The Silence of the Lambs

How many times have we heard Giuventus being described as "una squadra cinica"? Very, very rarely are the words "bella", "pimpante", "che esprime un bel gioco" used to describe la Giuve. More often than not it's "cinica" or "efficace", with the occasional "macchinosa" thrown in for good measure.

Although for many, many people Giuventus is just plain "antipatica".

Now it seems that after Arsenal walked all over them at Highbury and showed up their lack of ideas at the Delle Alpi, their own (ungrateful?) fans have had enough. Now this might have something to do with the fact that when Giuve's cynicism runs out, the truth emerges with disastrous effect: Giuve play boring, unimaginative football and the fans don't seem to give a toss about Giuve's efficiency in the league. How cruel! One day you're a "squadra cinica e vincente", the next you're "inguardabile" and "impotente" just because you haven't bagged the 3 points thanks to a last-minute goalkeeping blunder.

Or maybe it's got something to do with the general "vibe" surrounding Giuve. You know - the famous Triade of Bettega-Moggi-Giraudo, a motely crew of balding, greying, grimacing men (joined by an equally taciturn Capello) who're the last blokes you'd expect to find on someone's "People I'd Most Like to Meet" list. In fact they'd probably be thrilled to find that someone actually wants to meet them at all - every single Giuve fan I know in Brussels exclaims "Mamma mia, guarda Moggi quel mafio**!" whenever the bald eagle appears on the TV screen to sneer something witty after a controversial Juve victory.

But it must be said that Giuve win leagues. And lots of them. For make no mistake, Giuve is a "squadra vincente". Although truth be told, there is a peculiar imbalance between their league successes and their "disfatte" in Europe while teams like Milan seem to have balanced out local and European glory quite nicely.

Ah Milan! That other "squadra vincente". You'd expect Milan to attract equal amounts of "antipatia". You can't exactly call them underdogs. And yet the powerful rossoneri have always been a team I respected, admired and loved to watch. Think Gullit and Van Basten, Savicevic and Boban, Sheva, Gattuso and Kaka. Not to mention l'inossidabile Paolo Maldini. So even when they beat the giallorossi you 're not too cut up about it.

So what is it about Giuve? Is it simply the Bettega-Moggi-Giraudo effect which makes Giuve such a bad vibe team? Who knows?

In the meantime we lift our glass to the Gooners, Barca and Milan as well as underdog Villareal and look forward to some exciting football.

As for Roma, 11 wins in a row is quite impressive by any standards. And Spalletti's a lovely chap.