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| Ranieri: It will be tough |
Friday 29 August, 2008 |
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Claudio Ranieri admits that his Juventus side face a stern test in Champions League Group H.
The Old Lady received the toughest draw of all the Italian representatives in Monaco yesterday.
Ranieri's men will have to get the better of one of Real Madrid or UEFA Cup holders Zenit St Petersburg if they are to progress to the knockout stages.
“In Madrid they are calling this a complicated group? I agree completely,” the Roman tactician told the Juventus Channel.
“It will be difficult for everybody. It is always an emotional occasion when you take on Real Madrid at the Bernabeu and that will affect all the players, even if they have played there before.
“Zenit are in mid-table in Russia at the moment and that's surprising when you consider that they won the title and the UEFA Cup last term.
“They have some great players, some of whom were key players at Euro 2008 and recently they paid £24m to sign Danny Alves who was voted the best young player in the Russian League.
“We will get a chance to see them in action in the European Super Cup on Friday but they are definitely a team to be taken seriously.
“As for BATE Borisov, they won the League in Belarus last year and look like repeating that as they are top after 18 games.”
Juventus' first Champions League engagement sees Zenit visit Turin on September 17 before the Old Lady face BATE and a big night at the Bernabeu on November 5.
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CL: Draw smiles on Inter
Juventus and Fiorentina have tough groups, while Roma will be satisfied and Inter must be delighted with their opponents. More |
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