Beware of Juventus in crisis theory

BEWARE JUVENTUS. Beware Boksic. Beware Zidane. Hard times are a-coming at Old Trafford. Juventus to win.

In the build up to tomorrow night's Champions' League Group C game between English champions Manchester United and reigning European Champions Juventus, some British critics have been suggesting that "all is not well" with the side from Turin and that this could be a good moment for United to confront an allegedly out of form opponent.

Such a long distance analysis of Juventus is understandable, based as it largely is on assessment of the side's unimpressive results over the last five weeks. The textual evidence for a Juventus "crisis" theory is there for all to see. It is true that Juventus have won only three out of 10 league, Italian Cup and Champions' League games played in the last four weeks.

It is also true that they recently struggled in an Italian Cup tie against third division Nocerina, being held to a 0-0 draw in their first encounter and then scrambling through to a lucky 2-1 win in the replay. It is equally true that Juventus have been beaten by Vicenza and drawn with AS Roma, Napoli and AC Milan in four of their last five league games.

All of those results came before last Wednesday when the most convincing evidence in favour of the Juventus "crisis" theory was supplied by a 3-0 Italian Cup quarter final, first leg, home loss to Internazionale. That defeat prompted a much reported dressing room "barracking" for the Juventus players from coach Marcello Lippi, allegedly furious with his side's presumptuous attitude.

To top off the above series of poor results, then (so the theory goes), there is the consideration that the club's gifted playmaker Alessandro Del Piero is unhappy at his present exclusion from the side and wants away, perhaps to England on the trail of the Viallis, Ravanellis and Zolas of the Premiership.

The composite picture is clear. Juventus are in trouble, Manchester United should be able to gain revenge for a humiliating 1-0 defeat in their first Group C encounter in Turin in September.

We beg to differ. Juventus are not in crisis. No one who saw their gutsy performance in a combative, engaging 0-0 draw with Italian champions AC Milan in Turin on Sunday night would call Juventus a side in difficulties. Indeed, one privileged observer, Juventus old boy Roberto Baggio, had this to say of his former team:

"We're on the way back and we played well showing that we're improving on recent weeks. But I'd say that Juventus still has that bit extra over this Milan side."

On a heavy, rain soaked pitch and in a match played in a constant downpour, Juventus gave as good as they got in an epic battle.

The point about Sunday night is that it confirms the realpolitik considerations basic to the Juventus philosophy. Forget the Italian Cup, when the stakes matter, this Juventus can produce the goods.

Juventus are still on course in the competitions that matter to them. They are third in the Serie A table, just two points behind leaders Inter. They top their Group C Champions League table with three wins and one away draw from four outings. This day week, they will be finely tuned for another important prestige occasion, their Intercontinental Cup final clash in Tokyo with South American champions River Plate from Argentina.

Juventus might have lost 3-0 to Inter in the Italian Cup last week but of far more significance was the comprehensive 2-0 trouncing they meted out to the same Inter just three weeks ago in the league. The Italian Cup is a pleasant bonus but no one at Juventus HQ has ever claimed it represented a seasonal objective.

For much of the last month, Juventus coach Marcello Lippi has been confounding pundits by expressing his satisfaction at the way his side has been playing, despite its less than 100 per cent record.

That satisfaction is probably related to his sense that he and club president Roberto Bettega have pulled off a massive gamble.

They have managed to sell off three of the most important Juventus players of recent seasons - Gianluca Vialli (to Chelsea), Fabrizio Ravanelli (to Middlesbrough) and Portuguese midfielder Paulo Sousa (to Borussia Dortmund) - and still keep the Juventus ship not Just afloat but skimming along with a full sail.

This season's Juventus new boys - Croatian striker Alen Boksic (Lazio), French midfielder Zinedine Zidane (Bordeaux) and Uruguayan defender Paolo Montero (Atalanta) - have done more than well. Boksic was the scourge of Lazio - supporters for three seasons because of his failure to score goals but the Roman fans forgot just how many goals the Croat sets up with his powerful, wide runs.

After the inevitable, initial Italian stutters, Zidane has formed such an effective central midfield partnership with compatriot Didier Deschamps that he now, effectively, keeps Del Piero out of a side which has moved from a 4-3-3 line-out to 4-4-2, with Serb Vladimir Jugovic and Angelo Di Livio on the respective midfield flanks.

Watch out for all of the above on what could be another uncomfortable European night at Old Trafford. Two months ago, Juventus played United off the park in Turin. A repeat performance would be no surprise.