After defeating one Bianconeri side, Parma will have now have to face off against much tougher opposition than Udinese as they welcome the "other" Bianconeri side to the Stadio Ennio Tardini later today. Silvestre Varela's goal, which was the first by a Parma striker since Raffaele Palladino's against Lazio on December 7, 2014, was enough to down the Zebrette and earn them their first win since January 6th against Fiorentina.
Portuguese international Varela, who's on loan from Porto, gave Parma fans something to smile about this past Wednesday with this goal:
Unfortunately for Roberto Donadoni's side, was not enough to improve their standings as the are still eight points behind 19th-placed Cagliari and more important, 13 below Atalanta who occupies that coveted 17th-placed spot. But, any hopes they had of building some positive momentum have been thrown in doubt as they take on league leaders Juventus, who not only have just lost once all season but also boast the meanest defense wth 14 goals conceded and strongest attack with 57 goals accumulated.
Naturally, this is quite concerning indeed for a team that has already shipped 54 goals - the second worst behind Cagliari's 56 and has only scored a measly 23 goals. Only Chievo, who have scored 21, have fared even worse.
DAUNTING: The gap between Parma and Juventus clearly illustrates who are the favourites for all 3 points:
57 - I punti che dividono Juventus e Parma in Serie A: nei top-5 campionati europei non c'è un divario tale tra prima e ultima. Abisso.
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) April 9, 2015
There are 57 points which divide Juventus and Parma in Serie A. None of the other European "Big 5" leagues has such a huge difference between the top and bottom teams
Still, for a team that finished sixth last season and only missed out on Europa League football due to poor financial managment, this little stat may produce a wistful smile for some Crociati fans:
4 - Per la prima volta in questo campionato il Parma ha messo insieme 4 punti nell'arco di due giornate. Orgoglio. #ParmaUdinese
— OptaPaolo (@OptaPaolo) April 8, 2015
For the first time all season, Parma have earned four points from two straight Serie A games (the 1-0 win over Udinese and the 1-1 draw with Inter)
Whilst relieved at the result, Donadoni, not surprisingly conceded that the odds were overwhelmingly stacked against his squad, including the lack of gap between games for the struggling hosts:
"[I wish we could have] played [on Tuesday] to have an extra day to recover ahead of Saturday's [match]," he noted following the much-needed win over Udinese.
"Still, we will try out best against a team that has clearly showed its class, as we all saw in their 3-0 win over Fiorentina [in the Coppa Italia second leg]."
Meanwhile, as Parma continue to flounder, Massimiliano Allegri's men are just cruising along. Despite the absence of Andrea Pirlo and Paul Pogba due to injury, la Vecchia Signora again showed why they are head and shoulders above Italy's other teams by comfortably taking care of business as they dispatched Empoli 2-0.
Given the depth available to Allegri, one can expect for him to rotate his squad with their match with Monaco looming on the horizon. Current capocannoniere Carlos Tevez, who netted the first against Empoli, will be not even making the trip, giving others a time to shine:
.@OfficialAllegri: "Coman will get some game time to improve his qualities between now and the end of the season." #ParmaJuve
— JuventusFC (@juventusfcen) April 10, 2015
And despite the good news about Pirlo's recovery, which will surely please Juve supporters, Allegri will err on the side of caution concerning the midfield maestro especially with their European clash coming up soon, so fans should not expect to see him in action today.
Today's meeting will be the 46th game between the two sides, with 21 wins for Juventus and nine for Parma. Interestingly, they have managed to draw 15 times. For the hosts, the Bianconeri are the side they have managed to earn the most stalemates against, but their last such result was way back on January 13, 2013. In their last seven games, Parma have been only able to scrape together a measly two points and one would have to go back to May 15, 2011 to find the last time they defeated the league leaders.
Indeed, more fresh in the home team's minds will be their humiliating 7-0 thrashing at Juventus Stadium last November, followed by a 1-0 loss in the Coppa Italia this past January. Surely, then, the hosts will hope that their upcoming opponents will be distracted by their UCL clash with Monaco coming up as they seek to pull off which would definitely be a monumental upset.
Team sheets for Parma vs Juventus
Parma's lineup: Mirante, Mendes, Ghezzal, Mauri, Belfodil, Gobbi, Nocerino, Varela, Santacroce, Feddal, Jorquera.
Juventus' lineup: Storari, Lichtsteiner, Ogbonna, Chiellini, Padoin, Vidal, Marchisio, Sturaro, Pereyra, Coman, Llorente.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
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