Juventus have resumed their preparations for Sunday’s fixture against Lecce. After enjoying a pleasant Middle-Eastern climate over the New Year, it was back to the Italian winter for the Bianconeri as they landed at Brindisi airport overnight.
Antonio Conte afforded his side the morning off, but led a training session in the afternoon, with the inclement weather failing to put a damper on the Bianconeri’s spirits.
The ‘Giuseppe Capozza’ stadium in Casarano provided the venue for the workout – the home of Virtus Casarano, who ply their trade in the Serie D championship.
Juventus got underway with a warm-up before moving on to tactical work. Conte lined up two eleven-a-side teams and ran through the required movements – both defensive and attacking – for Sunday’s game.
Following an hour of behind-closed-doors training, the manager allowed the public to view the remainder of the session from the stands. The fans showed their delight with several renditions of popular chants, before the Bianconeri brought their workout to an end by contesting a practice match.
Lecce have endured a tough start to their 2011/12 Serie A campaign. The Giallorossi have registered a single point at the Stadio Via del Mare and slipped to six defeats. Just seven goals have been scored on home soil, with 17 conceded. The club’s total of nine points sees them rooted to the bottom of the table.
Eusebio Di Francesco’s men entertained Udinese on the first day of the season. But the visitors destroyed Lecce’s resolve within the first two minutes as Dusan Basta broke the deadlock. Di Natale found the target shortly afterwards to complete a comfortable 2-0 victory.
Atalanta were next up at the Via del Mare and took the lead in the opening three minutes courtesy of a German Denis penalty. Djamel Mesbah levelled affairs midway through the first half, but Denis struck after the break to clinch the Nerazzurri’s second win of the season and cancel out their six-point deduction.
Lecce will feel somewhat hard done by after a convicing first-half performance against Cagliari was not converted into goals or points. Thiago Ribeiro put the Rossoblu ahead and Davide Biondini made it two before the break.
The following fixture at the Via del Mare saw a breathtaking encounter which almost resulted in a historic upset. Guillermo Giacomazzi, Massimo Oddo and Carlos Grossmuller established a 3-0 half-time lead against defending champions Milan. However, Kevin-Prince Boateng came off the bench to level the scores with a 14-minute hat-trick. And Mario Yepes continued the dramatic fightback by popping up to find the winner seven minutes from time.
The Giallorossi brought and end to their losing home run by playing out a 1-1 draw with Novara at the end of October. A Rodney Strasser strike put the hosts in front but a Marco Rigoni penalty saw both sides enjoy a share of the spoils.
Yet it failed to spark an upturn in Lecce’s home fortunes, as a cruel last-gasp winner from Pablo Barrientos handed Catania victory at the Stadio Via del Mare. Another defeat, this time a 4-2 away reverse at Lazio, signalled the end of the road for Eusebio Di Francesco.
Serse Cosmi replaced the 42-year-old in the dugout and immediately inspired a plucky performance against early front-runners Lazio. David Di Michele put the hosts a goal to the good before Miroslav Klose and Lorik Cana turned the game upside down. Stefano Ferrario found a timely second-half leveller, but Klose struck at the death to break Lecce hearts.
The last two encounters of 2011 saw Lecce clinch a point from an entertaining 3-3 draw in Parma and dip 4-1 at the San Siro against Claudio Ranieri’s resurgent Inter.
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