You have to start feeling sorry for Juventus. First the women were beaten 2-1 by Chelsea in Turin, then the men atoned for a 1-0 defeat in Italy by crushing the Italians 4-0 at the Bridge this week.
So it’s with trepidation that Juventus Femminile prepare to fly to London to face Chelsea Women at Kingsmeadow on 8 December.
Three days ahead of that, Chelsea meet Arsenal at Wembley in the FA Cup final.
What manager Emma Hayes can’t legislate for is knocks and bruises picked up on international duty as the domestic calendar is again suspended for her players to jet off to distant matches.
It’s a source of huge annoyance to both Hayes and Gunners manager Jonas Eidevall that their players will be returning just before such crucial fixtures.
The only plus for Hayes is that it gives her backroom staff a few days’ respite from the relentless programme of matches.
“We’re going into the next block of games in terrific shape,” said Hayes after Birmingham were put to the sword in a 5-0 victory, but on the topic of internationals, her tone changed.
“It’s a lottery,” she said. “We wait to see what they’ll come back like, but we’re going into a cup final as players fly back from Mexico, from Sydney and Korea… so it’s really difficult to play a game on that Sunday.
“I don’t know what team I’ll put out because I won’t know until the day before the game which players I’ll have because of the flight schedules.”
She said it was not an ideal situation, and she went further, having a dig at the authorities who organise the pattern of games and breaks. “It’s a terrible time to organise the game, three days after players are coming back into this country. But it is what it is.”
She said she would have to do her best to put out as strong a team as she could.
The glimmer of hope for Juventus Women, ahead of their visit to London, is that a hard-fought London derby cup final is likely to take its toll on Chelsea’s resilient and in-form players.
The views expressed in this blog are those of the author and unless specifically stated are not necessarily those of Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
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