Juventus v Torino Preview

Torino make their shortest journey of the season on Sunday evening when they travel to across Turin to face their arch rivals Juventus.

Once again the old stats must come out for this fixture, the Granata have not beaten Juve since 1995,
and have not scored a goal against the Bianconeri since 2002.

If that wasn't enough, Juventus have won their last 24 home games in Serie A, whilst Toro have only won one away game all season in the league.

Former Juve striker Fabio Quagliarella should return to the starting eleven after being rested against Club Brugge on Thursday, whilst Josef Martinez's impressive performance in that game may give Giampiero Ventura something to think about.

The stats above may not give you much belief that Torino can get a result on Sunday, but maybe this video will give you some hope.

Forza Toro

Torino 0-0 Club Brugge

An outstanding performance from Club Brugge's Australian goalkeeper Maty Ryan denied the Granata a victory which would have secured qualification for the next round of the Europa League.

With the derby against Juventus just three days away, Giampiero Ventura choose to rest a number of key players and that meant Daniele Padelli, Pontus Jansson and Josef Martinez all started.

It was the Belgian side who had the first chance of the game, but Victor Vasquez curled his effort wide of the post. At the other end, Josef Martinez did well to get a shot on goal, but his low shot was well saved by Maty Ryan.

Ryan produced arguably his best save of the night just before the hour mark, as he somehow got down to deny Martinez's excellent diving header. Matteo Darmian and Omar El Kaddouri both had great chances, but Toro still could not find a breakthrough.

Just before injury time, substitute Marcelo Larrondo thought he had given Torino all three points but the Australian made one more sensational save to earn Club Brugge a point.

Toro still have qualification for the next round of the Europa League in their own hands, and only need a point in their final game against Copenhagen to guarantee a place in the last 32.

Forza Toro

Torino V Club Brugge Preview

Torino can secure their place into the next round of the Europa League if they beat Club Brugge and Copenhagen fail to beat HJK Helsinki on Thursday.

The Granata suffered a disappointing defeat against HJK Helsinki last time out, but have a 100% record at home in Europe this season. With the derby against Juventus on Sunday, Giampiero Ventura may choose to rest a number of key players including captain Kamil Glik and top scorer Fabio Quagliarella.

Club Brugge currently top Group B and impressively beat Copenhagen 4-0 in Denmark in their last European fixture. Domestically, the Belgian side are currently top of the table having only lost one game all season.

Prediction
Torino 1-0 Club Brugge

Torino 0-1 Sassuolo

Torino missed from the penalty spot for the third time this season, and were made to pay the price as Sassuolo scored a late winner to take all three points.

Giampiero Ventura surprisingly chose to field just one striker, Fabio Quagliarella, with midfielders Juan Sanchez Mino and Omar El Kaddouri given license to support the former Napoli man.

Omar El Kaddouri had Toro's first effort on goal, but his curling effort was well saved by Andrea Consigli. Torino had the chance to take the lead after good work from Bruno Peres led to Paulo Cannavaro bringing down Fabio Quagliarella in the area.

Juan Sanchez Mino became the fourth different Granata player to take a penalty this season, but his weak effort was well saved by Consigli. In the second half, Peres broke clear of the Sassuolo defence but his pass across goal to find Quagliarella was intercepted.

Sassuolo's best chance of the game arrived when Simone Zaza somehow managed to blaze over the bar from ten yards out following Nikola Maksimovic's goal line clearance. Excellent work from Omar El Kaddouri gave Quagliarella another chance to give Toro the lead, but he was once again denied by the excellent Consigli.

With just three minutes remaining, Toro switched off from a corner and that allowed Antonio Floro Flores to head home Šime Vrsaljko's excellent cross.

This was a disappointing result for Torino ahead of an important week, and their failure to rectify their terrible record from the penalty spot exemplifies the problems the Granata have been having this season.

Forza Toro

Torino V Sassuolo Preview

Torino face arguably their most important week in recent history, which begins with a home match against Sassuolo on Sunday.

The Granata face a crucial Europa League match against Club Brugge on Thursday, and then face Juventus in the derby a week tomorrow. Toro are expected to return to two strikers, so Amauri is likely to join Fabio Quagliarella up front, whilst Alexander Farnerud should keep his place in midfield.

After a poor start to the season, Sassuolo are unbeaten in their last five matches, and come into this game above Toro on goal difference.

However, the home side have a good recent record against Sassuolo, having won their last three matches against the Neroverdi, and this good run will hopefully continue tomorrow.

