(Football news) After defeating Atalanta 2-1 the previous week, Claudio Ranieri’s team defeated champions-elect Inter Milan 2-2 last time out. This weekend, in gameweek 33 action, they will be favored to surprise the Old Lady.
Juventus and Ranieri’s team will play on Sardinia on Friday. The home team is eager to build on their recent success in separating themselves from the competition for relegation.
A large part of that has been made possible by the Rossoblu’s ability to bounce back from losses in their last three games following their 1-0 loss to Monza in mid-March.
Cagliari won a point after falling behind to Hellas Verona at the start of April, turned around an early deficit against Atalanta to win 2-1 and twice came from a goal down to nick a point at champions-elect Inter in gameweek 32.
That puts them in good stead as they aim to avoid immediate relegation to Serie B, and their recent form has opened a four-point advantage over 18th-placed Frosinone, meaning they cannot slide into the bottom three even if Friday’s game ends in defeat.
Ranieri will hope for a positive outcome for his side in Sardinia to extend their undefeated home run to five, having claimed eight points from a possible 12 at the Unipol Domus. Juventus aim to claim a win at Cagliari to extend their five-match winning run against the Rossoblu to six.
However, Massimiliano Allegri’s men must perform at a high level to secure maximum points in Sardinia, something the Bianconeri have not done consistently since the turn of the year.
Allegri believes his side will not drop out of the Champions League places — he always maintained a return to Europe’s premier club competition was the target, not Scudetto contention — but Bologna are four points adrift and fifth-placed Roma sit eight points adrift, possibly being cut to five if the Giallorossi win their outstanding game against Udinese.
While looking over their shoulder at the turn of the year would have been scoffed at if it was suggested, picking up two wins victories from 11 matches has seen the Old Lady slide in the table, giving other sides a chance of supplanting Allegri’s men in the final weeks.
However, given Italy’s chances of earning an additional Champions League spot, it would require a catastrophic collapse and other teams taking advantage for Juventus to drop to sixth.
Fans might not be excited about traveling to an in-form team, especially given the Turin-based team has lost three of the last five away games and is winless on travels since their 3-0 victory at Lecce on January 21.
