Juventus Comes Face to Face With AS Roma
Copyright � 1998 Nando.net
Copyright � 1998 Reuters
PARIS (Nov 12, 1998 - 20:39 EST) - Juventus finally comes face to face with its tormentor this weekend when the Italian champions take on AS Roma.
Roma coach Zdenek Zeman became the most hated man in northern Italy this summer when he insinuated that Juventus had been using drugs to boost the performance of Alessandro Del Piero and Gianluca Vialli.
The allegations sparked legal action against the Roma coach, who responded by describing the Turin club's reaction as typically arrogant.
Now the warring sides meet on the football pitch, although fate has denied Del Piero the chance of scoring a winner at the Olympic stadium -- a knee injury suffered last Sunday will keep him out for five months.
Bayern Munich had an unexpectedly restful week and ideal preparation for Saturday's contest against VfB Stuttgart following the cancellation of Tuesday's match in Borussia Monchengladbach.
A passionate rivalry exists between the two south German clubs with Bayern, as is mainly the case, holding the upper hand.
In Spain, Barcelona hosts Tenerife on Sunday and coach of the Catalonian club Louis Van Gaal will need a good result to help silence the critics although Barcelona is the current Spanish champions and has only lost one game all year.
French league leaders Marseille hosts last year's champions Lens with attacking midfielder Eric Roy back in the side. Roy had been out for three weeks with a leg injury.
Juventus coach Marcello Lippi, who gave Zeman more than one tongue lashing over the summer, has decided to say nothing before the match -- so as to avoid stirring up further trouble.
Uruguayan Daniel Fonseca will probably take Del Piero's place alongside Filippo Inzaghi, supported by unsettled French playmaker Zinedine Zidane, whose future with the club is now in doubt.
The match is certain to be evenly balanced. Juventus are lying second in the Serie A table, but Roma is third with a more prolific attack -- led by Francesco Totti, Marco Delvecchio and Brazilian Paolo Sergio.
League leaders Fiorentina, who in the space of one week was kicked out of the UEFA Cup and booked its place in the Italian Cup quarterfinals, is away to perennial strugglers Piacenza.
AC Milan is away to Bari in the night match, while Lazio travels to Venezia and Parma are at home to Udinese.
Bayern striker Alexander Zickler, who earned himself a first ever call-up for Germany's friendly against Holland next week, will miss the Stuttgart game with chronic back pain.
The club's Dr. Muller-Wohlfahrt administered Zickler 20 injections on Thursday to try and loosen his painfully contracted back muscles.
With Bayern sitting pretty at the head of the table and Stuttgart still smarting from their last minute UEFA Cup exit against FC Brugge the odds are heavily stacked in Bayern's favor.
Stuttgart has only beaten Bayern in Munich once in their last 26 attempts -- a 3-1 victory in February 1994.
For true derby action, fans cannot get much better than Saturday's grudge match between Borussia Dortmund and Schalke 04.
Dortmund is on a roll of six matches without loss while Schalke is 14th and finding goals and victories hard to come by.
On Friday, Kaiserslautern coach Otto Rehhagel will return to his old workplace at Werder Bremen.
Fourth-place Barcelona is under increasing pressure from their fans and the name of Italian coach Fabio Capello is being bandied about in the press as a possible successor to Van Gaal.
Leaders Mallorca is at Valladolid on Sunday, defending their one-point advantage over Real Madrid, which hosts third-place Celta Vigo on Saturday in the top-of-the-bill match this weekend.
Celta Vigo earned an impressive UEFA Cup win at England's Aston Villa last week and thrashed Extremadura 5-1 at the weekend to go into their Bernabeu clash full on confidence.
Marseille, which leads Bordeaux by two points, also welcome central defender Laurent Blanc back into the side after he was rested for their 3-2 win at Nancy on Tuesday.
Striker Fabrizio Ravanelli is set to play although he has a slight toe injury.
Lens coach Daniel Leclercq, who handed in his resignation which was not accepted following defeat to Le Havre last Saturday, saw his side beat Rennes 3-1 on Wednesday.
Bordeaux, who beat Lorient 2-0 in midweek, host third-from-bottom Sochaux at the Parc Lescure. Bordeaux coach Elie Baup has an easy fixture on paper, yet Sochaux had only their third victory in 13 matches with a 2-1 win over mid-table Bastia on Wednesday.
Paul Le Guen's third-placed Rennes hosts Lyon with Moroccan defender Youssef Rossi back after thigh problems.
