Posts Tagged ‘Walter Novellino’

Torino 0-1 Juventus: Chiellini Clinches Derby della Mole, Stadio Olimpico Now Waiting for Chelsea (Serie A Matchday 27)

Sunday, March 8th, 2009

Juventus' Giorgio Chiellini celebrates after scoring against Torino during their Italian Serie A soccer match at the Olympic stadium in Turin March 7, 2009. (REUTERS)

They may not play stellar soccer, they may not score lots of goals, but Juventus know just what it takes to win games. With a single goal by Giorgio Chiellini the Bianconeri got the better of Torino in Saturday’s Derby della Mole, keeping their distance to league leaders Inter at 7 points. Torino’s good performance (especially with regards to motivation -derbies can do that to ya- and goalkeeping technique) was not enough to breaking a Granata losing tradition which has now extended to 14 derby years.

But speaking of Juventus, one could almost say it was good night for Claudio Ranieri as well, the Bianconeri manager being able to rest a good number of his starters (Del Piero, Trezeguet, Tiago and Marchionni) and see some welcome returns (Zebina) in preparation of their UCL return leg against Chelsea Tuesday.

Yeah. Almost.

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Posted in Juventus, Serie A, Torino | Comments Off

Lazio 1-1 Torino: A Draw of Broken Promises & Disappointment (Serie A Matchday 24)

Saturday, February 14th, 2009

Lazio defender Stephan Lichtsteiner, of Switzerland, left, and Torino midfielder Eugenio Corini compete for the ball during the Serie A soccer match between Lazio and Torino, in Rome's Olympic stadium, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2009. (AP Photo by ANDREW MEDICHINI)

Lazio vs. Torino Saturday really evoked punk-rock band Greenday to me for some reason. Must be because of that song, “Boulevard of Broken Dreams“, which seemed to perfectly illustrate the Stadio Olimpico tonight: two teams with high expectations early in the season (Champions League for Lazio, mid-table ranking for Torino) and who now find themselves with their face in the gutter.

The key number here was four. Four consecutive losses for the Biancocelesti, four consecutive draws for the Granata (plus a victory which has been eluding them since the last days of December). And would you be surprised if I told that even tonight the honours were even, resulting in one point per side not really helping either team but which at least puts an end to manager Delio Rossi’s losing streak. Odds are that it still won’t be enough to keep his job safe for much longer…

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Lazio 3-1 Torino: Biancocelesti Showing their Yin and their Yang

Friday, January 23rd, 2009

No surprises on Thursday evening: as per pre-match expectations, favorites Lazio earned their ticket for the Coppa Italia semi-finals, beating Torino at the end of a multi-faceted 90 minutes. Indeed, the Biancocelesti were once again the stars of “a tale of two halves”, a cliché-phrase in the world of sports news, but one which describes very accurately what transpired at the Stadio Olimpico of Rome yesterday.

Simply put, Delio Rossi’s team used the two sets of 45 minutes to make a perfect recital of their current season: weaknesses on one side (difficulties in playmaking and lack of concentration at the back), strengths on the other (lethal short-passing & counterattacking abilities). And unfortunately for relegation-battlers Torino (who until half-time had virtually played the perfect game), one of those sets proved to be fatal.

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Posted in Coppa Italia, Lazio, Torino | Comments Off