That’s all for now. Thanks as always for following along with us and be sure to check back later for a full match report.
What a run of form for Juventus. They’ve now kept eight straight clean sheets in all competitions, outscoring their opponents by a 17-0 margin during that span.
Juventus since Halloween in Serie A: WWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
— Bryan Armen Graham (@BryanAGraham) February 13, 2016
Full-time: Juventus 1-0 Napoli
And there’s the final whistle. Juventus have stormed back from 11 points adrift on matchday 10 to one point clear of Napoli at the top of the Serie A table. The hero of the day was the substitute Simone Zaza, whose final-reel golazo made all the difference.
90 min: The fourth official calls for three minutes of stoppage time.
GOAL! Juventus 1-0 Napoli (Zaza, 88 min)
Wow! Super sub Simone Zaza is given a bit of space and he takes everything. From the edge of the area, a moment of individual brilliance: a left-footed screamer from a tight angle that’s buried in the back of the net.
Updated
86 min: Marchisio shown a yellow card for a clattering challenge. Now Sandro was come on for Dybala, Juve’s final available sube
83 min: Napoli have won a set piece just outside the corner of the area, but once again it’s squandered.
80 min: Ten minutes to go and this match has devolved into a defensive showcase. Hamsik has a shot on goal but there’s not much to it and easily saved.
77 min: Sarri makes his first swap of the night, inserting Mertens for Insigne.
75 min: The last 10 minutes have been a bit of a slog. A tense slog. But a slog.
72 min: Roughly 20 minutes left and Maurizio Sarri has yet to make a single substitution. One must be coming soon.
69 min: Pogba nutmegged badly a moment ago. Yikes.
68 min: This, from Alex Flynn.
hey bryan, it seems to me that although higuain and callejon have a great understanding, napoli lack quality in the middle. pogba has outdone both jorginho and allan, sometimes both of them at the same time
67 min: Pogba shown yellow for a foul on Callejon.
64 min: Juventus continues to apply pressure. For now it appears they’re the side points to break through between now and the final whistle.
62 min: Juventus very nearly had their opener right there. Pogba traps the ball beautifully and feeds it to Dybala, who hits a thunderous shot that sails just over the crossbar. The first real chance of the match for Juve.
Updated
60 min: An hour in and both defenses have held strong.
56 min: Juventus make their second switch as Zaza comes on for Morata.
53 min: Napoli win a corner, their third of the match, but nothing comes of it.
52 min: Juventus make their first substitution of the match with Daniele Rugani entering for the injury hampered Bonucci.
Worrying times for Juventini, Bonucci hobbles off & will likely join Chiellini on the sidelines, huge blow ahead of Bayern
— Jack Rathborn (@JackRathborn) February 13, 2016
Updated
50 min: Another chance for Juventus, this time from Evra, whose right-footed shot sails over the crossbar.
46 min: And were underway in the second half with no substitutions for either side. And just like that a chance for Napoli, but it’s turned away by Buffon and Juve are quick on the counter-attack keyed by Pogba running with the ball up the left flank.
A combined 11 shots in that first half: nine for Juve, two for Napoli. Here are a few of your observations before the second half gets underway in a few minutes’ time.
From Apoorv Avram:
Hamsik has been a bit peripheral, no? I think the Napoli 1.0 of our times (Cavani/Lavezzi) was better suited to his play. I wonder how it feels to no longer have a squad built around you and the result being an improvement. Happy with success? Humbled by own limitations? Whatever. Hamsik seems too hardcore to care.
From Ezra Finkelstein:
It’ makes me happy to see Cuardado,the former Chelsea flop under Mourinho,open a new phase of his career alongside another big Premier league outcast,Paul Pogba.He’s sure to teach him a few tricks.
And if you thought Balotellis’s haircuts were strange.Check out Pogba’s nostalgic brain fade.
And Aman Gupta:
@bryanagraham Only got to see 17 minutes of the first half, because the broadcaster was showing post match ceremony of a cricket match.
— Aman Gupta (@g_aman) February 13, 2016
Half-time: Juventus 0-0 Napoli
Referee Daniele Orsato blows the whistle and the teams will decamp to their locker rooms deadlocked at zero.
45 min: Fourth official rules for one minute of stoppage time.
43 min: Reina corrals an off-target shot near the goal line and the linesman rules it a corner kick, even though replays confirm the keeper picked up the ball before it had rolled completely over the line. Nothing comes of the set piece but Reina and the Napoli field players are rightly furious.
42 min: Pogba has another go on goal, this time missing near post. Juventus clearly taking the match to Napoli, who seem content to sit back and wait for the counter-attack.
38 min: Another ball sent into Higuain, who makes the exact same run he made minutes earlier into the middle of the area, but he can’t quite connect with it and it’s out for a goal kick. Someone had better keep an eye on him.
34 min: Higuain makes a run for the back post where the ball is perfectly served in to him ... and Bonucci comes out of nowhere to boot it out with his right leg! An incredible defensive play on what looks to be a certain Napoli goal. Now the visitors will have a corner.
Updated
32 min: Here’s a prediction from John McEnerney, via Twitter.
@BryanAGraham Higuain will nick a late goal 2 end Juve's run, class act him surprised no English clubs have tempted him away from Naples
— John McEnerney (@MackerOnTheMed) February 13, 2016
30 min: Pogba, given a little space, thuds a right-footed shot from outside the area that sails wide right of the target. It missed the mark, but the pace of that attempt will likely remind Napoli’s defenders to not cede the young Frenchman so much real estate.
