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The climax of the Champions League on Wednesday night sees the first ever all-Italian final, between AC Milan and Juventus. Marcello Lippi’s Bianconeri, recommended by this website at 5/1 at the semi-final stage, will start as favourites at Old Trafford.
The 1996 winners have enjoyed another excellent season under Lippi’s guidance, coasting to their second successive Scudetto this year. And, although Wednesday’s contest looks set to be tight affair, Juve can achieve the domestic and European double in what is being dubbed the “Finalissima” back in Italy. Granted, there may not be much between the teams, but the Old Lady have been far and away the best team in Serie A, and if they can reproduce any semblance of the form that saw them eliminate Real Madrid, then a third European Cup should be theirs for the taking.
However, it is unlikely to be an easy ride against a Milan team who are seeking their sixth European title, and the task will be all the more difficult for Juventus with the absence of suspended playmaker, Pavel Nedved. Milan’s coach Carlo Ancelotti, the former headman at Juve, will be looking for revenge as he seeks his first trophy with the Rossoneri.
Ancelotti’s team have gained some memorable scalps in their run to the final, including home and away victories over Bayern Munich, and a 1-0 defeat of Real Madrid, not to mention the semi-final triumph over bitter rivals, Inter. Furthermore, Milan come into the final on the back of some good results, most notably having thrashed Roma in the first leg of the Coppa Italia.
A blow for Ancelotti is the loss of John-Dahl Tomasson to injury, although this is not comparable to the absence of Nedved. Having defeated Juventus only a couple of months ago, Milan will be confident of repeating the feat, especially with the forward pairing of Shevchenko and Inzaghi.
However, as mentioned above, Lippi’s boys have ruled the roost when it comes to Italian football this campaign, and this should again be the scenario in Manchester. For sure, the inspirational Nedved will be missed, but with Trezeguet and Del Piero up front, Thuram and Ferrara patrolling the defence, and Davids holding the team together, the Bianconeri boast enough quality to edge out their native rivals.
In fact, Trezeguet looks good value to open the scoring. In contrast to his strike partner Del Piero, the French hitman has struck form at the end of the season, bagging four goals in as many games, including the opener against Real. In such a rich vein of form, we can expect the Frenchman to feature prominently again on Wednesday.
Refereeing the game will be German official, Markus Merk. On average, he hands out four bookings a game, the same number of cards that generally features in games between the teams. Given this information, the bookies look to have got this one about right with their predictions centring around four yellows.
Cynics are predicting a dour defensive battle, synonymous with all the dull features in the Italian game. Nevertheless, in their two meetings this season, each side has enjoyed a 2-1 win, and there is a good chance that this will be the scoreline once again. On the evidence of this campaign, both teams’ back line is definitely not impregnable, and we should expect to see a few goals in Manchester. Given their impressive form throughout the whole season, expect Juventus to edge the final.
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| Betting Verdict |
1pt Juventus to beat Milan 2-1 at 21003943
This has been the scoreline in their two encounters this season, and Juve should have enough quality to edge a close game.
1pt David Trezeguet to score first at 21211048
The Juve frontman comes into the game in hot form, with four goals in as many games, and he can repeat his act of opening the scoring as against Madrid. |
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