Juventus Must Shore Up its Defense
Copyright � 1999 Nando Media
Copyright � 1999 Agence France-Presse
MILAN, Italy (August 25, 1999 8:59 a.m. EDT http://www.sportserver.com) - Juventus coach Carlo Ancelotti has to make adjustments to his defense before the new Serie A season starts this weekend.
Juventus drew 2-2 away to Rennes in the Intertoto tournament on
Tuesday night, bringing up a 4-2 victory on aggregate to earna spot in the UEFA Cup.
But the Italian giants were under considerable pressure from the
lively French side throughout the match and only Antonio Conte's equalizer for 1-1 avoided what could have been an upset.
Ancelotti said: "I'm disappointed that we didn't win, even though it wasn't necessary in this case. You ought to win when you can.
Juventus weren't brilliant, though showed they are always dangerous.
"But the fact is that Rennes were better prepared physically than we were and it showed," he said. "We're not used to playing against three strikers who played as closely together and who were as fast as these were.
"That was something new for us and we were made to suffer as a result. Too many times it ended up three against three. Certain covering movements in defence just didn't work.
"We'll have to see about remedying this, but we'll still stick to our system of play, there's no doubt about that," he said.
Ancelotti has little choice but to play with three men at the back. French star Zinedine Zidane is guaranteed a playmaking role behind the two strikers, Alessandro Del Piero and Filippo Inzaghi, and the team cannot do without a solid four-man midfield behind them.
However, Zidane has few doubts about Juventus' state of health as it prepares for its season debut against Reggina on Sunday.
"We were in real trouble in the beginning and had to overcome a lot of problems," said the two-goal hero of the 1998 World Cup final.
"But I think that winning this place in the UEFA Cup is a signal to all the other teams in the Italian championship: Juventus are here and everybody else is going to have to watch out."