29 min: Juventus win another corner when a Dybala cross caroms out off a defender, but it’s cleared toward midfield.
26 min: A few set pieces for Juventus but no meaningful chances for either side. So far an carefree day for Reina and Buffon.
23 min: Napoli’s Allan is hacked down near midfield by Pogba and wins a foul. It’s booted way down into the area but Juventus has no problem clearing it. The stalemate continues.
22 min: Another free-kick chance for Juventus about 20 yards from the goal. Dybala drives it into the center of the area but it’s ultimately cleared.
A note from JR in Illinois, via email:
Fortunately (or unfortunately, depending on your point of view) Ray Hudson’s announcing duties on the BeIN sports channel seem to be limited to La Liga games only. Matteo Bonetti, who is one of this game’s announcers, is clearly trying to steal a page from old Ray’s book, for he has just said the following:
“Juan Cuadrado is the embodiment of a double espresso shot.”
As the kids say these days: fail.
19 min: Juve win a free kick. Pogba to take it, but his attempt sails wide right of the target.
Updated
18 min: Play has resumed but it’s unclear whether Bonucci will be continuing. He was gripping his knee as he came off.
15 min: Napoli pressuring now, Insigne dribbling into the area. But Bonucci is down and the referee has stopped play. Napoli players furious because Bonucci actually clattered into his own team-mate.
12 min: A confirmation from Richard from Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, via email: Yes, that indeed is a Pokeball shaved into Pogba’s head.
Pogba is sporting this haircut tonight. He'll be hoping he can Poke-A-Ball into the back of the net. pic.twitter.com/vgQNndS7Zh
— Coral (@Coral) February 13, 2016
10 min: Dybala uncorks a shot attempt but it’s blocked. Moments later Juventus win a corner, Cuadrado to take it, but it’s easily cleared by Napoli.
7 min: Juve have worked the ball down into the final third on a long through ball to Cuadrado, who swings it back to Pogba, but he’s run out and possession goes back to the visitors.
5 min: No substantial chances for either side in the opening five minutes but lots of back and forth action. Does Paul Pogba have a Pokeball on his head?
3 min: The corner is low into the area and immediately headed clear.
2 min: Napoli win an early corner. Electric atmosphere here.
1 min: And we’re off! Juventus attacking from left to right in their familiar home strips, Napoli from right to left wearing their third kit: red shirts, blue shorts, red socks. Juve immediately play it back to try and build up from the rear but Napoli showing immediate high pressure and a desire to push the hosts back into their half of the pitch.
The Juventus fans are singing club anthem Storia Di Un Grande Amore as the players emerge from the tunnel. Not much longer now.
Can Juventus stop Gonzalo Higuaín? The Napoli striker is on a goal-scoring tear with 24 in 24 games. (By comparison Juve’s entire striking force has scored 25.) Yet the Argentine will be going against a stingy defense that’s kept seven clean sheets in a row, conceding only eight goals in their last 20 matches across all competitions.
Here are a look at today’s teams. Kickoff is just about 10 minutes away.
Juventus
XI: Buffon; Lichtsteiner, Bonucci, Barzagli, Evra; Khedira, Marchisio, Pogba; Cuadrado, Dybala, Mandzukic
Bench: Neto, Rubinho, Rugani, Romagna, Alex Sandro, Padoin, Sturaro, Hernanes, Pereyra, Zaza, Favilli
Napoli
XI: Reina; Hysaj, Albiol, Koulibaly, Ghoulam; Allan, Jorginho, Hamsik; Callejon, Higuain, Insigne
Bench: Gabriel, Rafael; Chiriches, Regini, Maggio, Chalobah, Lopez, Valdifiori, El Kaddouri, Mertens, Gabbiadini
Hello and welcome to today’s crucial top-two matchup between Juventus and Napoli in Turin. Could this be a Serie A title decider? It sure would seem so. Napoli are top of the table with 56 points with Juve only two points adrift and seven clear of third-place Roma.
Both sides are on outstanding runs of form. Juventus have won 14 consecutive matches in the league and 12 straight in all competitions, with Napoli having lost only twice since August.
Plenty more to come. We’ll be back shortly with the team information.
Bryan will be here shortly. In the meantime why not check out Nick Ames’ preview of today’s match.
Maurizio Sarri is not always too fussed about watching his words but there was something about one of his pre-match sentences, uttered the day before a fixture that has flung Serie A to the forefront of this weekend’s affairs, that teed up the occasion perfectly.
“We’re mad enough to go to Turin and impose our game on them,” said the Napoli manager of his team’s visit to Juventus and to the outsider there is certainly something wild, raw and compelling about the thought of a first Neapolitan charge to the title since 1990. The madness Sarri endorses can be used to characterise his city of employment but more pertinently it has channeled itself to create a scenario that seemed unthinkable six months ago: Napoli will move five points clear at the summit if they defeat second-placed Juventus in Turin on Saturday night, and Italy’s top division will continue to revel in a race for honours that has been a timely shot in the arm.
It is a clash of two objects that, in their different ways, have become near-impossible to withstand. A reshaped Juventus began their defence of a title that, for a second consecutive year, was won by 17 clear points in uncharacteristically sluggish fashion and it has taken a run of form unprecedented in either of those seasons to propel them into serious contention. A club record 14 consecutive Serie A wins – and five clean sheets in a row – is the current count and the sleekness they have eased back into gives Massimiliano Allegri’s assertion that “serenity” will be key to success against Napoli an ominous ring to those in opposition.
