PREVIEW: Juventus eye improvement after Inter horror show
ROME (Reuters) - Juventus will want to show they have learned a lesson when they return to Serie A action this weekend after being handed a wake-up call by Inter Milan in their Italian Cup semi-final on Wednesday.
The champions currently lead the league with 61 points after 27 matches, three clear of second-placed Napoli. Roma and Fiorentina, in third and fourth respectively, are eight points behind Juve.
Juventus capitulated 3-0 at the San Siro as Inter, who lost 3-0 in the first leg in Turin, rallied superbly only to lose 5-3 on penalties.
"We have to reconsider everything in order to get back toour best," defender Andrea Barzagli told Juventus TV after the close escape. "It was almost a night to forget.
"A team like ours, who want to win on all fronts, shouldn’tbe giving away games like this. It will serve as a lesson for us."
Juventus’s club record 15-game winning streak in the leagueended with a 0-0 stalemate at Bologna on Feb. 19, and while Massimiliano Allegri’s side defeated Inter 2-0 in the ‘Derby of Italy’ in Serie A last weekend, they will be keen to move on with a win at 13th-placed Atalanta in Bergamo.
Giorgio Chiellini is ruled out after suffering a recurrenceof his recent calf injury against Inter but Mario Mandzukic, Claudio Marchisio and Patrice Evra are all in line for a return.
Napoli’s club record eight-game winning streak endedwith a 1-0 defeat by Juve on Feb. 13, and Maurizio Sarri’s side need a win at home against Chievo on Saturday after taking just two points from a possible six since.
Roma have lost only one league game since Luciano Spalletti replaced coach Rudi Garcia on Jan. 14 and will look to make it seven wins from seven in the league when they host Fiorentina, who could reaffirm their own title credentials.
(Reporting by Ed Dove, editing by Alan Baldwin)