シャムロック戦前夜

UEFA Europa League 3rd Qualifying round 1st leg. Shamrock Rovers vs. Juventus @ Tallaght Stadium,Dublin

Shamrock Rovers 8/1 draw 9/2 Juventus 1/5(William Hill)

Europa League Qualifying Preview: Shamrock Rovers – Juventus(Goal.com)

Dublin club Shamrock Rovers will enjoy one of the biggest nights in their history on Thursday when they welcome Juventus to the Tallaght Stadium. Already the 5,700 tickets available for the match have been snapped up by fans, and the excitement surrounding the arrival of one of Europe’s genuinely great sides is building.

The 15-time champions of Ireland should on paper stand very little chance against Juve. Top scorer from last term Gary Twigg is a player who was until 18 months ago playing in the third flight of Scottish football with Brechin City before being coaxed across the Irish Sea by former boss Michael O’Neill. Craig Sives, the club’s Young Player of the Year in 2009, wasn’t even playing league football in Scotland when he was signed from Tynecastle.

For the most part, the Rovers side is made up of players who have spent their careers in the League of Ireland or couldn’t quite cut it in the middle ranks of the English game. For them, this encounter against the Old Lady of the Italian game truly is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and if they can give themselves even a chance going into the second leg in Turin that would be a wonderful achievement.

So Far So Good

Season 2009-10 promised much for Juventus but ended only in disappointment as they concluded the term seventh in Serie A, miles behind teams they had hoped to challenge at the summit of the table when the campaign began. Now under the stewardship of Luigi Del Neri, hopes of a successful campaign have refreshed anew.

Leonardo Bonucci, Jorge Martinez and Marco Storari have been the club’s marquee summer signings, costing around €30 million for the trio, though it was another new boy, Simone Pepe, who grabbed the winning goal in last weekend’s somewhat controversial 2-1 victory over Olympique Lyonnais. After OL were reduced to 10 men when Aly Cissokho was dismissed, Amauri then won a distinctly dubious penalty that Alessandro Del Piero converted to get the Bianconeri on terms after Ederson’s opener for the Ligue 1 side.

Previously in their pre-season campaign, Juve had dismissed Rappresentativa Dilettanti Trentino and Al-Nassr 5-0 and 6-0 respectively, before tying 0-0 with Hamburg.

Now the real stuff begins on Thursday, and the Italians would appear to be in pretty good shape going into the match. Del Neri will be looking for his side to kill this fixture off at the first attempt as Juventus will have a hectic schedule over the next 10 months, and the fewer games the players have to play hard at the start of the campaign the better.

ユベントスは今夜ヨーロッパリーグのプレイオフ進出を賭けてシャムロック・ローバーズとファーストレグを戦う。ブックメイカーの予想はユベントス有利だが、サッカーの試合はやってみないと分からない。デル・ネーリが油断するとは思わないが、簡単に勝てるというシーズンでもない。選手たちは昨シーズンに嫌というほど思い知らされたはずだ。

シャムロックのファンたちはユベントスとのゲームを本当に楽しみにしている。イタリアの強豪チームをホームに迎えて公式戦を戦うのは一生に一度のことかもしれないということでかなり興奮しているようだ。チケットもほぼ完売状態という。

一方のユベントスは公式戦スタートとなる。昨シーズン７位の失望のシーズンに終止符を打ち、新たな歴史を作るために補強をし、あらたなシステムを作り上げている。プレシーズンマッチの結果も悪くない。

デル・ピエロもマルキジオもユベントスは成功のシーズンを送ると確信している。そのためにも、スクデットだけでは足りないはずで、ユベンティーニのためにお腹一杯のタイトルを獲得する必要がある。

まだ、狙っているターゲットがあるのだが、すべてのピースがはまったときに機能するチームであること。それがユベントスの成功の鍵を握っている。