The stakes are getting higher and higher at the end of the season in the Italian Serie A. Parma are fighting to avoid relegation and are currently just above the well feared relegation zone. The visitors from Turin, Juventus, are fighting for their lives to get into the Champions League the upcoming season. This game was supposed to be on Monday night, but was postponed due to the death of the Pope.
“The Old Lady” as Juve is nicknamed in Italy currently sits at the 5th position in the Serie A standings. Juventus are only one point behind Bologna who hold the last Champions league spot at the moment with six matches left to play for Juve and only five for Bologna. So the game is hugely important for Juventus tonight especially since Bologna defeated the front runners Inter over the weekend.
A couple of weeks ago Juve fired their manager Thiago Motta and replaced him with Igor Tudor. The Croatian used to play for the old lady but he lacks experience as manager on a high level like this. So he still could be the man that takes Juventus to the Champions League. Over the last three games in the Serie A Juve is undefeated with two wins and one draw. The biggest change made by Tudor was to play with three central defenders.
Juventus got the better of Lecce last weekend in the Serie A. The old lady won the game by 2-1 after Yildiz and Koopmeiners scored the goals in the first half of the game. Juvetus drew away to Roma (1-1) the fixture before Lecce. Locatelli scored the goal. He is the new captain of the team since Tudor took over the reins in Turin. In this three game stretch Juventus also won over Genoa, 1-0, after Yildiz scored. So Juve is on the right track but has a challenge ahead of them to be able to get into the Champions League.
AC Parma currently sit at the 16th spot in the Serie A. Two spots above relegation and three points ahead of Venezia at the 18th position. Parma have five straight draws in the league versus Fiorentina, Inter, Verona, Monza and Torino. Parma have not won a game in the Serie A since they took care of Bologna on February 22nd.
The former Romanian top player Christian Chivu has been the manager for Parma since February. Chivu used to play for Roma and Inter. He took over from the sacked Fabio Pecchia, a former Napoli player. The defence of the team is more solid under Chivu than it was under Pecchia.
Parma will have to do without Osorio, Mihaila, Kowalski, Charpentier, Cancellieri and Benedyscak at the Stadio Tardini tonight. The striker Pontus Almqvist is available after a suspension. Juventus will miss Bremer, Milik and Cabal. Gatti and Mbangula are not available for this game. Both Yildiz and Koopmeiners are doubtful.
PROBABLE LINEUPS:
Parma: Suzuki; Vogliacco, Leoni, Valenti; Del Prato, Bernabe, Keita, Sohm, Valeri; Pellegrino, Bonny
Juventus: Di Gregorio; Kalulu, Veiga, Kelly; Weah, Locatelli, Thuram, McKennie; Gonzalez, Conceicao; Vlahovic
