AC Milan vs Juventus, Saturday, KO 7.45 Setanta Ireland

Rekop dog

Undoubtedly Europe's biggest game this weekend, the clash between Italy's two most successful teams of all time, top of the table and reigning champions Milan and 2nd place(game in hand) and currently unbeaten Juventus at the San Siro.

Juventus already boast two victories against Milan this term in league and cup. Milan will be unable to call upon talisman and leading goalscorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic whose ban was upheld, and will also be without Boateng and Maxi Lopez which will probably mean an earlier than intended return for Pato. The occasion will also be marked for Pirlo's return to the stadium he illuminated with his incredible talent for a decade. Hope he gets the ovation he deserves.

As a Milan fan I'd take a draw here considering the players missing.

thebison

Wouldn't usually watch Serie A but will certainly be tuning into this.

Also, Napoli v Inter at 7.45pm on Sunday

carlop

Massive brawl and 20 point deductions all-round please.

dfx-

0-0 for me..Juventus not scoring too many goals from when I've seen them recently

IvySlayer

Setanta?

Is it on ESPN??

Rekop dog

IvySlayer wrote: »

Setanta?

Is it on ESPN??

Yeah but on a 30 min delay because of some rugby match they're showing that runs into kickoff.

A little off topic but Setanta gets too much criticism around these parts. They may be a bit a little rough around the edges but their match selections for CL and particularly the Europa league are the best out of any British or Irish channels for the simple fact they don't just show whatever English team are playing but opt for the best game on the night, they appeal to the real football fan! And it's not like any of the other channels are offering that much amazing insight so can't really see how Setanta has such a bad name.

markie29

Rekop dog wrote: »

Yeah but on a 30 min delay because of some rugby match they're showing that runs into kickoff.

A little off topic but Setanta gets too much criticism around these parts. They may be a bit a little rough around the edges but their match selections for CL and particularly the Europa league are the best out of any British or Irish channels for the simple fact they don't just show whatever English team are playing but opt for the best game on the night, they appeal to the real football fan! And it's not like any of the other channels are offering that much amazing insight so can't really see how Setanta has such a bad name.

According to my tv listings there is hurling on setanta this evening.

Rekop dog

markie29 wrote: »

According to my tv listings there is hurling on setanta this evening.

Lols my bad, liveonlinefootie it is then. Shocking neither of the channels that show Serie A all the time aren't showing the biggest game of the season live.

markie29

markie29 wrote: »

According to my tv listings there is hurling on setanta this evening.

Ah crap yeah it says the same on my UPC TV guide.

Ill probably just wait till the match starts on ESPN a half an hour late and avoid the Internet. I don't like watching matches on my laptop for some reason.

Mr. Presentable

All unbeaten runs come to an end, and I can see one ending tonight.

Milan have won 7/11 at home
Juve won 5/11 away

Milan score 2.0 per game average, concede .8
Juve score 1.5 pre game avg, concede .6

On reflection, maybe a draw

dor83

Line-ups are:

Milan: Abbiati; Abate, Mexes, Thiago Silva, Antonini; Nocerino, Van Bommel, Muntari; Emanuelson; Pato, Robinho

Juventus: Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Lichtsteiner, Vidal, Pirlo, Marchisio, Estigarribia; Quagliarella, Borriello

Rekop dog

Hmmm the sight of Sulley Muntari in the 11 makes me sad. Think Milan are going to have difficulties retaining possession in this game due to poor transitions between midfield and attack. Cant see Juve losing:(, Vidal and Pirlo should dominate.

Pinturicchio

M-V-P should destroy that Milan midfield.

Can't believe it's not being shown live. I'll watch ESPN's delayed coverage.

dor83

I can't understand why Milan took Muntari at all, I know he scored last week but he has been useless for Inter and constantly gives the ball away.

I can't understand ESPN at all, there is 4 mins left in the rugby they are showing but they don't go to this until 8:15, surely they could have less post match analysis for the rugby and go straight to the football.

Pinturicchio

I assume it is delayed coverage, not live coverage missing the first 30 mins?

dor83

Pinturicchio wrote: »

I assume it is delayed coverage, not live coverage missing the first 30 mins?

Even at that, going to the football sooner would allow them to catch up with the live coverage at half time. The rugby ended before the match kicked off on the stream I'm watching, they do it with the EPL games too, on a few occasions they have missed the start of Serie A games to show analysis on EPL games, there coverage is quite poor imo.

Oat23

That was controversial. Triple save from Buffon but the ball was over the line after one of the saves...No goal given.

carlop

I'm sure the Italian version of 'Same old Juve, always cheating' is getting an airing right now! That was so clearly a goal.

Good game so far.

the realpigiron

Ball well over the line. Milan should be 2 up.

dor83

Good game so far, worth watching. I'd suggest using spoilers lads, most people seem to be watching ESPN's delayed coverage.

Töpher

If Juventus get back into this game, that decision could have handed them the championship.

the realpigiron

dor83 wrote: »

Good game so far, worth watching. I'd suggest using spoilers lads, most people seem to be watching ESPN's delayed coverage.

