with 33 goals scored for Lazio in five seasons. The midfielder came across several difficulties in Juventus as his position was different now and he faced problems with Del Piero.
When Lippi finally made a decision to change things, he planned to make the first attempt at the last Wednesday's Champions League match against Bayer Leverkusen, but the fog interfered with the project.
Lazio's boss tried to follow the same pattern last evening: Nedved on the right, Del Piero on the left, Trezeguet just few steps forward. This could give a good chance for Nedved to improve the attack line and gain more opportunities to score, which seemed to be his main problem.
Nedved missed all chances to score and Juve lost 1-0 but obviously the Czech made progress in his performance. Perhaps the new position, the willingness to do his best against his former team became a necessary spur for Nedved.
According to Lippi�s statement, Nedved started the match on the right, with Christian Zenoni on the wing. In the first minutes Nedved evidently seemed to be in the dumps and sometimes he played on the left, but Lippi told him to maintain the new position, and so he did. He had a few opportunities to score in the first half: after a Del Piero cross in Lazio's penalty area and a free kick.
The second half started with Tacchinardi�s blunder, which came to be a clear advantage for Lazio. After Maresca substituted Zenoni, Nedved returned to the left, while Zambrotta played on the right wing: actually he did his best to help the team in any possible way, by pressing, attacking, drawing back to help the defense.
Obviously Nedved deserved a praising and perhaps Lippi is right saying that a score could definitely unblock him from this apathy. But still he has to wait until Wednesday when Juventus will face Bayer Leverkusen in view of a good weather.
