We´re as good as Milan, says Delneri

Juventus coach Luigi Delneri on Friday insisted his players “can compete with anyone”, starting with their opponents Saturday at the San Siro, AC Milan.

Juve are on a bumpy road back to past glories following their demotion to Serie B in 2006 in the wake of the Calciopoli match-fixing scandal.

A seventh place finish in Serie A last season appeared as a blip after the Turin giants finished second in 2009 and third in 2008.

While Juventus have had an inconsistent start to this campaign, they sit fifth, seven points off top and five behind second-placed Milan, the team remain an unknown quantity, mixing top class performances such as the 4-0 thrashing of Lecce with ragged ones such as the 3-1 home defeat to Palermo.

Even so, Delneri insists they are every bit as good as their opponents.

“We’ve already overcome many tests and our good results have given us confidence in our own abilities,” he said.

“We know what we can do, I’m confident. We have to be convinced, we have to play to win.

“We’ve got players who can compete at any time with with anyone, tomorrow we’ll prove we’re at the same level as Milan.

“These games are won or lost thanks to the actions of great players, it will be tight.”

Delneri conceded, however, that Milan’s forwards, particularly Zlatan Ibrahimovic, could be tough to handle.

“A lot is said about Milan’s Brazilians but even if he’s not Brazilian, we’ll have to be wary of Ibrahimovic,” said the coach.

“He’s a player with all the best characteristics a forward can have: strength, capacity, speed of execution and technique. We’ll have to keep our eyes wide open.”

Delneri lamented the loss of Serbian winger Milos Krasic, who is serving a two-match ban for diving to win a penalty against Bologna last weekend.

Despite TV evidence supporting the ruling, Delneri defended his player.

“I don’t think there was any dishonesty in his act in Bologna. There was a similar episode where (Milan’s) Robinho was the protagonist not so long ago, but I don’t think the referee will be affected by this,” he said.

Delneri was referring to an incident in Milan’s match with Napoli on Monday in which Napoli’s Salvatore Aronica brushed off a challenge from Robinho and gently touched him around the collarbone with his hand.

The Brazilian fell theatrically to the ground clutching his face in apparent agony, but was not punished for his actions.

Milan coach Massimiliano Allegri believes Juventus will still be dangerous in the absence of Krasic.

“There’s nothing to say about the quality of players that may be missing tomorrow, we’ve also got similar problems,” he said.

“A good team always produces a good performance in difficult circumstances. It will be an intense match.”

If Milan beat Juve they will go eight points clear of their rivals, but Allegri said that would not rule the Old Lady of Turin out of the title race.

“We must not think about that, it’s too early for that, we have to concentrate on ourselves.”