AS Roma vs Juventus preview - Conte urges caution

Posted Saturday, February 16, 2013 by PA

Juventus head coach Antonio Conte is urging caution against a wounded Roma side who are desperate to win at the Stadio Olimpico.

The Serie A leaders play their third game in eight days in the Italian capital having followed up a 2-0 win over Fiorentina with a decisive 3-0 victory at Celtic in the Champions League.

Fatigue is the least of Conte's concerns, though, as he steels his players for a Roma backlash. The Giallorossi are without a win in six and slumped to ninth place with a 3-1 defeat at Sampdoria.

Conte told juventus.com: "It's never easy against Roma. The difficulty level of the match will be much higher even if some people are saying that the Giallorossi are struggling at the moment.

"They have a quality set-up and, at the beginning of the season, they had lofty ambitions.

"Some poor results saw (Zdenek) Zeman lose his job and (Aurelio) Andreazzoli take his place and I wish them both luck, but the quality of their players has not changed.

"The extra motivation that playing Juve brings means this is a very important game for them."

Former France international striker Nicolas Anelka made his Bianconeri debut from the bench in Glasgow and he will hope to play a bigger part in this game.

Defender Federico Peluso joins midfielder Claudio Marchisio on a one-match ban while Paolo De Ceglie, Giorgio Chiellini, Simone Pepe and Nicklas Bendtner continue to nurse injuries.

Interim Roma boss Andreazzoli knows his players already have all the motivation they need to try and stifle Juve's title defence.

The Tuscan, who takes sole charge of the Giallorossi at the Olimpico for the first time, admitted last week's experience at the Marassi cut deep.

"We certainly felt it, and that fact means it is one of the few successes we've had this week. We most certainly felt it," he told La Repubblica.

"Juve are a very strong team and I hold them in very high regard so we must pay meticulous attention. It remains to be seen if we can get a result.

"Our objective is clear - to win the next game. We are trying to get out of this situation by getting good results from one week to the next, and then drawing a line under each one and moving on.

"We need to be realistic and admit it will not be easy. I want to see a craftier and more cunning Roma performance. That is what we are working towards."

Andreazzoli will miss the injured quartet of defender Leandro Castan, midfielder Alessandro Florenzi and strikers Mattia Destro and Pablo Osvaldo.