Juventus have been in awful form for a few months now, and this match today was critical in them staying in position for 4th spot. Roma were in the doldrums when Ranieri took over, now they are 5 points clear of Juventus and 8 behind Inter Milan.

Juventus left new acquisition Candreva on the bench, starting in a 4-3-1-2 formation, Diego behind Del Piero and Amauri. Roma in a 4-4-1-1 with Vucinic behind lone strikers Toni initially then Totti who came off the bench very early.

The game initially was a measured one, both trying to find the weak spots in each other, Juventus targeting Roma on the right and to dominate Burdisso, Roma looking to capitalise on a high Juventus defensive line and poor positioning by their full backs. It was only in the second half where both teams were to exploit the weaknesses they found in the first 45mins.

Diego dribbled into the Roma half before attempting to fire in. Juan sliced the effort, and peeling off Burdisso, Del Piero was left in acres of space on the right of the Roma box. Most players would have tried to trap the ball or square it, especially from the angle he was at, but Del Piero is a legend of the game, and he hammered it on the volley into the far corner of the net, you should try see this goal, excellent goal and technique.

Roma got one back, Grosso who is very suspect defensively, was duped into fouling Taddei, and conceded the penalty that Totti steered past Buffon, 1-1.

Riise then galloped forward from a Juventus corner, and receiving the ball one on one with Buffon, he took a touch before the Italian keeper clobbered him, red card. With 3 mins to go, Pizarro won a loose ball in central midfield, and arced over a precise cross behind the Juventus backline and Riise headed it home past substitute Manninger, 2-1.

Juventus are in a serious crisis, mid week they meet Inter Milan in the Coppa Italia, a loss there and you wonder where the confidence will come from. They could be cast adrift from the fourth spot, so they must find a solution within 24 hours. Does that mean sacking Ferrara, I'm not sure, with the current players, Juventus can not improve a lot, they should be able to defend much much better than they do at the moment, they seriously need to rethink their transfer strategy.

Roma, going well, and on course to finish third, and sweet revenge for Ranieri who was sacked by Juventus at the end of last season, he has instilled a toughness in Roma to drive them up the table. Tomorrow, Milan derby!