Marchisio: «The next are 10 crucial days»

Six points which Claudio Marchisio gave Juventus since the beginning of the second round. After the goal against Fiorentina now it was the turn for the one against Napoli. The youngster is continuing to improve match after match and his relationship with the goal is making him more important every day.
It is a Marchisio who is also learning leadership skills inside and outside the field. At the end of the match he launched the team towards the crucial moment of the season: «Ten fundamental days await us. Ten days which are also fundamental to Inter and Roma. We have three competitions to play and the fact that we are still fighting on all fronts means that we are a great team. I am happy with my second goal because it once again allowed us to win a crucial match against Napoli who especially in the second half caused us difficulties».

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Ranieri: «We must fight for the maximum»

Claudio Ranieri is visibly satisfied after the match against Napoli especially seeing that the team returned to winning after the undeserved defeat against Chelsea: «The most important thing is to prepare well for the match after the Champions League. I must applaud the team who played well and especially during the second half when we were more tired and they pressed us».
What was different from the match against Napoli in the Coppa Italia: «We used the same system like in the Coppa Italia. The midfield played really well, remaining always concentrated even when playing against 3 midfielders, recovering and winning back some really good balls».
How much does the work load count at this time of the season seeing that even Chelsea found it hard to win against Middelsborough? «Everybody feels the pressure at this time of the season. It is not easy to play every 3 days. We must now recover our energy to playa against Lazio in the Coppa Italia on Tuesday night».
What are your hopes for the championship?: «We must fight for the maximum and then at the end be satisfied at the end of the season. The athlete must work hard and give his maximum and must be able to accept a defeat if this comes».

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All about the “Derby della Mole”

The day of the “Derby della Mole” is here. The date is once again that of the 7th of March 27 years later. The last time it was played on this day, back in 1982, was a day to remember for Juventus who won the match 4-2 after a come-back with Gaetano Scirea as protagonist.A few hours before kick-off, Juventus.com is bringing you some useful information to help you appreciate the event.TORINO AT HOMEFive victories, three draws and five defeats: Torino’s home performances are definitely better then those in the matches played away from home where they only obtained 6 out of the 24 points obtained up to now.It is interesting to take a look at the production of chances (in brackets as opposed to the results) when the granata registered defeats: Torino-Inter 1-3 (5-6); Torino-Lazio 1-3 (5-5); Torino-Cagliari 0-1 (8-5); Torino-Fiorentina 1-4 (3-7); Torino-Roma 0-1 (2-4). PROGRESS They started off well in the first two days of the championship with a home victory against Lecce and the draw away in Reggio Calabria. The defeat at the Olimpico against Inter saw the start of a see-saw period.On the 8th match day, after the first round derby decided by Amauri’s match-winner, De Biasi’ s team was last in the table together with Reggina. The come-back was immediate: the following week the granata beat Atalanta 2-1 and climbed out of the last spot. At the end of the first round, however, the situation was still a worrying one: Toro were third from last and therefore in the relegation zone with two points from a safe spot. With the start of the second round the scene changed drastically. The team, coached by Walter Novellino registered 6 draws and a victory against Udinese.THE DERBY ON THE 7TH OF MARCHThere are two matches played on the 7th of March in the history of the derby. The first dates back to the 1953/54 championship when the bianconeri and the granata registered a goalless tie even due to the Dane John Hansen missing a penalty. The match played in 1982 is definitely a memorable one. The granata went ahead with two goals scored on the 19th and 21st minute in less then 3 minutes with Bonesso and Dossena the scorers but before the end of the first-half the result had already been turned round thanks to a goal by Tardelli and two by Scirea. In the seconds half, with one minute to go, Irishman Brady gave the Curva Filadelfia the joy of a 4-2 end result. STOPPAGE TIME GOALSThe goal scored by David Trezeguet during stoppage time during the last Torino-Juventus played on the 30th of September 2007 remains amongst the greatest satisfactions for the binaconeri. The derbies won at the end of the match are the most loved by the supporters. It is something which happens approximately once every ten years and which began during the 1968/69 season when Pietro Anastasi scored the winning goal after the goals by Menichelli and Combin.Ten years later during the 1978/79 season it was a left-footed diagonal shot by Antonio Cabrini which brought a long domination by the opponents. In 1987/88 it was Ian Rush who scored the match winner in what seemed to be a match destined to end in a 1-1 draw with goals by Tricella and Polster. According to Boniperti the best way to win a derby is by an own-goal scored in the last minute of the match. This occurred during the 1992/93 season and the joy was even greater due to a great come-back. After the goal by Sordo at the beginning of the second half, it was Vialli who equalized. At the 92nd minute just under the curva Scirea, a shot by Moeller was deviated by Venturin denying Marchegiani of an easy save.

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LET'S LOOK FORWARD

At the end of the match against Werder Bremen, Gianluca Zambrotta is disappointed about the failure to qualify and looks to the future: 'Now we only have to look forward and not give up because the league isn't over.'

MILAN - Here are the declarations made by Gianluca Zambrotta following Milan-Werder Bremen 2-2:

"We are all disappointed about not qualifying, we haven't had the chance to talk about it yet, but we tried to go through in every way giving everything until the end.

Now we only have to look forward and not give up because the league isn't finished, there are still many games to go and we are fighting to reach one of our objectives which is to finish within the first three positions. We have to go forward without letting our morale drop.

Conceding comebacks is one of our biggest problems which we haven't managed to solve yet. We conceded a goal like in the first leg, like in the derby, we'll have to review these moves to avoid them in the future and improve.