Prediction
Torino 1-0 Sassuolo

My Toro Story #2 : Brian Rea

Name : Brian Rea

Other Teams Supported : Man City and Glentoran

How and when did you start supporting Torino : Well the clue is Man City, the team I have supported since 1953! So when Denis Law went to Torino for one year in 1960/61 I think, I began to take an interest in Il Grande Torino and have never regretted it. Since retiring in 2001 I have been to Turin several times and at my first game at the Stadio delle Alpi I noticed a sign CIAO DENIS which sent a shiver down my spine. I have read the history of the club in the book The Day Italian Football Died by Alexandra Manna,a Torino supporter and her English husband Mike Gibbs,which I would recommend.

Apart from discovering Torino in the sixties, my first chance to see them live was on the old channel 4 coverage, though we did not appear that often. I do remember two old games in particular - Juventus v Torino(2001/2), 3 - 3 and the play off games against Mantova which I think were shown on Channel 5. The Juve game I saw on the midnight show and I knew the result otherwise I would have switched off at half time. 3 nil down Torino came back to draw 3 all and Juve missed a penalty in the last few minutes. Dramatic or what! I seem to remember also a Juve player mocking our supporters by running around with two fingers on top of his head imitating a bull. When Ferrante did the same after our equaliser, running the length of the pitch towards our end, the atmosphere was indescribable. I was,to use the old cliche, over the moon. The play off was equally memorable, 4 - 2 down after the first leg,having conceded 2 penalties and going 4 - 1 down, coming back to almost make it 4 - 3, things did not seem too promising. After 90 minutes of the 2nd leg the scores were tied, Torino winning 2 nil, so extra time began and we went 3 nil up. Game over but Mantova scored a penalty and needed one more to go up instead of Torino. The last 15/20 minutes were unbearable but the euphoria at the end was unsurpassed. I remember the team clambering on to a giant bull behind one of the goals. Not a real one of course. This was beginning of the Cairo years.

First Match Attended : This was against Albinoleffe in Serie B about 7/8 years ago in the Stadio Delle Alpi which was an easy victory. It was a very emotional moment for me when the team emerged from the tunnel in their famous colours. This was the first time I was seeing them in the flesh and seeing the Denis Law sign was the icing on the cake, even though he had returned to United after Torino.  Last season I was at the Inter game which ended 3 - 3 on a wet night in Turin. I am sure most of our exiled supporters saw it on TV, so no need to go into detail.

Favourite Current Players : I only have fairly recent memories. I always enjoyed watching Rosina and from last years team Immobile naturally. I hope he does well at Dortmund. I was really pleased to see 3 of our players in the national squad at the World Cup. Currently, I like Darmian and Glik who is a great captain and leader on the pitch.

Predictions/Hopes for this Season : I hope we can consolidate. We have signed a few new players which should give us depth.We will miss Immobile but I am reasonably hopeful. Ventura has done a really good job so far and I enjoy our style of play. We have been a great counter attacking side so I look forward to more of the same this season.

Feel free to email your Toro story to torinoblogger@hotmail.co.uk and I'll add it to the website.

Forza Toro

Roma 3-0 Torino

Torino's disappointing week continued as they fell to a 3-0 defeat against Scudetto-chasing Roma on Sunday evening.

As expected, Giampiero Ventura decided to re-inforce the midfield as Toro lined up in a 3-5-1-1 formation with Alexander Farnerud and Omar El Kaddouri taking turns to support lone striker Fabio Quagliarella.

Torino made a poor start and were behind after only eight minutes, and ironically it was Greek fullback Vasilis Torosidis who converted Francesco Totti's low cross to give the home side the lead.

The Granata reacted well to going behind, and Fabio Quagliarella's left footed curler from the edge of the area forced Morgan De Sanctis into make a good save.

Miralem Pjanic rattled the crossbar with a trademark free kick for Roma, but just before the half hour mark the lead was doubled thanks to Seydou Keita's strike from outside the area.

Despite making a bright start to the second half, Toro were well and truly out of the game fifteen minutes into the second half as former Fiorentina midfielder Adem Ljajic curled the ball into the top corner from twenty yards out.

This defeat was not a surprising one, and some aspects of the performance were encouraging from a Granata point of view. Torino will face arguably their most important week of the season after the international break, as they face Sassuolo, a crucial game in the Europa League against Club Brugge and then the derby against Juventus.

We will certainly know a lot more about this team and what we can hope for from this season after those three games are in the record books.

Forza Toro