While We We're Sleeping, Alessandro Del Piero & Weekend Preview

Let's kick off this blog with the Italian master Alessandro Del Piero. It really seems like the end of his career with the Old Lady of Italian football. The club keep refusing to speculate whether they will renew the captains contract. Juventus fans all over the world are fuming as they want to see their captain play in next years Champions League and also the simple fact that Del Piero should have the right to finish his career in the black and white.

Why Juventus need to keep Del Piero?

The club need him for several reasons. His presence alone brings confidence to other players in the dressing room and puts fear in the opposition when they see him on the team sheet. His experience on the european stage is second to none and coming off the bench is something I'm sure he won't have a problem with. Last weekend he made his 700th appearance in the black and white and scored his 289th goal for the club. Which means one more year and every fan would agree he would get his 300th goal in season 2012/2013.
It's a bitter sweet end as he has the chance to lift the Serie A title as well as the Coppa Italia if things go Juve's way.
There is talk that Juve will be making an appearance down under for a one off game in either Sydney, Brisbane or Melbourne which will be great for any Juventus fan down here that haven't seen the black and white since they last visited Melbourne in 2008. In this trip Del Piero did not make it down due to being selected for the Italian Euro 2008 squad but this time he will make the trip and draw a healthy crowd.
It is certain that on the 13th of May, Juventus Stadium will be filled with both tears of joy and tears of sadness. It could be the arrival of the 30th Scudetto for the club and the sad part being Del Piero's last appearance. May will be a very interesting month.

While we we're sleeping !!!

Bayern Munich got the edge over Real Madrid in the Semi Final 1st leg at the Allianz Arena in Munich. A result that is balanced, Real would feel hard done by due to the fact a draw was the right result but never the less getting the all important away goal. While Bayern probably could feel relieved to get the win after missing a fair few half chances and a defensive lapse giving Ozil a tap in for the equalizer. There was a late penalty claim for the German side but one i believe waved away by the referee as a good decision. Mourinho would be fuming at defender Coentrao after in the dying minutes he got lured in by Lahm and dived in to no avail as the Bayern captain pranced by and crossed a dangerous ball to Luca Toni's replacement Mario Gomez.

Tomorrow morning is another mouth watering encounter with Barcelona travelling to Stamford Bridge to take on the rejuvenated Chelsea side. A Chelsea side that deeply want to forget about that 2009 cup tie where they just had to hold on 3 more minutes and they would have faced Man United in the final for the second year in a row until Iniesta's volley sunk the hearts on the rich London side.
It truly is a tough one to call so please scroll down to predictions below for my thoughts.

SERIE A - ROUND 34 (round 33 re-scheduled for mid week)

Following the horrific death of Livorno midfielder Piermario Morrosini the round 33 matches in Italy were postponed out of respect. The midfielder and former Italian U21 international who was on loan from Udinese suffered a heart attack early in the second half of their match vs Pescara. Doctors were unable to resuscitate him and he passed away on the pitch.

This weekend we see a few great matches to report with Roma travelling to the Juventus Stadium and Bologna facing AC Milan. Two massive games that could give us a new chapter in the race to the Scudetto. Juve will be confident as they are yet to lose a game and are coming off a 6 game winning streak while Roma have also hit form and Luis Enrique's men are starting to play some attractive football as they aim for that 3rd and final UEFA Champions League spot. AC Milan have to keep the pressure on the bianconeri and face a tricky opponent in Bologna who have a well known striker in Marco Di Vaio who has a fantastic scoring record at the San Siro and the former Juventus employee will be out to help out his former team mates.

ENGLISH PREMIER LEAGUE !!!

Big game of this weekend will be the London derby which will see Arsenal playing host to Chelsea at the Emirates. This could be a tricky affair for the blues as they may rest players for their 2nd leg tie against Barcelona at the Nou Camp. If that is the case I see nothing else but a Gunners victory. Man City play away to struggling Wolves and if last week was anything to go by, Mancini's men may put 5 or more past the boys from Wolverhampton. The red devils play at home to Everton and this could be a tricky game for the reds as Everton coming off a FA Cup Semi Final loss will want to bounce back with a big scalp like United. We all remember Tim Cahill's bicycle kick their so maybe he can produce that again. Liverpool play at home against West Brom and if you're a betting man like I am then you'd put money on West Brom grabbing the 3 points an Anfield.

PREDICTIONS:

Chelsea vs Barcelona - 1-1

Juventus vs AS Roma - 3-1

AC Milan vs Bologna - 2-2

Fiorentina vs Inter - 1-1

Arsenal vs Chelsea - 2-0

Man Utd vs Everton - 2-2

Wolves vs Man City - 0-6

Liverpool vs West Brom - 1-2

Next Blog will be about the A-LEAGUE FINAL and a review of the Chelsea vs Barca match.