At this moment we have to stay close to the coach, stay close together to get past this moment of the season which certainly isn't positive."

Milan Official Website

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NO DRAMA, THE TURNING POINT IS CLOSE

Coach Carlo Ancelotti has clear ideas: the moment is a delicate one, but we must not make any drama. Let's work well and recover the injured players: then after the match against Atalanta there will be the turning point.
GENOA – These are the declarations of coach Carlo Ancelotti at the end of Sampdoria-Milan 2-1:
“We are surely going through a delicate moment, in which the results are not in line with the performances. Today we did not play in an exceptional way, it's true, but it still was a normal game. In the first half we did not play quickly and the fact that we had just one attacker on the pitch penalized us in the offensive phase. However we controlled well, we did not have big dangers, we did not find much difficulty in containing Sampdoria.”
“The game direction made us a bit nervous, especially for the systematic fouls on Pato. Every time he started to run he was being stopped. They blocked him so not to allow him to gain speed. He suffered many evident fouls and was not protected at all.
“We must think about making this moment pass with the least possible damage. And we must not make too much drama because I’m sure that by working well, we can make it end soon, both consolidating the third place as well as having more time to train with serenity. From this point of view it’s fundament to recover the injured players (let’s hope that next week will be decisive for Kaka and Ronaldinho) as well as winning next Sunday. The turning point will be after the match against Atalanta: there will be a battle, we will have to suffer, but afterwards things will surely improve.”
“For the Champions League there's us, Genoa, Fiorentina and Roma: we all start on the same level, But we have very good possibilities because we are ahead now and also with the recovery of the injured players, our results can only improve.”

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POSITIVE INDICATIONS

Milan's delegate administrator Adriano Galliani is happy about the welcome received by Milan during the last friendly of the Rossoneri's season in Qatar and he's satisfied by the indications that came from the match.

DOHA - Here are the declarations made by Delegate Administrator Adriano Galliani after the friendly Al Sadd-Milan 1-2:

"With this match against Al Sadd Milan have terminated the series of friendlies programmed for this season.
Here in Doha played in a wonderful stadium, in front of a very warm crowd.
We are proud we had the chance to play this match and it's right that a team like Milan have the chance to show themselves in these countries far away from Italy where the welcomes are always very warm.
This friendly was also a chance to see some positive indications from the pitch.
Already from Sunday against Atalanta we have to do well again in the league, trying to recover all our injured players."

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Zanetti: "Three chances, three goals"

GENOA - Javier Zanetti spoke on Inter Channel after Inter's 3-0 Tim Cup semi-final first leg defeat to Sampdoria.
He said: "Sampdoria had three shots on goal and scored three goals. We tried really hard in the second half but we never managed to score. They took the match to us, playing at a high tempo and with lots of pressing."
Commenting on the many bookings at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, the Inter captain explained: "It wasn't a nervous match. It was the pitch that was slippery."

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Maicon: "We gifted them the result"

GENOA - Maicon came on for Nelson Rivas at the start of the second half in Genoa, delivering crosses galore as the Nerazzurri looked to reduce Sampdoria's three-nil lead.
"The goals scored by our opponents came from inattentions of ours, we gifted them the result," the Brazilian defender told Inter Channel after Wednesday's national cup semi-final first leg.
"This game is over now. Now we have to think the return match. On Saturday we have another difficult match to play but we took a hard blow today.
"From the bench, I can say that we controlled the first half, even after Nelson's unfortunate error. The match was still in our hands but it was hard for everyone after the second and third goals.
"This match is in the past now. We have to rest because there's another very important match against Genoa on Saturday."

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Mourinho: "Angry? No. I'm proud of myself"

APPIANO GENTILE - After Wednesday's national cup semi-final first leg against Sampdoria, Inter return to the Stadio Luigi Ferraris again on Saturday to face Gian Piero Gasperini's Genoa in Serie A Week 27.
"It will be an important match tomorrow," José Mourinho told journalists in his pre-match press conference. "Genoa play well, quickly and in a manner suited to the characteristics of their players. They are a high-quality team, they play good football without pressure because their only pressure is to play well.
"With their current position in the table they can get into the UEFA zone, and maybe even the Champions League. They play with great joy and tranquillity and this is positive for them."
Cristian Chivu and Walter Samuel miss the second Genoa trip of the week through injury. Maxwell, Julio Cruz and Victor Obinna have been left out of the squad for technical reasons, while Patrick Vieira is unavailable through suspension.
"In defence there will be the same players who were on the pitch against Sampdoria, with Nicolas Burdisso and Davide Santon as well," explained Mourinho. "Cambiasso and Stankovic will return in midfield, and Julio Cesar in goal. And yes, Ibrahimovic will play from the first minute."
It was a visibly different José Mourinho who faced the press today. Asked how he was feeling, the Inter coach replied: "I'm not angry. If you really want to find an adjective to describe how I feel, I could say 'proud'. But I'm not angry. Proud of what? Proud of myself."
In Tuesday's press conference Mourinho mentioned that in 91 days' time he will go on holiday. "I said that in 91 days, which are now 87, I will say goodbye to all of you, but only because I definitely won't be spending my holidays in Italy," clarified José, adding that he will dedicate time to his charity initiatives in Africa followed by spells in the USA, "because I like it there", and his native Portugal, "because it's obvious".
"I work every day with my staff to prepare for next season and I'm certainly not preparing anything for another coach."

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