Juventus look to stay ahead against Roma

Rome: Anyone looking for a snapshot of Juventus' early season success should look no further than Antonio Conte's leaping, fist-pumping celebrations on the touchline.

The Juventus coach is transmitting the same intensity, desire and spirit to the squad that he once showed in 12 years as a key midfielder with the club.

As Pavel Nedved, another former Juventus midfielder, described it after last weekend's 2-0 win over Cesena, "Conte deserves the compliments for the way in which he's given this squad a soul."

Having finished seventh last season, Juventus hold a two-point lead in the Italian league over AC Milan and Udinese, heading into Monday's match at Roma.

Roma, meanwhile, are in full crisis after getting three players sent off in a 3-0 loss at Fiorentina that resulted in calls for the sacking of manager Luis Enrique.

Also this weekend, Milan visit Bologna, Udinese host Chievo Verona and fourth-placed Lazio visit last-placed Lecce.

Many commentators were expecting Milan to stay in front of Juve for the first time this season after the Rossoneri's 2-0 win at Genoa last Friday. But Juventus showed their resolve against Cesena two days later.

After Claudio Marchisio finally broke a 0-0 deadlock and gave Juve the lead in the 72nd minute, Conte went into his usual routine - running around wildly with his arms flailing, jumping up and down and slapping the transparent plexiglass barrier behind the bench repeatedly with both of his hands.

The celebrations are a product of the new order and poise that Conte has instilled in Juve's players.

Players like midfielder Marchisio, who is tied with forward Alessandro Matri as the club's unlikely leading scorer with six goals. Or defender Giorgio Chiellini, Italy's top centerback, who has been moved over to leftback in an audacious positional switch.

And unlike previous managers Claudio Ranieri, Ciro Ferrara, Alberto Zaccheroni and Luigi Del Neri, Conte has had the nerve to use Juventus' 37-year-old captain Alessandro Del Piero almost exclusively in a bench role - even though he was once a teammate of Del Piero's, and preceded him as captain.

Before returning to Juventus, Conte proved himself as a manager with smaller clubs Arezzo, Bari, Atalanta and Siena - leading both Bari and Siena up to the top division.

"He experiences the matches nearly like the players do," observed Roma midfielder Daniele De Rossi. "He understands football and he's given them solidity."

Conte will be without Mirko Vucinic against Roma after the forward was ruled out for three weeks with a right thigh muscle tear, while Del Piero was expected to return from a cut to his left temple in Thursday's Italian Cup match with Bologna.

Roma will be without the three players sent off against Fiorentina - defender Juan, midfielder Fernando Gago, and forward Bojan Krcic.

Krcic was widely criticized for throwing his jersey to the ground after getting sent off for a handball that left Roma with eight men and set up a penalty for Fiorentina's third goal.

Roma forward Pablo Osvaldo is set to return after serving a one-game ban for striking teammate Erik Lamela across the face after a 2-0 loss to Udinese two weeks ago.

Luis Enrique held a meeting with the squad on Tuesday to see if he has the support to continue.

"We've got to continue as we are, although we've got to continue improving and working to find this identity we're looking for," De Rossi said. "It's difficult to outline our goals right now or say where we'll finish at the end of the year because everything is new here. But I think if this squad were to finish among the top three, it would be a sporting miracle."

Roma are currently level with Cagliari and Catania in seventh, 12 points behind Juve.

Napoli, who are celebrating reaching the Champions League knock-out stages for the first time, are nine points back in fifth. And while the southern club hasn't been as impressive in Serie A, they will expect victory this weekend at newly-promoted Novara.

Inter's struggles continued with a 2-1 home loss to CSKA Moscow on Wednesday, although they had already won their group. A 1-0 home loss to Udinese last weekend left Inter just four points above the relegation zone and the Nerazzurri host Fiorentina and in-form forward Stevan Jovetic this weekend.

Inter manager Ranieri said he expects rightback Maicon and key playmaker Wesley Sneijder back from injury against Fiorentina, although captain Javier Zanetti is suspended after getting shown the first red card of his 16-year Serie A career.

"When things are going like this, you've just got to wait and sooner or later things will start going our way," Ranieri said.

Also this weekend, it's - Siena vs Genoa; Palermo vs Cesena; Atalanta vs Catania; and Cagliari vs Parma.