Midweek game tomorrow at Atalanta, so time to get this thread going. Basically a surefire loss against Juventus this weekend, but there should be some points out of the other games hopefully. Atalanta sits directly above Palermo in the standings, so if Palermo wants to avoid relegation, this is the type of game they need to win.
Still haven't seen a callup list for today's game, but it should be the usual suspects, minus Quaison, Morganella and Rajkovic, who are all still injured. On the Atalanta side, some ex-Rosanero will feature, starting with the coach, Gasperini, who played 5 years for Palermo, and also was coach for two different stints during their relegation season 2012-13. Former players are Jasmin Kurtic, who made 35 appearances between 2011-13, and Mauricio Pinilla, who scored 10 goals between 2010-12, and who appeared in some rumors to be returning to Palermo this summer, though Zampa eventually said he wasn't interested..
After discussing it last week, Palermo make a formation change, to a 3-4-2-1. We'll see if it results in more goals. 1 goal in 4 games for the teams main striker isn't a great record. --------------Posavec ----Cionek-Goldaniga-Andelkovic Rispoli-Chochev-Henrique-Aleesami --------Diamanti-Hiljemark ------------Nestorovski
Palermo leave it very late, but Nestorovski gets his second of the season and makes it 1-0 in the 90th minute. The game ends with that scoreline. The whole thing was a pretty open affair, despite the lack of goals. Atalanta had 15 shots, while Palermo had 7. For the second week in a row however, Palermo managed to hold onto more than 50% of possession First win of the season.
Tomorrow noon eastern on the main BeIN channel, Palermo host Juventus ------ 22 players called up. Rajkovic still out (he had to have surgery to repair a badly broken nose). Bentivegna also stlil out with a thigh injury. Add to that Embalo who apparently has some sort of bicep injury, Morganella who is out long term with his knee injury, and Quaison, who is out for another couple of weeks. Attacking options are getting pretty slim Portieri: Fulignati, Marson, Posavec; Difensori: Aleesami, Andelkovic, Cionek, Goldaniga, Gonzalez, Pezzella, Rispoli, Vitiello; Centrocampisti: Bouy, B. Henrique, Chochev, Gazzi, Hiljemark, Jajalo; Attaccanti: Balogh, Diamanti, Lo Faso, Nestorovski, Sallai. Assuming a 3-4-2-1 again, --------------Posavec -Gonzalez-Goldaniga-Andelkovic Rispoli-Gazzi-Henrique-Aleesami -------Diamanti-Hiljemark ------------Nestorovski ----------------- Palermo will be looking to snap an 8 game losing streak, having last won in February 2011. I'm not going to hold my breath. Juventus sit in 1st place 7 points of Palermo in 16th. More importantly, Palermo are just 1 point above the drop zone, so even a point would be nice. ------------------ Juventus has 4 wins and 1 loss so far this season, with new signing Gonzalo Higuain leading the team with 4 goals and ex-Palermitano Dybala on top with 2 assists. Andrea Barzagli also played over 140 games for Palermo between 2004-08. ------------------- My prediction 3-0 Juventus, optimistically. They scored 4 on Cagliari midweek.
The good part about playing a team like Juve is that it will be televised and easy to watch, but the bad part is that it will be televised and, most likely, very hard to watch for a Palermo fan. I'm DVR'ing the game, and the only optimism I have is that it won't be a bludgeoning.
----------Posavec -Cionek-Gonzalez-Goldaniga Rispoli-Gazzi-Jajalo-Aleesami -----Diamanti-Chochev -----------Balogh A bit of squad rotation after a midweek game. Cionek preferred to Andelkovic again which surprises me. Chochev and Balogh both playing in further forward positions than they normally would. I don't expect them to be all that attacking. Palermo still haven't scored at home this season. Lets see if that can change.
8 minutes in and the ref has given 3 yellows already. Hopefully the first red goes to them and not us.
Dani Alvez goes into the book in the 25th minute. Add that to Bonucci and Mandzukic for Juve, Gonzalez and Goldaniga for Palermo. 2 out of 3 Palermo CBs with yellows already worries me greatly
Inter in with a 4 on 2, Posavec with a huge save, then headed out for a corner. Probably should have been a Juve goal if they'd handled it better
2 minutes into the second half, Goldaniga backheels a Juve shot into the Palermo net. Poor choice to not just let Posavec save it. 0-1
http://palermocalcio.it/it/1617/news/sampdoria-palermo-1-1ecco-gli-highlights-del-match-4964-video Highlights from yeterday's game. Didn't watch but it looks like, and based on the updates I saw yesterday, sounded like, Sampdoria was on top for the most part, but Palermo scored first in the 60th minute through Nestorovski. But Gazzi received a second yellow in the 92nd, then Sampdoria equalized with basically the last kick of the game in the 94th minute with an unstoppable shot from outside the box.
Didn't get to watch either, but a point on the road is more than I've come to expect from this team, so I'm not too upset by the last minute equalizer. After 7 games Palermo has 6 points and is tied for 17th- probably right about where most expected...
Week off for the international break, but next Monday's game against Torino will be Palermo's 1000th in Serie A. Here's to a thousand more before the next one in B.
Call-ups for tomorrow's match Portieri: Fulignati, Marson, Posavec; Difensori: Aleesami, Andelkovic, Cionek, Goldaniga, Gonzalez, Morganella, Rajkovic, Rispoli, Vitiello Centrocampisti: Bouy, B. Henrique, Chochev, Hiljemark, Jajalo, Quaison; Attaccanti: Balogh, Bentivegna, Diamanti, Embalo, Nestorovski, Sallai. Embalo, Quaison, Rajkovic, and Bentivegna all return after injuries. Morganella had returned last week. Trajkovski and Pezella both out with injuries, but neither sounds too serious, they are both training still. Gazzi out after his red card last match means theres a spot open in midfield.