Juventus’s murky doping past has reared its ugly head and threatens to overshadow the Italy champions’ fixture tonight against Roma.
In normal circumstances the Juventus-Roma match would be one most neutral fans would be keen to watch.
However, comments this week by Roma coach Zdenek Zeman to allegations made in a book by former Serie A footballer Matias Almeyda mean that this match could be more tense than usual.
Fourteen years ago Czech coach Zeman hit the headlines when he raised his suspicions about the use of steroids by the Turin giants, suspicions which would eventually lead to sanctions being handed to a Juve official.
And after Almeyda’s recently-published book carried similar claims – notably that he believed he had been given drugs by former club Parma – Zeman stood by his past comments.
“Years ago I said there was doping in football. I have not yet read the autobiography of Matias Almeyda, but I’m not surprised,” Zeman said.
“Now even some of the players are saying what I’ve said: if they had done (something to remedy) the problem, it would have been eliminated long ago.”
The comments, naturally, have angered fans of Juventus, who go into today’s game top of the league but level on points with second-placed Napoli.
But although he is likely to face a special welcome in Turin, Zeman is ready for the backlash: “I hope that we can concentrate on the football. But if they’re angry with me, they should also be angry with all the prosecutors, the courts and so many other people.”
While on the field Juventus will look to make amends for a scoreless draw against Fiorentina on Tuesday, Roma striker Pablo Osvaldo is hoping his expected return to action following a brief spell on the sidelines goes to plan.
“Both our teams play the best football in Serie A,” Osvaldo told reporters.
“I don’t know what the score of the match will be, but we’ll be going there looking to bring home the three points. We have a great team and we can do well.”
Milan, meanwhile, will look to build on their first home win of the season, a 2-0 defeat of Cagliari, when they travel to the Tardini Stadium to face Parma.
Italy U-21 striker Stephan El Shaarawy was the two-goal star on Wednesday, and said the result was proof that the team are fully behind coach Massimiliano Allegri.
“I want to dedicate them (goals) to the coach. He’s shown a lot of faith in me and he knows he has the loyalty of the entire team,” said El Shaarawy, who has scored three goals in his last two games.
The bulk of the weekend’s fixtures will be held tomorrow, with Sampdoria vs Napoli and Inter vs Fiorentina arguably the pick of the bunch.
Napoli are the only team to have kept pace with Juventus so far, and did so in style on Wednesday when an Edinson Cavani hat-trick helped demolish Lazio 3-0.
But like Juventus and Napoli, Sampdoria are unbeaten in five games so far and could be hard to turn over at the Luigi Ferraris stadium. In midweek, the Blucerchiati took a point against Roma despite having to play the latter part of the match with ten men.
Inter will be hoping to emulate city rivals Milan – who claimed the first victory of the season at their shared San Siro stadium on Wednesday – when they host Fiorentina.
Serie A
Playing Today
Parma vs Milan 18.00
Juventus vs Roma 20.45
Tomorrow – 15.00
Atalanta vs Torino
Bologna vs Catania
Cagliari vs Pescara
Inter vs Fiorentina 20.45
Lazio vs Siena
Palermo vs Chievo
Sampdoria vs Napoli
Udinese vs Genoa 12.30
Standings: Juventus, Napoli 13; Sampdoria (-1) 10; Inter, Lazio 9; Roma, Fiorentina, Catania 8; Genoa 7; Milan 6; Torino (-1), Atalanta (-2), Parma, Udinese 5; Bologna, Pescara 4; Chievo 3; Siena (-6), Cagliari 2; Palermo.
Serie B
Playing Today – 15.00
Crotone vs Livorno
Empoli vs Brescia
Juve Stabia vs Padova
Lanciano vs Modena
Novara vs Ternana
Sassuolo vs Ascoli
Spezia vs Reggina
Verona vs Bari
Vicenza vs Grosseto
Monday
Cesena vs Varese 21.00
Cittadella vs Pro Vercelli 19.00
Standings: Sassuolo 16; Livorno 13; Verona, Varese (-1) 12; Brescia 8; Bari (-7), Padova (-2), Ternana, Cittadella, Spezia 7; Novara (-4), Vicenza, Modena (-2), Pro Vercelli, Lanciano, Ascoli (-1) 6; Crotone (-2) 5; Cesena 4; Juve Stabia 3; Reggina (-3) 2; Grosseto (-6), Empoli (-1) 1.