Real result has turned Juventus season around: Ranieri

Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri said on Friday that his team's victory over Real Madrid in the Champions League could turn their season around.

Speaking on the eve of the Turin derby against Torino, Ranieri said he was confident that his team could overcome their poor start in Serie A where they have won only two of their first seven matches.

“This year we haven't got everything we deserved but you could say that the wind has turned,” he said.

“This can only happen if you resist adversity.”

Rumours have been rife that Ranieri's number is almost up at Juve but the coach remained defiant despite a storm of criticism.

“I have always felt that the club and players are behind me,” he added.

“The managers have stated this publicly and maybe people will stop writing things for a few weeks.

“On the other hand, all coaches in Italy go through tough times. Both (Marcelo) Lippi and (Fabio) Capello had difficulties here at Juve.”

Juventus have nine points from their seven matches, winning two, drawing three and losing two.

It has left them seven points off leaders Inter Milan, but Ranieri insisted that in the corresponding fixtures a year ago against the same teams they have already played this season, they fared no better — and a year ago they finished third.

“The truth is we won nine points against the same teams last season. The only difference is last year we beat Palermo and lost to Udinese and this season it's the opposite.

“Even so I want us to do as well as possible and go as far as possible in the Champions League.”

While Juve's record of losing to Palermo and Napoli and failing to beat Catania, Sampdoria and Fiorentina does not look good on paper, the win over second-place Udinese was impressive.

Ranieri, though, is concerned that Torino will come into the match fresher than his team as they didn't play in midweek.

“With respect to us, Torino's players have had more time to prepare for this match, they were able to train, to rest, to look after their minds.

“We only started thinking about the derby after the match against Real. We used up a lot of physical and nervous energy but that match also served to recharge our batteries.”