Tuesday 30th September 2008
Juventus take on minnows BATE Borisov in Belarus looking to rediscover their goalscoring form on Tuesday.
The Turin giants got their European campaign off to a winning start by beating Zenit St Petersburg 1-0 in their Group H opener and now they will play their first match away in Europe´s elite club competition since their meeting with Arsenal in London on March 2006.Despite being unbeaten this season, Juve have not been at full throttle so far and coach Claudio Ranieri will not want a slip-up against the Belarus underdogs, who lost 2-0 at Real Madrid in their first match.
The Bianconeri struggled to a goalless result in Saturday´s league game at Sampdoria, which marked their second consecutive draw and meant the club drop to seventh in the Serie A standings.
"It was a difficult game," admitted Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini. "We were unable to score and to win.
"The fact that we haven´t won in the last two games means something is missing but we are on the right path and I´m confident we will improve."
Lack of goalscoring has hindered the Bianconeri, whose biggest margin of victory has been a 1-0 result this campaign.
Italy internationals Alessandro Del Piero and Vincenzo Iaquinta have failed to find the net in four league games.
To complicate matters for Ranieri, French forward David Trezeguet will not return until next year after undergoing knee surgery, but he is hopeful his team can cope in the striker's absence.
"We are missing Trezeguet," Ranieri said. "But I have other strikers that are good. We just need to work hard and do the best we can.
"Sooner or later the goals will come but we need to continue to work hard."
Ranieri will be hoping Del Piero can come up with the goods as he did against Zenit, and he is expected to start alongside Amauri.
There has been intense interest in Tuesday´s game at the Horodskiy with Juventus among the world's top clubs and BATE being the first Belarus team to host a Champions League group stage encounter.
Viktor Goncharenko's side take on Juve sitting proudly atop the domestic Vysshaya Liga with 53 points from 23 games.
BATE, who are unbeaten on the domestic front, go into the game in buoyant mood after a 2-0 win at Gomel.
The Italians will be without goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon and defender Christian Poulsen, both struggling with minor knocks.
The good news for Ranieri is that defender Nicola Legrottaglie has recovered from injury and will return to play on Tuesday.
The hosts will be without experienced midfielder Aleksandr Ermakovich who underwent knee surgery and has been ruled out for the rest of the year.
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