December: Winter Champions
U.C. Sampdoria 1 - 2 Juventus F.C.
December 1st December 2012 – Serie A TIM – Luigi Ferraris, Genoa – Att. 27,884
Juventus starting XI (3-1-4-2) Buffon, Sakho, Peluso, Bonucci, Pirlo, Marchisio, Padoin, Asamoah, Lichsteiner, Vucinic, Cavani
Mirko Vucinic (7) and Mamadou Sakho (38)
Subs Bertolacci and Pepe
Danielle Gastaldello (8.2)
After playing against an extreme stubborn Lazio, we played against Sampdoria at the Luigi Ferraris in Genoa. Much like Lazio, Sampdoria were a team hard to beat, as they played in the counter. It certainly didn't take long for us to take the lead, as Mirko Vucinic scored an outstanding left foot shoot outside the area. Not long after we took the lead via Mirko Vucinic, Peluso slided into former Barcelona attacker Maxi Lopez in the area, the referee gave the penalty. Enzo Maresca, a known penalty-kick taker failed to trick Buffon, as Buffon guessed the right side of the shot. Before half-time, in-form French defender, Mamadou Sakho, scored from a corner kick, which was whipped in by Andrea Pirlo. After subbing in a pair of players, Bertolacci and Pepe, the team's fluency slowed down, and after Pepe took down Maxi Lopez once again in the penalty area, the Argentinian attacker scored from the penalty kick.
Juventus F.C. 3 - 0 Feyenoord
Tuesday 4th December 2012 – UEFA Champions League Group Stages – Juventus Stadium, Turin – Att. 41,000
Juventus starting XI (3-1-4-2) Buffon, Sakho, Caceres, Bonucci, Pirlo, Vidal, Bertolacci, Asamoah, Lichsteiner, Vucinic, Cavani
Fabio Quagliarella (8) and Edinson Cavani (74,82)
Subs Isla, Pepe and Peluso
Edinson Cavani (8.8)
Already securing our ticket to the Knockout Round, we wanted to leave the group with a loud bang, and unbeaten. Surely, Feyenoord would not do that, as they we were not challenged as much in the first minutes of the first half. However, the departing striker, Fabio Quagliarella was given a start over Vucinic, he took his chance, scoring a goal in the 8th minute. After some comfortable playing, Edinson Cavani scored a double in the 74th and 82nd minute, taking his tally over ten goals with a Juventus shirt. Now, the Bianconeri must wait for the draw in some weeks time.
Juventus 2 - 1 Inter
Sunday 9th December 2012 – Serie A TIM – Juventus Stadium, Turin – Att. 41,000
Juventus starting XI (3-1-4-2) Buffon, Sakho, Chiellini, Bonucci, Pirlo, Marchisio, Vidal, Asamoah, Lichsteiner, Vucinic, Cavani
Mirko Vucinic (47) and Edinson Cavani (80)
Subs Isla, Padoin and Pogba
Kwadwo Asamoah (8.1)
This match was perhaps one of the most important ones in my short career. The Derby D'Italia. No other teams have faced more times than Inter and Juventus and when you are in town and this fixture is on, you must go. The first half was fairly dull, with some passes messed up by both sides and Handanovic was barely tested. However, when the second half began, the game exploded. Mirko Vucinic, receiving a pass by Asamoah slotted into the top corner, unreachable for the Slovenian shot-stopper. But, Inter would react, having scored via Diego Milito ten minutes later. As the team pressed on, Edinson Cavani clicked in with Asamoah, where he just had to do a simple tap-in goal after the heroics of Asamoah. For the first Derby D'Italia Juventus had featured after the Conte era with Nedved, they had dominated the match, and deservedly took the three points.
Juventus F.C. 2 - 0 Grosseto
Wednesday 12th December 2012 – Italian Cup First Round – Juventus Stadium, Turin – Att. 39,062
Juventus starting XI (3-1-4-2) Buffon, Sakho, Caceres, Peluso, Pogba, Marrone, Bertolacci, Asamoah, Lichsteiner, Vucinic, Cavani
Edinson Cavani (9) and Luca Marrone (89)
Subs Padoin and Vidal
Mamadou Sakho (9.9)
With our team having great players waiting to get their chance, I decided to field a lot of our youngsters against Grosseto to impress me and the fans. Plus, I wanted to show how much of squad depth I had to the other rivals. However, I wasn't going into the field with on-fire Edinson Cavani, and he scored another goal, this time in the ninth minute. Dominating for the rest of the match, Luca Marrone scored a freak goal, as he volleyed a corner kick that Vidal whipped after he entered the fray.
Torino 0 - 2 Juventus F.C.
Saturday 15th December 2012 – Serie A TIM – Olimpico, Turin – Att. 28,909
Juventus starting XI (3-1-4-2) Buffon, Bonucci, Chiellini, Sakho, Pirlo, Vidal, Marchisio, Asamoah, Isla, Vucinic, Cavani
Leonardo Bonucci (63) Mirko Vucinic (74)
Subs None
Claudio Marchisio (9.4)
One of the last matches of the month was against the mighty ‘Torino’, who fortunately had decided to bench one of their best players, Valet Brisa. With this being one of the biggest city rivalries in Italy, the team had more possesion, more chances and we duly deserved the bragging rights for a while at Turin, Italy.
Juventus 4 - 0 Fiorentina
Sunday 23rd December 2012 – Serie A TIM – Juventus Stadium, Turin – Att. 38,004
Juventus starting XI (3-1-4-2) Buffon, Caceres, Chiellini, Bonucci, Pirlo, Marchisio, Vidal, Asamoah, Lichsteiner, Vucinic, Cavani
Arturo Vidal (15) Edinson Cavani (41,62) and Mirko Vucinic (43)
Subs Pepe, Bertolacci and Marrone
A perfect opportunity for future Juventus player, Stevan Jovetic to impress Nedved, who he will join in the next week. For now though, he had to play for the 'Viola', a team that were most definitely falling off expectations, settling with the 10th spot. After counter-attacking a corner kick, Vucinic, Vidal and Pirlo attacked the Fiorentina side, where Vidal had to head in the ball. After settling things in a more calm way, Cavani scored for the 20th time this season, thanks to an assist by Asamoah. After the game was restarted, Vucinic was left alone by the four man Fiorentina side and scored an amazing goal, into the left-side corner. For the fourth goal of the game, Cavani rised over former Manchester City defender Savic and headed in the second goal of the match for Juve.
Player of the Month
The player of the month is none other than our main striker, Edinson Cavani, who scored an impressive 6 goals 6 appearances. He saved us multiple times, most importantly against Inter, which we had seemed that we were dropping two extra points, who were the hardest team to beat in this month.