By Myles Palmer
Lippi is without his best spinal player, Edgar Davids, in Madrid tonight.
His best bet is to go for a 2-1 defeat.
He will have to attack to get a 2-1 defeat.
Did you see Real Madrid 1 Mallorca 5 ?
Real’s style has been simplified in the absence of Raul.
You now have Figo and Zidane feeding Ronaldo, and Helguera and Guti feeding Roberto Carlos.
Previously, Raul came deep, got involved in link-play, and made their moves more complicated.
So their style has changed rather radically in the last 3 weeks.
It’s like a cartoonist who has decided to draw faces with fewer pen-strokes.
Del Bosque has lately been playing McManaman, not Flavio.
That is a mistake
He needs two ball-winners in front of the doddery Hierro, who can hardly run.
Luckily for Del Bosque, Juve lack pace.
Trezeguet is just back from injury and does not look sharp.
Del Piero is an ageing genius.
Without the fiery Davids, and the mauling,spoiling, wrestler, Tacchinardi, Juve’s midfield has been shredded.
Ronaldo has played in Italian football, so he knows what to expect.
Juve are a rugged, tough, compact unit who grind out results.
They will hope to grind out an away goal tonight.
ZIDANE, of course, used to play for Juve.
NEDVED came in when Zidane left, and is playing well now.
They say Buffon is the best keeper in the world.
He might have to be.
ITV tonight 7.45