22 April 2017
The form book
After two superb performances to knock out Barcelona and a mouth-watering Champions League semi-final clash with Monaco just over a week away, it’s time for Juventus to return to domestic duties with two critical Serie A fixtures against Genoa and Atalanta on the horizon.
The Bianconeri enter tomorrow night’s game at Juventus Stadium in the best possible shape having won 11 and drawn two of their last 13 league outings.
Juve’s rearguard, revered now more than ever following Wednesday night’s defensive masterclass at the Camp Nou, have conceded just four goals in that time, a run that maintains their status as Italy’s best (20 in total this season).
And, Massimiliano Allegri’s men will be confident of extending their run of 32 consecutive top-flight home victories against a Genoa side that has collected just five points from their last 13 away games, last week’s draw with Lazio ending a run of four straight defeats.
That said, the Rossoblu produced arguably their best performance of the season against Bianconeri last November, scoring three first half goals at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris to set up a surprise 3-1 win.
Ironically, Juve have since gone on to score more goals in the first 15 minutes of matches than any other side in Europe’s top five divisions (13) besides Borussia Dortmund (14).
Although inconsistent throughout the campaign, Genoa have the potential to cause an upset at Juventus Stadium tomorrow night.
Past encounters
Sunday’s visitors however are not a side that travel particularly well, not least in the direction of Turin. Juventus and Genoa have faced off 49 times in Piemonte, with the former winning 38 of them.
Of the 20 victories earned by the Rossoblu in this fixture, just two of them have come away from home, none of which since January 1991. Last season’s 1-0 defeat marked the third occasion in a row in which Genoa left Juventus Stadium without scoring a goal.
The Ligurian club are the only side in Serie A to have beaten Juve more than once since the arrival of Allegri in the black and white dugout despite losing more times (59) and conceding more goals (201) to the Bianconeri than any other team in their history.
Key men
Giovanni Simeone netted a hat-trick against Juve earlier in the season yet curiously it was just the second time that the Argentine’s goals had gone on to set up a Genoa victory after draws with Pescara, Crotone, Fiorentina and Lazio and defeats to Cagliari and Palermo.
Both of the Rossoblu’s frontmen netted in last time out at Lazio in a game which saw Goran Pandev score for the first time since May 2014. The Macedonian has a decent record against Juventus, scoring twice on two occasions in the colours of Lazio and Napoli.
Further back, playmaker Adel Taarabt has supplied three winning assists in his first six matches in red and blue having managed just one in 14 at former club Milan.
Three ex’s could well make appearances tomorrow night; Raffaele Palladino turned out 25 times for Juve in Serie B scoring eight goals, while midfield enforcers Tomas Rincon and Stefano Sturaro, both began their Serie A careers with Genoa.
