Euroscene: For Liverpool fans, the tidings from Florence were both good and bad. As Liverpool prepare to take a 2-1 lead into tomorrow night's Champions League tie at Juventus, there were mixed signals from Juve's 3-3 draw with Fiorentina last Saturday night.
The good news is that Juventus conceded three goals. The bad news is that, not for the first time, Juventus showed they never know when a game is lost, battling back three times for a draw that sees them remain joint top of Serie A with AC Milan.
Liverpool ought to take hope from the fact that in two games in the space of five days last week, Juventus conceded more goals (five) than in their previous 14 Champions League and Serie A games combined.
Even if Juventus were missing their midfield defensive dyke of Emerson and Manuel Blasi against Fiorentina, the alarms bells are still ringing for a defence which twice proved vulnerable to aerial attack through the headed goals of Fiorentina defenders Giorgio Chiellini and Dario Dainelli. Furthermore, for tomorrow night's game, Juventus will be without injured French defender Jonathon Zebina.
The bad news, from the Liverpool viewpoint, was the commitment and concentration shown by Juventus. They could have been forgiven for knuckling under after Dainelli's 76th-minute goal put Fiorentina ahead for a third time. Yet, they put together by far their best move of the match to score a superb 83rd-minute equaliser that involved a clever one-two between Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Marecelo Zalayeta and which was finished off with a deliciously delicate, little chip over the outcoming goalkeeper from Ibrahimovic. For those of us familiar with Juventus, the late equaliser came as no surprise.
This is certainly not the most spectacular Juventus side of recent years. They clearly have defensive limitations, yet they possess a remarkable sense of purpose and self-confidence. Liverpool should look at the tape of Juve's 2-0 second-leg win against Real Madrid at the Stadio Delle Alpi last month. That night, after a 1-0 loss at the Bernabeu, Juventus walked a tightrope, knowing they needed to score but also knowing that one goal from Real Madrid would effectively finish them off.
Juventus are certain to dig deep into the powers of concentration shown in a performance that was utterly professional. That, too, was a concentration strangely lacking in a below-par performance at Anfield last week.
Juventus will welcome back Emerson, Blasi and Trezeguet while they will hope Pavel Nedved, who has been struggling with injury, finally begins to fire on all cylinders.