They can watch it here:

http://www.firstrowsports.eu/watch/109743/1/watch-ac-milan-vs-juventus.html

the realpigiron

Milan are all over Juve at the minute, though it will remain on an edge while it's only 1-0.

Oat23

Lyon - PSG has been much better so far.

3-1 Lyon now! 3 goals in about 10 minutes for them.

IvySlayer

1-1!!

Seaneh

Shpuld be 2-1, how the ref didn't give that goal is beyond me.

Milan are being robbed.

spiralism

Seaneh wrote: »

Shpuld be 2-1, how the ref didn't give that goal is beyond me.

Milan are being robbed.

To be fair, Matri had a perfectly legitimate goal chalked off for offside a few minutes before he scored so it balanced out

Seaneh

spiralism wrote: »

To be fair, Matri had a perfectly legitimate goal chalked off for offside a few minutes before he scored so it balanced out

Don't be coming in here with your logic and your accurate observations, I'm annoyed about a bad reffing decision and I will claim everyone is out to get my team.

That's how football works.

Rekop dog

As much as two wrongs shouldnt make a right, the wrongly given offside saved a lot of Calciopoli part two headlines tomorrow.

Milan played fantastic for 65 mins, Robinho was excellent and definitely his most mature performance in a Milan shirt imo, Muntari and Urby both surprised me by how well they played. Kind of ran out of steam near the end, probably still deserved it but I said I'd be happy with a draw before the game considering how depleted we were so suppose it's a decent result.

Co commentator on ESPN was pissing me off with his comments on Pato. He was clearly not fully fit after being rushed back early from injury, you could tell he was very wary of extending himself fully and risking a muscle injury.

Blatter

spiralism wrote: »

To be fair, Matri had a perfectly legitimate goal chalked off for offside a few minutes before he scored so it balanced out

Tbf, I'd be raging as a Milan fan. Juve were definitely the victims of bad decisions as well but you have to look at the context of each decision.

If the Muntari goal is given, it puts Milan in a formidable position at 2-0 and they almost certainly go on to win the game from there. Huge, huge decision that the lineman got wrong.

ironingbored

Blatter wrote: »

If the Muntari goal is given, it puts Milan in a formidable position at 2-0 and they almost certainly go on to win the game from there. Huge, huge decision that the lineman got wrong.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but were Juve not 2-0 down to Napoli at the San Paolo?

Final result 3-3

Berlusconi obviously used all his money to bribe lawyers and had none left for the ref.

Blatter

ironingbored wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong, but were Juve not 2-0 down to Napoli at the San Paolo?

Final result 3-3

Berlusconi obviously used all his money to bribe lawyers and had none left for the ref.

That's why I said almost certainly. Teams do occasionally blow two goal leads but it's not often top side does it especially at home.

Seaneh

I would also like to point out.

Muntari looks a lot more like the player who left Portsmouth than the player who played for Inter.

Very lively the last two games.

kryogen

The linesman who didnt give the second Milan goal should not be officiating games again for a long time. No way in hell he failed to see that ball crossed the line.

Mr. Presentable

kryogen wrote: »

The linesman who didnt give the second Milan goal should not be officiating games again for a long time. No way in hell he failed to see that ball crossed the line.

He also disallowed the Matri goal. Poor to say the least

grenache

ironingbored wrote: »

Correct me if I'm wrong, but were Juve not 2-0 down to Napoli at the San Paolo?

Final result 3-3

yeah but to be fair to Milan, they don't have a kamikaze defence like Napoli's. I really enjoyed the game, draw was a fair result. Milan certainly better first half, really don't know how Muntari's goal was not given, everyone in the stadium knew it was over the line. Thought Pirlo was first class in second half, grabbed game by scruff of the neck. That save by Abbiati from Matri (i think?) was outstanding, had that gone in then it was Juve's game. Stupid decision for disallowed Matri goal but quality finish for the equaliser. Juve will be delighted with the result given the way the game went.

Really looking forward to Napoli - Inter tonight. Napoli really need to win if they're going to nick that third Champions League spot, which i think they can do - Lazio and Udinese are there for the taking. I think only Roma will be a threat to us. Inter are in chaos, but are of course still dangerous. Win over Chelsea should give the team great confidence going into tonight's game.

Davaeo09

grenache wrote: »

yeah but to be fair to Milan, they don't have a kamikaze defence like Napoli's. I really enjoyed the game, draw was a fair result. Milan certainly better first half, really don't know how Muntari's goal was not given, everyone in the stadium knew it was over the line. Thought Pirlo was first class in second half, grabbed game by scruff of the neck. That save by Abbiati from Matri (i think?) was outstanding, had that gone in then it was Juve's game. Stupid decision for disallowed Matri goal but quality finish for the equaliser. Juve will be delighted with the result given the way the game went.

Really looking forward to Napoli - Inter tonight. Napoli really need to win if they're going to nick that third Champions League spot, which i think they can do - Lazio and Udinese are there for the taking. I think only Roma will be a threat to us. Inter are in chaos, but are of course still dangerous. Win over Chelsea should give the team great confidence going into tonight's game.

Roma are not exactly a team on form at the minute, Atlanta gave them a good beating earlier today.