Juventus vs Catania preview - Padoin wary of Catania threat

Posted Sunday, March 10, 2013 by PA

Juventus midfielder Simone Padoin will not let "the revelation of the season" derail the Turin giants' bid for a second consecutive Serie A title.

In-form Catania pose a serious threat to Juve's dominance of the league table as they look to exploit any potential hangover from Wednesday's Champions League victory over Celtic.

Padoin knows the Sicilians will be eager to atone for a 3-2 defeat to Inter Milan in which they let a two-goal lead and a share of fifth place slip away at the Stadio Angelo Massimino.

The 28-year-old told juventus.com: "They're the revelation of the season. Last Sunday, they were beating Inter comfortably before a lapse in concentration cost them victory.

"We also witnessed how good they are during the reverse fixture, they are a compact and tightly-knit unit. They will cause us problems and it'll be a tough match."

Squad player Padoin is flushed with confidence, though, after playing 90 minutes against Celtic as Juve closed out a 5-0 aggregate win over the Scottish champions.

"When the manager announced the starting line-up, I was over the moon," he added. "Every kid dreams of hearing the Champions League music.

"Just being there is incredible, but experiencing it first hand on the pitch is even better.

"Qualification was already within our reach. Winning 3-0 away from home is almost like a ticket to the next round, so it gave us self-confidence and an extra boost for the return leg.

"Now we'll see who we get in the next round. Real Madrid are the strongest team left in the competition, but it would be amazing to play against them."

The Bianconeri are missing Nicolas Anelka, Martin Caceres, Paolo De Ceglie, Nicklas Bendtner and Simone Pepe through injury while Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal serves a one-match ban.

The injured duo of defender Ciro Capuano and midfielder Pablo Barrientos miss out for Catania with veteran centre-half Nicola Legrottaglie suspended.

The Elefanti have claimed four points from their last three trips to Turin and goalkeeper Mariano Andujar wants to convert the disappointment of last weekend into a positive performance at the Juventus Stadium.

He told La Repubblica: "There's still a lot of anger around here following that second half against Inter. We were right near the Champions League places for a while but we messed it up.

"I'm sure we will turn this rage into positive energy on Sunday."