Ciro Ferrara was left contemplating his future as his Juventus side suffered another defeat to newly promoted Bari.
Football is a strange game in the space of a week extreme jubilation can turn into acute disappointment. Juventus fans oscillated between the two emotions as their team went from victory over Inter to exit from the Champions League and now defeat to Bari.
For the second game in a row Ferrara appeared clueless and his men looked like an infantry without a general. The game in Bari kicked off on a terrible pitch with the penalty box looking more apt for women's mud fighting than a football game.
Meggiorini gave the home side the lead in the eight minute after his strike deflectedly wickedly off Caceres and into the back of Buffon's net. Juventus were shocked after having conceded such an early goal.
There were opportunities for both sides but it was Juventus who finally scored when Trezeguet tapped in the rebound after Diego's initial shot was parried.
The Bianconeri created further opportunities but Amauri was the culprit on multiple occasions. With performances like today's there's no way he is getting into Lippi's squad for the World Cup.
Just before half-time Bari retook the lead as 'Speeedy Gonzalez' Barreto was brought down in the box. He promptly dusted himself off and stroked the ball home from 12 yards out to put the Galletti back in front.
Second-Half
If Ferrara was expecting to see a completely different Juve side take to the field after the break he was about to be disappointed. The Bianconeri were still struggling to find any kind of rhythm in their forward build-ups.
Tiago wasted a couple of good opportunities to live up to his image of 'Juve's worst signing ever'. Fabio Grosso came on for Molinaro and immediately won his team a penalty.
Diego who had been very active in the game, stepped up to take it but kicked it rugby-style and sent the ball flying over the bar. This served to deflate all Juve hopes and the players faces seemed to grow an inch longer with every passing minute.
Ex-Bianconero Sergio Almiron, who had brought down Grosso for the penalty, showed his former team what they were missing out on with a well placed strike into the bottom corner from 20 yards out. At 3-1 with just ten minutes left, there was no coming back for Ferrara's side and noose around his neck seemed to grow tighter.
It was only then that he realised that he had Giovinco on the bench and threw on 'Atom Ant' with the game well and truly over. Unfortunately this was no sports film and despite Gio's admirable contributions his team had to confront the loss.
The way things stand right now it looks increasingly difficult for Ferrara to continue in his position any longer. There are possible replacements available in the market and with Guus Hiddink being recently added to the Classifieds section, this may well be his first and last Christmas with the club.
Crazy Sardinian Derby
It was an absolutely crazy derby between Cagliari and Napoli earlier in the day with both teams sharing the spoils in a thrilling encounter. The 3-3 scoreline told of only half the drama as the game produced some unbelievable derby madness.
Both teams were separated by only one point at kick-off with Napoli having the advantage over their local rivals. It was end t0 end stuff before the Partenopei took the lead after Lavezzi ran at the defence and scored the opener.
The second half produced as much action as the first and Napoli doubled their lead in the 65th when Pazienza was given too much space in the box. At 2-0 however, the match was just kicking off.
Cagliari produced 13 minutes of pure magic as they turned the game on its head going from two goals down to lead 3-2. Larrivey and then Matri scored to equalize the game before substitute Jeda scored with his first touch of the game.
As the game entered stoppage time, the insanity reached its peak as Lavezzi was sent-off for kicking the ball at Cagliari coach Allegri, who was playing dribble boy with the ball after it had gone out for a throw in.
And just when one thought we had reached the climax there was still some action left as Napoli quite incredibly equalized in the sixth minute of stoppage time. Only in Italia!
Football is a strange game in the space of a week extreme jubilation can turn into acute disappointment. Juventus fans oscillated between the two emotions as their team went from victory over Inter to exit from the Champions League and now defeat to Bari.
For the second game in a row Ferrara appeared clueless and his men looked like an infantry without a general. The game in Bari kicked off on a terrible pitch with the penalty box looking more apt for women's mud fighting than a football game.
Meggiorini gave the home side the lead in the eight minute after his strike deflectedly wickedly off Caceres and into the back of Buffon's net. Juventus were shocked after having conceded such an early goal.
There were opportunities for both sides but it was Juventus who finally scored when Trezeguet tapped in the rebound after Diego's initial shot was parried.
The Bianconeri created further opportunities but Amauri was the culprit on multiple occasions. With performances like today's there's no way he is getting into Lippi's squad for the World Cup.
Just before half-time Bari retook the lead as 'Speeedy Gonzalez' Barreto was brought down in the box. He promptly dusted himself off and stroked the ball home from 12 yards out to put the Galletti back in front.
Second-Half
If Ferrara was expecting to see a completely different Juve side take to the field after the break he was about to be disappointed. The Bianconeri were still struggling to find any kind of rhythm in their forward build-ups.
Tiago wasted a couple of good opportunities to live up to his image of 'Juve's worst signing ever'. Fabio Grosso came on for Molinaro and immediately won his team a penalty.
Diego who had been very active in the game, stepped up to take it but kicked it rugby-style and sent the ball flying over the bar. This served to deflate all Juve hopes and the players faces seemed to grow an inch longer with every passing minute.
Ex-Bianconero Sergio Almiron, who had brought down Grosso for the penalty, showed his former team what they were missing out on with a well placed strike into the bottom corner from 20 yards out. At 3-1 with just ten minutes left, there was no coming back for Ferrara's side and noose around his neck seemed to grow tighter.
It was only then that he realised that he had Giovinco on the bench and threw on 'Atom Ant' with the game well and truly over. Unfortunately this was no sports film and despite Gio's admirable contributions his team had to confront the loss.
The way things stand right now it looks increasingly difficult for Ferrara to continue in his position any longer. There are possible replacements available in the market and with Guus Hiddink being recently added to the Classifieds section, this may well be his first and last Christmas with the club.
Crazy Sardinian Derby
It was an absolutely crazy derby between Cagliari and Napoli earlier in the day with both teams sharing the spoils in a thrilling encounter. The 3-3 scoreline told of only half the drama as the game produced some unbelievable derby madness.
Both teams were separated by only one point at kick-off with Napoli having the advantage over their local rivals. It was end t0 end stuff before the Partenopei took the lead after Lavezzi ran at the defence and scored the opener.
The second half produced as much action as the first and Napoli doubled their lead in the 65th when Pazienza was given too much space in the box. At 2-0 however, the match was just kicking off.
Cagliari produced 13 minutes of pure magic as they turned the game on its head going from two goals down to lead 3-2. Larrivey and then Matri scored to equalize the game before substitute Jeda scored with his first touch of the game.
As the game entered stoppage time, the insanity reached its peak as Lavezzi was sent-off for kicking the ball at Cagliari coach Allegri, who was playing dribble boy with the ball after it had gone out for a throw in.
And just when one thought we had reached the climax there was still some action left as Napoli quite incredibly equalized in the sixth minute of stoppage time. Only in Italia!
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