SERIE A: Huntelaar excited by derby debut

godtabh

Preview

Klaas Jan Huntelaar will face a Serie A baptism of fire this weekend when he makes his bow for AC Milan in the city derby.

The Holland striker joined Leonardo's Rossoneri this summer from Real Madrid and missed the opening Serie A fixture through suspension.

Unlike city rivals Inter, the Rossoneri enjoyed a fine start to the campaign with two goals from Alexandre Pato firing them to a 2-1 win at Siena. Now comes what is always one of the biggest matches of the season, broadcast live on ESPN, and Huntelaar cannot wait to get a taste of the atmosphere.

"I couldn't have asked for a more beautiful game for my debut," he said. "It's a derby, a very hard game and it will be great to play this game for the first time.

"Inter drew their opening game but they are a good squad. We faced them in Pescara (in pre-season) and they are strong. We hope to win and play a great match."

Defending champions Inter will be looking to clinch their first win after dropping two points last week against newly-promoted Bari. Inter fans will be in the minority in this derby as they are officially the away team.

Juventus will be boosted by the presence of captain Alessandro Del Piero when they travel to the Eternal City for Sunday's clash at Roma. Del Piero missed his team's 1-0 triumph over Chievo with a muscular injury but has recovered and will lead his team onto the pitch at the Stadio Olimpico.

Fiorentina host Palermo seeking their first win of the season after a 1-1 draw at Bologna on opening day.

Lazio have winning momentum on their side as they go up against Chievo in Verona. Davide Ballardini's men won the Supercoppa Italiana, cruised to a 3-0 triumph over Elfsborg in their Europa League first leg play-off and then followed that up with a victory over Atalanta in their Serie A opener.

Udinese hope in-form striker Antonio Di Natale can maintain his goalscoring form when they travel to Genoa to meet Sampdoria. Di Natale struck twice as his team secured a point in their 2-2 draw against Parma last weekend.

Genoa beat Roma 3-2 in their opening match of the campaign and coach Gian Piero Gasperini will expect his team to build on that success when they meet Atalanta in Bergamo.

Cagliari were excellent in their home matches last season and Sunday's game against Siena marks their first encounter at the Stadio Sant'Elia this term. The Sardinian outfit won 11 and lost just four of their 19 encounters at home in 2008-09.

Promoted side Bari go into the their home game against Bologna inspired by their 1-1 draw at Inter, while Parma and Catania battle it out at the Stadio Ennio Tardini with both sides' main aim this campaign to avoid the drop.

Livorno must overcome the loss of striker Alessandro Diamanti as they travel south to meet Napoli on Sunday. Diamanti, who was the Amaranto's top scorer last season, was sold to West Ham this week.

Saturday, August 29, 2009
Time Home Away TV VENUE
17:00 UK Bari v Bologna San Nicola
19:45 UK AC Milan v Internazionale Giuseppe Meazza
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Time Home Away TV VENUE
17:00 UK AS Roma v Juventus Olimpico
19:45 UK Atalanta v Genoa Atleti Azzurri d'Italia
19:45 UK Sampdoria v Udinese Comunale Luigi Ferraris
19:45 UK Parma v Catania Ennio Tardini
19:45 UK Fiorentina v Palermo Artemio Franchi
19:45 UK Napoli v Livorno San Paolo
19:45 UK Chievo Verona v Lazio Marc'Antonio Bentegodi
19:45 UK Cagliari v Siena Sant'Elia

First big game of the season.

Milan did good last week. Inter sitll have bit of work to do. If this was a home match for inter I'd say Inter to win by 2 clear goals.

As its the other way around I reckon it will be tight. I'm still going to go with inter 2-1

weemcd

this game on espn or anything available here/uk?

Leixlip_Red

weemcd wrote: »

this game on espn or anything available here/uk?

It's on ESPN at 7:45, looking forward to it !

8-10

Cannot wait. Klaas is my favourite player and has been for years. He's gonna be awesome in Serie A.

godtabh

Was meant to ask before but is ESPN available in Ireland?

Headshot

kearnsr wrote: »

Was meant to ask before but is ESPN available in Ireland?

yes

godtabh

Headshot wrote: »

yes

Gona have to look into that but

godtabh

Milan took a hammering!

4-0 Inter

ShooterSF

kearnsr wrote: »

If this was a home match for inter I'd say Inter to win by 2 clear goals.

As its the other way around I reckon it will be tight. I'm still going to go with inter 2-1

Not being smart as I don't watch a lot of Italian footie but when two teams share a stadium how does being officially home or away have an effect?
(Genuine question) Is it just the allocation of tickets or do they use different pitch sizes etc.?

Local-womanizer

ShooterSF wrote: »

Not being smart as I don't watch a lot of Italian footie but when two teams share a stadium how does being officially home or away have an effect?
(Genuine question) Is it just the allocation of tickets or do they use different pitch sizes etc.?

The "home" team on the day gets the bigger allocation of the tickets.The council owns the stadium and they cover the cost of up-keep.The pitch size stays the same out of handiness.

godtabh

ShooterSF wrote: »

Not being smart as I don't watch a lot of Italian footie but when two teams share a stadium how does being officially home or away have an effect?
(Genuine question) Is it just the allocation of tickets or do they use different pitch sizes etc.?

I think there is only about 8k Inter fans at the games

godtabh

New Juventus signing Diego stole the show in only his second Serie A start with two stunning goals in a 3-1 win at AS Roma on Sunday. The Brazilian playmaker, signed from Werder Bremen in the close season, demonstrated why Juve fans hope he is the missing link to bridge the gap with champions Inter Milan this term.


"It's thanks to the environment at Juve, coach Ciro Ferrara, my team mates and the fans that I've settled in so well," Diego said.

Having produced flashes of brilliance in last weekend's 1-0 win over Chievo in Juve's league opener, Diego netted his first competitive goal for the club midway through the first half after a superb solo run. A mistake by defender Marco Cassetti allowed Diego to take possession on the halfway line and charge towards goal before outmuscling John Arne Riise and dinking the ball into the corner of the net with the outside of his boot.

Roma's Daniele De Rossi equalised for the hosts 10 minutes later and although his goal was different, it was equally breathtaking. With Juve debutant Felipe Melo busy arguing with the referee, Roma took a quick free kick and Italy midfielder De Rossi unleashed a dipping 30-metre strike which caught goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon slightly unawares.

Diego was not to be outdone, however, and he ran on to Vincenzo Iaquinta's clever flick in the second half and bamboozled the Roma defence before rifling home. Fellow Brazilian Felipe Melo, another big money Juve buy from Fiorentina, sealed the win in injury time with a fierce strike having struggled for much of the match.

Juve, who again left Alessandro Del Piero on the bench, had a number of other good chances with Amauri striking a post. Roma's Francesco Totti, who scored a hat-trick in the 7-1 thrashing of Kosice in the Europa League playoffs in midweek, was denied by a top save by Buffon but otherwise the hosts stuttered to their second Serie A defeat in two matches.

Inter Milan hammered 10-man AC Milan 4-0 in Saturday's derby.

Juve look very strong

Bubs101

ShooterSF wrote: »

Not being smart as I don't watch a lot of Italian footie but when two teams share a stadium how does being officially home or away have an effect?
(Genuine question) Is it just the allocation of tickets or do they use different pitch sizes etc.?

When I was at the Rome derby Lazio were the home team and they outnumbered Roma fans 6:1.

Juve were very good but Bari were very unlucky not to win as well. looking much better than i thought