MARK IULIANO'S reputation for uncompromising tackles makes him an unlikely peacemaker. But the tough Juventus defender has turned football diplomat ahead of today's Serie A showdown against Internazionale in Turin.
Six months after referee Piero Ceccarini's failure to award a penalty for Iuliano's bodycheck on Ronaldo arguably cost Internazionale the title, the Italian international has offered his own olive branch to the Brazilian. "I would like to shake hands with [Ronaldo]." Iuliano said last week. "It's all water under the bridge now. Sunday is another game, another championship."
The conciliatory words will help take the tension out of today's showdown which is being billed as Inter's chance for revenge. Both sides approach their 134th meeting on 10 points, two behind the early pacesetters Fiorentina.
Inter's 2-1 win over Spartak Moscow in the Champions' League on Wednesday finally eased the pressure on coach Luigi Simoni after an humiliating 5-3 home defeat to Lazio.
Against Spartak, Simoni revolutionised the line-up, shifting the Argentine midfielder Diego Simeone to sweeper, picking Portugal's Paolo Sousa for the first time this season and starting emerging striker Nicola Ventola alongside Ronaldo.
"They were good," said Moratti, who has spent a fortune trying to rid San Siro of the ghosts of his father Angelo's Grande Inter of the 1960s.
Against Juventus, Simoni will field the same side, although Giuseppe Bergomi is expected to replace the suspended Simeone, allowing the veteran sweeper to equal Gianni Rivera's record of 501 league appearances and with Youri Djorkaeff injured against Spartak Moscow, 19-year-old Andra Pirlo will play behind Ventola and Ronaldo, who is now nearly back to his best after a knee injury.
Unlike Simoni, who has 27 players to juggle, Juventus manager Marcello Lippi is sticking with the side which won him last season's championship, though their failure to create scoring chances has seen them draw all three matches in the Champions' League and drop five points in Serie A.
Lippi blames the lack of fitness of key players like Alessandro Del Piero and France's World Cup hero Zinedine Zidane. "Don't forget Juve are capable of everything." Lippi said. "It's not like we have to climb Everest on crutches."
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