Juventus Champions League hopes dwindle
Reuters - Monday 09 May 2011, 20:55
MILAN - Juventus conceded two goals in a
minute to see their outside hopes of reaching the Champions
League all but end in a 2-2 home draw with Chievo on Monday.
The seventh-placed Turin side lie five points behind
Udinese, who are in the fourth and final Champions League
qualifying spot with two games left, and Juve are not even
assured of playing Europa League football next term in their as
yet unnamed new stadium.
The point means mid-table Chievo are now safe from
relegation.
Once mighty Juve were cruising after Alessandro Del Piero
celebrated his new one-year contract with a 13th minute penalty
before strike partner Alessandro Matri exposed poor defending to
make it 2-0 early in the second half.
But such is the twice European champions's brittle
confidence after two seasons of woe that few fans in the nervous
Stadio Olimpico were surprised when the visitors retaliated.
Chievo pulled one back on 68 minutes when Fernando Uribe
bundled the ball home and they equalised almost immediately when
Gennaro Sardo calmly finished from the edge of the area after
Sergio Pellissier had struck the post.
The Verona-based side, nicknamed the Flying Donkeys, could
easily have won in the closing stages after Juve goalkeeper
Gianluigi Buffon charged rashly out of goal but the hosts also
hit the post through Luca Toni late on in an entertaining game.
Juventus boss Luigi Del Neri, who famously coached Chievo to
great success in the previous decade, is fighting to keep his
job amid media speculation linking Italy's most successful
domestic club with a host of managers including Napoli's Walter
Mazzarri.