19 September 2015
The Stadio Luigi Ferraris, better known as the Marassi, holds a special place in the Bianconeri’s illustrious history. Four and a half months ago, Massimiliano Allegri’s men were crowned champions of Italy for the fourth time at the ground, albeit against the Rossoblu’s city-rivals Sampdoria.
Juventus’ last win away to Genoa came on 16 March 2014, when Andrea Pirlo swept home a trademark 89th minute free-kick to seal maximum points, and they will be looking to add to the 20 victories already registered in the 48 previous visits, as well as the impressive tally of 76 times that the visitors have found the net, equating to an average of 1.58 goals per game. Indeed it is unlikely that Sunday’s match will see both goalkeepers come away with clean sheets at the final whistle.
Testament to the high-scoring history of this fixture is that since 1994, only one of the last 10 away trips to the Marassi has finished goalless (on 11 March 2012) and four of these encounters have produced as many or more goals. There’s the 2-2 from 24 September 2009, when Vincenzo Iaquinta and David Trezeguet cancelled out strikes from Giandomenico Mesto and Hernan Crespo, while three years later the Bianconeri triumphed 3-1, when Emanuele Giaccherini, Mirko Vucinic and Kwadwo Asamoah all got on the scoresheet in an emphatic second-half response to Ciro Immobile’s opener for the hosts.
Possibly the most memorable match of the last 20 or so years came on 13 May 1995, when Marcello Lippi’s men emerged as 4-0 winners. That day it would take until the 52nd minute for Roberto Baggio to give Juve the lead from the penalty spot, after which he and his team-mates ran riot, adding to their tally through Fabrizio Ravanelli, Robert Jarni and Gianluca Vialli. The result played a big part in sealing a 23rd Scudetto, which would eventually be sewn up the following weekend by beating title challengers Parma by another 4-0 scoreline at the Stadio delle Alpi.
The Old Lady had already managed to win by a four-goal margin at the home of the Rossblu when they registered a 6-2 victory on 10 April 1960 courtesy of two goals from John Charles and Bruno Nicolè respectively, added to strikes by Omar Sivori and Giampiero Boniperti.
Other famous braces to add to the list are those of Giovanni Ferrari in a 3-0 triumph on 2 November 1930 and Sentimenti III’s pair during the 4-1 victory on 22 February 1942. While there’s also a hat-trick to mention when John Hansen bagged all three on Christmas Eve 1950.
If history is anything to go by, this Sunday's edition of Genoa vs Juventus is set to be another entertaining encounter with goals on the menu once more.
