In-form Juve send warning to title candidates

Juventus produced arguably their best performance of the season on Sunday when they easily disposed of Palermo to the tune of 5-0.

Not that Palermo are easy to beat. Far from it. The Sicilians have ambitions of booking a UEFA Cup berth. However, it was the convincing manner of Juventus's display that made last weekend's victory very easy to attain.

Such a convincing win augurs well for second-placed Juve who travel to Milan on Saturday with the intention of confirming the good work they have done since their promotion from Serie B.

Coach Claudio Ranieri is doing a fantastic job in Turin. In a very short time, the ex-Chelsea, Valencia and Parma mentor has moulded a winning team based on the experienced 'survivors' of the old guard - Gianluigi Buffon, Pavel Nedved, Alessandro Del Piero, David Trezeguet and Mauro German Camoranesi - and a bunch of up-and-coming players, including Giorgio Chiellini, Raffaele Palladino, Christian Molinaro, Antonio Nocerino and Domenico Criscito, who are showing a great deal of commitment, determination and hunger for success.

The summer arrivals of Vincenzo Iaquinta and Cristiano Zanetti have also increased Ranieri's options.

Such a good set-up, combined with the fact that they do not have Champions League commitments, should bolster Juventus's quest of a quick return to success by wresting the title from champions and big-spenders Inter.

It will not be a simple task as the squads of Inter, Roma and Milan are considered to be stronger than Juventus's. The three early favourites can rely on a long bench and, more importantly perhaps, their players have been together for quite a number of years.

For their part, Juventus are still maturing as a team, albeit the experience of the veterans is of great benefit to the younger generation.

Furthermore, it is clear that there is great harmony in the Juventus dressing room. For instance, team captain Del Piero was left out of the starting 11 against Palermo but Ranieri's decision had no negative impact on the team's morale. Neither did it affect Del Piero's focus as the Juve skipper scored a brace after coming off the bench in the second half.

The pressure, or rather the lack of it, is an advantage for Juve. Inter and Roma both spent heavily on new players in the close season and therefore their respective coaches Roberto Mancini and Luciano Spalletti are under increasing pressure to win silverware.

Juve were dormant in the transfer market last summer. However, their recruitment policy suggested that 2007/08 was going to be a transitional season for the Old Lady.

In Ranieri's own words, the challenge ahead of him is to restore the self-confidence of players of the calibre of Sergio Almiron and Cardoso Tiago.

So far, both midfielders have not played regularly for Juventus despite being among the club's biggest signings last summer.

Ranieri's influence

Up till now, Ranieri has used his charisma to get the best out of the likes of Nicola Legrottaglie and Zanetti, who both seemed to be on their way out of Turin before the season started.

Ranieri knows only too well that for Juve to make a creditable challenge for the scudetto, he needs to increase his options, particularly in the middle.

The trip to the San Siro is yet another serious and arduous test for Juve's title credentials. Although Milan will seek to end their miserable winless home run in the league, Juventus have what it takes to hold their own and deliver another warning to the front runners.

Serie A statistics

1st home win of the season for back-to-form Livorno as the Tuscany side made home soil count in a match against a below-par Sampdoria who continue to travel badly. In their first seven away games, Sampdoria's record reads two wins and five defeats. Sunday's setback also confirmed Samp's truly dire record at Livorno, where they have only three draws to show from seven visits. On Sunday, Napoli bounced back from a three-match winless run (a draw and two away defeats) as they scored a goal in each half to beat Catania at the San Paolo stadium. This was Napoli's sixth victory in seven home encounters with the Sicilians. Catania's only success in Naples came on January 8, 1961 (1-0).

4th drawn result for Torino in their last four visits to Empoli. Walter Novellino's men did their utmost to collect all points on Sunday but the side was once again let down by a blunt attack. For the record, Torino have never left Empoli with a win in five top-flight visits. In the other goalless draw of the day, Reggina continued to show signs of improvement as they held Fiorentina at home. This was the fifth drawn result between these two sides in six meetings in Reggio Calabria, with the remaining fixture going in favour of Fiorentina in October 2004. On Monday, Manuela Prandelli - the wife of Fiorentina coach Cesare - passed away at the age of 45 after a long illness.

5th away win of the term for Roma as Luciano Spalletti's men left it late to conquer Genoa's Luigi Ferraris stadium for only the sixth time in 41 visits. In a balanced encounter, which could have gone either way, Roma collected three precious points to stay in sight of leaders Inter. Genoa and Roma have not shared the spoils since a goalless draw on September 13, 1992. In Saturday's late kick-off, Inter found little difficulty in beating Atalanta by the odd goal in three. This was the fourth straight home win for Inter over Atalanta. Over 15 years have passed since these two sides have last shared the spoils in Milan (0-0). On the other hand, Atalanta's most recent of seven wins in 48 visits to the San Siro dates back to April 7, 2002 (2-1).

13 points from Milan's current 17 came from their opening six away fixtures. On Sunday, they came from a goal down to beat Cagliari for the 10th time in 27 visits. For Cagliari, whose most recent of four home wins against Milan dates back to October 18, 1998 (1-0), this was their first game under the charge of veteran Nedo Sonetti, who last week made a headline-grabbing return to Sardinia for the third time in his career. Cagliari are without a win in their last six outings (two draws and four defeats). Champions League hopefuls Lazio, coming from three straight defeats, left it late to beat Parma by a solitary Fabio Firmani goal. Prior to Sunday, Parma were coming from a win and three consecutive draws.

16th win for Juventus in 20 home meetings with Palermo as the Bianconeri annihilated the Sicilians 5-0. Thanks to this success, Juventus have extended their positive streak to four matches (two wins and two draws). Sunday's defeat confirmed Palermo's poor record in Turin, where they have prevailed only once (4-2 on February 18, 1962) and drew on three occasions. On Monday, Stefano Colantuono became the fifth coaching casualty as Palermo chief Maurizio Zamparini re-instated Francesco Guidolin at the helm of his Palermo team. This will be Guidolin's fourth stint with the club. For the interest of perspectives, Palermo have collected nine points less with respect to their opening 13 outings of last season. Udinese remained second, level on points with Juventus and Roma (the latter have a home game vs Cagliari in hand), thanks to a comfortable 2-0 home win over Siena. The northeasterners are undefeated in their last eight outings (five wins and three draws) whereas Siena, as from last Sunday under the charge of Mario Beretta, are without a win in their last six (three draws and three defeats).

21 goals were scored on the 13th day: 16 coming from the hosts and the remaining five from the visitors, who managed only two wins. Foreigners contributed with six goals. Neither own goals nor hat-tricks were recorded. Total number of goals scored so far amount to 322. Francesco Tavano (Livorno), Marcelo Zalayeta (Napoli) and Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus) grabbed a brace each. Juve duo Del Piero and Marco Marchionni came on as substitutes and found the back of the net. Juve's David Trezeguet still leads the scorers' list with 11 goals (one from penalty). Simone Inzaghi (Atalanta) and Da Silva Felipe (Udinese) received marching orders. Meanwhile, only two penalties were awarded by referees. Kaka saw his spot-kick saved by Cagliari's Marco Fortin. This was the first penalty miss for Milan in five attempts this season. On the other hand, Del Piero made Juve's home win over Palermo even more emphatic thanks to a penalty goal into stoppage time.