21-10-2010 21:05 Red Bull Salzburg - Juventus

Getting Off The Mark
Austrian side SV Salzburg are not expected by many to create a major upset in the group stage of the Europa League. Pitted against ambitious Premier League club Manchester City and Italian powerhouse Juventus as well as Polish champions Lech Poznan, they are supposedly the group’s whipping boys and the Bulls have done little to dispel that notion.

At the moment Huub Stevens’ side are at the bottom of Group A with no point from two games. Salzburg commenced their Europa League campaign with a 2-0 home defeat to Man City and then went down 2-0 to Lech Pozanan in Poland. They have been struggling on the domestic front too as they are currently seventh in the Austrian first division after suffering a 2-0 defeat to Kapfenberger at home in the ten-team league at the weekend.

But Stevens remains hopeful of getting something against Juve and enthuses, "I think and hope that we can also show our strength on Thursday. The atmosphere in the team is good, even though everyone is disappointed.

"We are trying to keep enjoyment levels high in training, but we need wins to do that as it is the only way out of the crisis.''

Carrying On The Momentum
Juventus’ rejuvenation appears to be going very smoothly as the former Italian and European champions won 4-0 against Lecce in Serie A at the weekend, which extended their unbeaten run to four matches in all competitions. The victory also propelled Luigi Del Neri’s side to fifth in the table and now they will be hoping to carry on that momentum in Europe.

The Bianconeri have drawn both their games in the Europa League and with two points are third in the group behind Lech Poznan and Manchester City. Although this isn’t necessarily a bad start to the campaign, Juve must try to strengthen themselves at the back as they have conceded four times already in Europe this season.
Defender Marco Motta, though, remains confident that the Old Lady can fashion a victory in Austria and says, "We got a fantastic win against Lecce. We must give continuity to this result starting from Thursday's match.

"We need a determined Juve in order to obtain the three points in Europe that we have yet to conquer.''



TEAM NEWS 

Salzburg
The Austrian side are likely to field a 4-1-4-1 formation with Alan as the lone striker up front.

Juventus
Gianluigi Buffon, Armand Traore, Leandro Rinaudo and Davide Lanzafame are out injured for Juventus. Del Neri will again deploy his favoured 4-4-2 formation.

Prediction

Juventus should fancy their chances even though they are away for this match. However, the Bianconeri are still in transition and Salzburg may just about stop them from getting maximum points.

Salzburg 1-1 Juventus

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21-10-2010 19:00 Borussia D. - Paris Saint Germain

Focus On Europe
Borussia Dortmund have every right to be satisfied with the start they’ve made to the season. Sitting top of the Bundesliga, they have already established themselves firmly as one of the clubs to watch in Germany, picking up 21 out of 24 possible points thus far. But their ambitions extend further, with the Europa League a genuine aim and as the meat of the group stage arrives, three points against Paris Saint-Germain would be warmly welcomed.

BVB have earned one win in their opening couple of games in the pool. That came in the most dramatic of circumstances as they picked up a late success against Karpaty, scoring twice in the final five minutes to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Such a miraculous comeback against Sevilla was unattainable three weeks ago at the Westfalenstadion, where they went down 1-0.

The Bundesliga offered the Ruhr side a quick chance of redemption, and it was taken via a 2-0 victory over Bayern Munich. This was then backed up by a triumph over Koeln after the international break, giving Juergen Klopp’s men seven straight league wins.

Nuri Sahin is not about to get carried away, instead focussing on Thursday’s fixture against PSG. “No one is thinking about playing in the Champions League and these are no empty words. We are very glad that Dortmund are top [of the Bundesliga] after eight matchdays," he explained to Ruhrnachrichten. “However, to infer from this that we are already thinking of a place in the top three would be completely wrong. We are now entirely focused on the Europa League game against Paris Saint-Germain on Thursday.”

Such a vigilant attitude going into the fixture will only benefit the home side, who should not underestimate the confidence their guests arrive with. Having scored 20 goals in only eight fixtures, BVB should be confident of lifting themselves level in with les Parisiens in Group J, however.

Seven-Match Itch
Paris Saint-Germain may not boast the lofty league position of their hosts, but they do approach their clash with Borussia Dortmund in some of their best form of recent years. Coach Antoine Kombouare has overseen a seven match unbeaten run in all competitions, which has also encompassed an impressive 675 minutes without conceding a goal – seven and a half matches dating back to August.

While PSG’s remarkable defensive record may well be bust on Thursday evening by a side potent in attack, Kombouare will aim for his men to exploit any weaknesses BVB have in defence. Already les Parisiens have gone on the road in Europe this season to pick up three points, defeating Sevilla 1-0 at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan with a thoroughly professional and disciplined showing.

At the weekend, les Rouge et Bleu demonstrated their abilities to play away from home. Against Toulouse they marched away with a 2-0 victory; Mamadou Sakho and Mevlut Erding getting the goals as the capital side dominated. After that fixture, Kombouare was elated with the manner in which his team played.

“It’s very satisfying. Congratulations to my players because they played like champions,” the coach told the media on Saturday evening.

Having found Europe last season as Coupe de France champions, PSG seem to have a new found confidence this term, and Kombouare’s men are determined to make the most of it on all fronts.

TEAM NEWS

Borussia
Marcel Schmelzer will be absent from the rearguard as he is suspended, while Patrick Owomoyela’s presence is not certain due to injury. Sebastian Kehl and Mohamed Zidan are the other big absentees, while Tamas Hajnal and Florian Kringe also miss out.

PSG
Antoine Kombouare has already named his squad for this fixture, omitting Mateja Kezman as a technical decision. Ceara remains absent with a hip problem and Jean-Eudes Maurice is another injury issue.

Claude Makelele returns to the squad after a domestic suspension and should get the nod to feature in the centre of the pitch beside Mathieu Bodmer, who has just come back from injury.

Prediction

Borussia Dortmund need the points in this game more than their guests, and they will certainly go for the jugular against a PSG side who have been going well to this point. Given the attacking strength of the home side, it’s difficult to see les Parisiens maintaining their clean sheet record, and it would be also something of a surprise if they protected their unbeaten run, despite playing this fixture with a fairly strong team.

Borussia 2-0 PSG

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