The 2008–09 season was Juventus Football Club's 111th in existence and 2nd consecutive season in the top flight of Italian football.
Season review
At various points in the season, Juventus looked as though they could challenge rivals Internazionale's stronghold over Serie A, most notably in November 2008 following five successive wins, in late January 2009 after a seven-game unbeaten streak and again in March 2009 after another series of seven games without losing, which included impressive 4–1 successes over Bologna and Roma. Coach Claudio Ranieri, however, seemed to encounter serious problems in motivating his troops with his constant belittling of Juventus' title chances.
After a club record run of seven consecutive league games without a win in April and May, Ranieri was sacked in only his second season at Juventus. This barren run of results also included a 2–1 loss at home to Lazio in the Coppa Italia semi-finals, meaning the Turin side were once more denied the chance to compete for silverware. Juventus legend and former centre back Ciro Ferrara, who was the director of the Youth Sector at that time, was appointed the caretaker manager for the remaining two matches. The wins over Siena and Lazio ensured a second-place finish over AC Milan (based on head-to-head record) after the Rossoneri failed to take advantage of Juve's winless streak and lost 3–2 away at Roma.
In Europe, Juventus began brightly, going unbeaten in their six group games and topping their group. These positive performances saw the Italians beat Spanish champions Real Madrid both home and away. Alessandro Del Piero, who scored a brace at the Santiago Bernabéu just four days before celebrating his 34th birthday, earned himself a standing ovation from the notoriously hostile Madrid crowd.
The knockout stages were much less rejoicing for the Bianconeri. They were knocked out by English club Chelsea who had just changed their manager. Despite battling with ten men in the second leg, Juventus drew the game 2–2, meaning they were eliminated after the 1–0 loss in London.
On 5 June 2009, it was confirmed that Ferrara had been appointed as the full-time manager on a two-year contract.
Players Squad information As of 2 April 2009.
(vice-captain)
(captain)
Reserve squad
Youth squad
UEFA Champions League squad
Transfers In #PosPlayerFromFeeDate4 DF Olof Mellberg Aston Villa Free 24-01-200827 MF Albin Ekdal Brommapojkarna €600,000 27-05-20088 FW Amauri Palermo €22.6 million 03-06-200829 DF Paolo De Ceglie Siena €3.5 million (co-ownership resolution) 09-06-200819 MF Claudio Marchisio Empoli Loan return 14-06-200820 FW Sebastian Giovinco Empoli Loan return 26-06-200815 DF Dario Knežević Livorno Loan 30-06-200818 MF Christian Poulsen Sevilla €9.75 million 14-07-200812 GK Antonio Chimenti Udinese Loan 19-07-200813 GK Alexander Manninger Udinese €1 million 05-08-2008 MF Iago Falque Barcelona Atlètic Free 01-09-2008 GK Mario Kirev Slavia Sofia €800,000 21-01-2009
