Clarity above all: “There is nothing to defend, let's start from this premise. I'm not disappointed, I'm not angry, not even surprised because this is all part of the game. A game I don't like. Reading non-news like this makes me smile, there is no call, no message. We're talking about nothing and I can't explain anything, I'd feel like a moron. They highlighted a hoax, but if you think that for this reason my team and I will give Milan the Scudetto, you are wrong. Nothing will destabilize us”. Antonio Conte's speech closes the door to his alleged involvement in the Calcioscommesse scandal, assuming that there has ever been even an opening to talk about it. The Juventus coach ended up in the cauldron due to an interception by Antonio Bellavista, who asked a certain "Raimondo" to make contact with Conte, then Siena coach, in view of the Tuscan match against Sassuolo. The answer? It never arrived and this is enough to define Conte as absolutely unrelated to the facts. With the (dutiful) Calcioscommesse parenthesis closed, the Juventus coach was able to present the match against Palermo, the first of the eight finals awaiting his Juve between now and 13 May: “For us, the match against Palermo will be the one of life. If we want to continue pursuing this dream, we have to win at Barbera and it won't be easy”. Whatever happens, the match in Palermo will have a heavy impact on the fight for the Scudetto, also by virtue of Milan's commitment against Fiorentina, which on paper is much easier. According to Conte, the race for the title still sees the Rossoneri as favourites, but this does not mean that the games are over: "Milan are two points ahead of us and they also have an easier fixture list. We are on the right track but they are the favourites. We can only continue to win and take advantage of any misstep by the Rossoneri. We try to give our best so that we have no regrets in the end”. Compared to Milan, Juventus do not have the problem of injuries. The squad is complete, the players are in such good shape that Conte seems intent on shuffling the cards a bit: “Now we have Palermo, Lazio and Cesena and luckily I can count on all the staff available. We will evaluate from time to time which team to send on the pitch. In the meantime, however, I'll give you a preview: Quagliarella is in excellent condition and will play in the starting lineup at Barbera".
POSSIBLE FORMATIONS
Palermo (3-5-2): Viviano; Munoz, Milanovic, Labrin; Pisano, Migliaccio, Barreto, Della Rocca, Acquah; Ilicic, Miccoli.
On the bench: Tzorvas, Bacinovic, Di Chiara, Vazquez, Zahavi, Budan, Mehmeti.
Trainer: Bortolo Mutti.
Disqualified: Bertolo (2), Mantovani (1), Donati (1), Hernandez (1).
Unavailable: Silvestre, Balzaretti, Aguirregaray.
Juventus (3-5-2): Buffon; Barzagli, Bonucci, Chiellini; Caceres, Vidal, Pirlo, Marchisio,
DeCeglie; Quagliarella, Vucinic.
On the bench: Storari, Lichtsteiner, Giaccarini, Pepe, Del Piero, Borriello, Matri.
Trainer: Antonio Conte.
Disqualified: no
Unavailable: no
Referee: Christian Brighi (Cesena) Assistants: Manganelli – Padovan Fourth official: Valeri
