Juve looking to make light of the weather

The weather has been playing havoc with football fixtures in Italy all week but Serie A leaders Juventus have survived the big freeze and managed to cement their grip on the standings, without even playing.

Juve’s game at Parma was called off leaving them an anxious 24-hour wait to see if they would lose the league leadership.

But Milan crashed 2-0 at Lazio, meaning Juve held on to top spot ahead of the visit of Siena this weekend.

“The midweek games provided a table that still makes us smile,” said Juve captain Alessandro Del Piero. “With a one-point advantage (over Milan) and a game in hand we have to take advantage of the opportunity to escape, even though it’s still too soon to look at the table.”

There is still almost half the season to go but there’s a feeling that things are falling into Juve’s lap.

However, with temperatures of up to minus 10 Celsius expected in the north this weekend, the weather promises to have yet more of a say.

Already three scheduled evening games have had to be brought forward to the afternoon to give them a better chance of going ahead. What this has done is reopen a raging debate in Italy about the state of stadia in the country. Juve are the only club to own their custom-built stadium while everyone else rents theirs from the local council.

Those other stadiums are mostly old and out-dated with poor facilities and no contingency plans for icy conditions.

When games are called off in Italy it is rarely because the pitch is frozen but because the areas around the ground used by fans are deemed too dangerous.

And while Turin is one of the worst affected areas in the country, the Juventus Stadium has held up well to the snow.

“We’re first in the table but we’re already concentrating on the next match on Sunday against Siena at the Juventus Stadium,” added Del Piero.

“Last Saturday we gave a great demonstration of efficiency (in dealing with the weather conditions), so thanks to the people who worked hard to allow us to play and the fans to enjoy a great spectacle.”

The efficient stadium is indicative of a well-oiled Juve machine that remains unbeaten this season and has proved beyond doubt now that they are capable of putting successive, miserable, seventh-placed finishes behind them and challenging for the title.

And if anything, their rivals seem to be facilitating affairs.

Lazio had previously slipped away by losing at Inter, who were on a seven-game winning run until the last week where one point from six has dropped them eight points behind Juve having played a game more.

But Lazio then threw a spanner in Milan’s works, leaving their coach Massimiliano Allegri insisting that Juve and not the champions are now the title favourites. They also face a much tougher weekend game as they host Napoli.

Napoli have been highly impressive when playing supposed big teams, beating both Milans and Manchester City.

But their continued inability to put lesser teams to the sword – they have drawn nine games in the league – has seen them fall right out of title and probably Champions League contention.

Roma vs Inter tomorrow

Heavy snowfall in Rome has forced officials to move the Roma vs Inter match for tomorrow.

With conditioins expected to improve by tomorrow, it has been decided that it will be played with rest of the matches, starting at 3 p.m.

On the other hand the match between Cesena and Catania, scheduled for today, has been postponed to a later date.

Fixtures

Serie A

Today
Cesena vs Catania pp

Tomorrow – 15.00
Chievo vs Parma
Fiorentina vs Udinese
Genoa vs Lazio 12.30
Juventus vs Siena
Lecce vs Bologna
Milan vs Napoli
Novara vs Cagliari
Roma vs Inter
Palermo vs Atalanta

Standings: Juventus 44; Milan 43; Udinese 41; Lazio 39; Inter 36; Roma 31; Napoli 30; Palermo 28; Genoa, Chievo 27; Cagliari 26; Fiorentina 25; Parma 24; Atalanta (-6), Catania 23; Bologna 21; Siena 19; Lecce, Cesena 16; Novara 12.

Serie B

Today – 15.00
AlbinoLeffe vs Varese
Empoli vs Crotone
Grosseto vs Sampdoria
Gubbio vs Modenapp
Juve Stabia vs Livorno
Nocerina vs Bari
Padova vs Verona
Pescara vs Regginapp
Sassuolo vs Ascolipp

Tomorrow
Brescia vs Torino 15.00
Vicenza vs Cittadella 15.00

Leading standings: Pescara 51; Sassuolo, Torino 50; Verona 47; Padova 44; Varese 38; Reggina 36; Bari (-2), Brescia 35; Juve Stabia (-4), Grosseto 33.