Out #PosPlayerToFeeDate23 MF Antonio Nocerino Palermo €7.5 million 03-06-2008 DF Andrea Rossi Siena €400,000 (co-ownership resolution) 09-06-2008 DF Felice Piccolo Empoli Undisclosed (co-ownership resolution) 10-06-2008 MF Manuele Blasi Napoli €2.6 million (co-ownership resolution) 13-06-2008 FW Marcelo Zalayeta Napoli Renewed co-ownership 13-06-2008 MF Matteo Paro Genoa €2 million (co-ownership resolution) 24-06-2008 FW Tomás Guzmán Piacenza Renewed co-ownership 25-06-2008 MF Douglas Packer Siena €150,000 (co-ownership resolution) 25-06-2008 DF Pietro Zammuto Piacenza Undisclosed (co-ownership resolution) 25-06-2008 FW Rej Volpato Bari Undisclosed (co-ownership) 01-07-2008 FW Davide Lanzafame Palermo €2.5 million (co-ownership) 01-07-2008 MF Andrè Cuneaz Mantova Undisclosed (co-ownership) 03-07-200820 FW Raffaele Palladino Genoa €5 million (co-ownership) 03-07-2008 DF Giuseppe Rizza Livorno Undisclosed (co-ownership) 07-07-20082 DF Alessandro Birindelli Pisa Free 21-07-2008 FW Piergiuseppe Maritato Fiorentina Undisclosed **-07-200814 DF Jorge Andrade Unattatched Released 02-04-2009
Loaned out #PosPlayerToStartEnd FW Riccardo Maniero Bari 27-06-2008 01-07-2009 MF Raffaele Bianco Bari 27-06-2008 01-07-2009 DF Domenico Criscito Genoa 03-07-2008 01-07-2009 FW Oussama Essabr Vicenza 05-07-2008 01-07-2009 MF Dario Venitucci Mantova 09-07-2008 01-07-2009 MF Samon Rodríguez Poggibonsi 22-07-2008 30-01-2009 GK Alessandro Vono Livorno 23-07-2008 01-07-2009 MF Rubén Olivera Genoa 24-07-2008 01-07-200912 GK Emanuele Belardi Udinese 01-08-2008 01-07-2009 MF Sergio Almirón Fiorentina 05-08-2008 01-07-2009 FW Cristian Pasquato Empoli 24-08-2008 01-07-2010 GK Mario Kirev Grasshopper 24-01-2009 01-07-2009 MF Dario Venitucci Avellino **-01-2009 MF Samon Rodríguez Alessandria 30-01-2009 01-07-2009
Pre-season and friendlies Goal scorers PositionNationNumberNameGoals18Amauri729Vincenzo Iaquinta4317David Trezeguet2=34Cristian Pasquato2532Marco Marchionni1=35Simone Esposito1
Friendly matches
TIM Trophy 2008
Final tournament standings 3 points for win, 0 points for loss 2 points for penalty kick win, 1 point for penalty kick loss Milan wins tournament based on head-to-head result
Scorers RankNameTeamGoals1 Clarence Seedorf AC Milan22 Vincenzo Iaquinta Juventus1 David Trezeguet Juventus Marco Marchionni Juventus
Matches
Emirates Cup
Final tournament standings 3 points for win, 1 point for tie, 0 points for loss 1 point for every goal scored each team played 2 games; Juventus did not play Real Madrid, Arsenal did not play Hamburg Juventus finishes 3rd based on head-to-head result
Scorers RankNameTeamGoals1 Ivica Olić Hamburger SV22 Dani Parejo Real Madrid1 David Trezeguet Juventus Ruud van Nistelrooy Real Madrid Mohamed Zidan Hamburger SV Paolo Guerrero Hamburger SV Emmanuel Adebayor Arsenal
Matches
Trofeo Luigi Berlusconi
Trofeo Birra Moretti
Final tournament standings 3 points for win, 0 points for loss 2 points for penalty kick win, 1 point for penalty kick loss Juventus wins tournament based on head-to-head result
Scorers RankNameTeamGoals1 Alberto Paloschi AC Milan1
Matches
Trofeo Città di Messna
Competitions Serie A
League table
Results summary
Results by round
Matches
Coppa Italia
UEFA Champions League
Third qualifying round
Group stage
Knockout phase
Round of 16
Statistics Appearances and goals
Goalscorers PositionNationNumberNameSerie AChampions LeagueCoppa ItaliaTotal110Alessandro Del Piero13622128Amauri122014=9Vincenzo Iaquinta122014411Pavel Nedvěd700753Giorgio Chiellini4105=19Claudio Marchisio3003620Sebastian Giovinco2013=21Zdeněk Grygera2103=32Marco Marchionni1023104Olof Mellberg2002=6Cristiano Zanetti2002=16Mauro Camoranesi1102=22Mohamed Sissoko2002=33Nicola Legrottaglie1102157Hasan Salihamidžić1001=17David Trezeguet1001=18Christian Poulsen1001///Own Goals2002TOTALS6914588
Disciplinary record Disciplinary records for all competitive matches. Players with 1 card or more included only.
References