It was a little surprising that with all the big names touring the U.S. this summer, that no Italian were involved. Well that changed with the news that Juventus, the 27-time Italian champion, will play three friendlies in America in late July.

Only one of the three games has been formally announced and it is a good one.

While everyone else with the club was busy with the Derby d'Italia this weekend (and successfully so), a few poor souls in the tech department were busy with Photoshop and some age-predicting software in the case of Andrea Pirlo. The result is some Halloween images of their frightening employees of prominence.

At the end of a disappointing season this week has been a busy time for Juventus Director General Beppe Marotta who, after sacking coach Gigi Delneri has also seemingly sealed the arrival of club idol Antonio Conte to replace him. Yesterday the club announced, via their official website, the free transfer of Italian World Cup winner Andrea Pirlo who left Champions Milan last week.

Alberto Aquilani's fading hopes of securing a full-time move to Juventus are expected to be dashed once and for all when Antonio Conte is officially unveiled as the Turin club's new coach.
Juventus turned to Conte to replace the sacked Luigi Del Neri shortly after agreeing a cut-price £8million fee with Liverpool to turn Aquilani's season-long loan into a permanent transfer.

I am sure you have heard all the old and tired descriptions of Italian football before. The coaches play too defensively, employing the dreaded Catanaccio, and therefore too boring for the rest of the spectating soccer world. While I never have agreed with those in the media who perpetuate these stereotypes, it appears this season we may finally have the ammunition to combat these views and change the perception of Italian football.

Alvaro Pereira, who is perceived as Liverpool's main target to fill the void in the left-back position, is now reportedly being chased by the likes of Arsenal and Juventus.

Pereira recently capped off a fantastic year when he helped guide Uruguay to a famous Copa America win, merely two months after claiming Portuguese glory as well as the Europa League title with FC Porto.

At the end of a disappointing season this week has been a busy time for Juventus Director General Beppe Marotta who, after sacking coach Gigi Delneri has also seemingly sealed the arrival of club idol Antonio Conte to replace him. Yesterday the club announced, via their official website, the free transfer of Italian World Cup winner Andrea Pirlo who left Champions Milan last week.

E' il grande giorno, il primo in bianconero, per Antonio Conte, ufficialmente nuovo allenatore della Juventus. La societ del presidente Andrea Agnelli consegna dunque (per i prossimi due anni) la squadra bianconera nelle mani del 42enne tecnico leccese, reduce dalla grande e felice esperienza con il Siena (dopo il burrascoso esonero dall'Atalanta), promosso direttamente in [.

Mentre il pm di Napoli chiede 5 anni e 8 mesi per l'ex dg Luciano Moggi, ancora sotto processo per la "sporca" vicenda di Calciopoli, a Torino fremono le attese per l'acquisto del "gioiello" che impreziosisca la rosa bianconera e faccia felice il nuovo tecnico, Antonio Conte; il giovane presidente Andrea Agnelli ha in mente [.

In attesa dei grandi colpi di calciomercato, alcune panchine di Serie A cambiano padrone in questi giorni. Abbiamo gi raccontato ampiamente di Luis Enrique, che guider la riscossa della Roma, protagonista di un'annata parecchio deludente, e di Antonio Conte che cercher di risollevare le sorti di una Juventus franata fuori dall'Europa al termine di una [.

Serie A has already saluted the 2010-11 season and many teams are already planning for 2011-12. Part of the planning process takes into account that timeless fixture that is truly a staple of Serie A: the coaching carousel. Many of last season's coaches have either already been sacked or departed on their own terms and only a select few managed to confirm their spots on the bench for next.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish is prepared to let midfielder Alberto Aquilani leave for as little as £8million just two years after Liverpool paid £17m for the Italian international.
Aquilani spent last season on loan at Italian giants Juventus and despite impressing many with his assured performances in the centre of midfield was told that he would not be signed on a permanent deal after the club appointed Antonio Conte as their new manager.

Photo by Testuggine+1

Whenever a club appoints a successful former player as manager, many in the media wonder why clubs the world over turn towards what appears to be nothing more than sentimentality in the selection process for perhaps its most important employee. And, quite honestly, I understand this criticism.

Photo by Jacopo J. Modesti

Juventus announced today the signing of Montenegro international Mirko Vucinic, ending the clubs long search for an impact striker. The former Roma star will cost the Turin club 15 million euro, a significantly smaller fee than the club had been willing to pay for their previous targets.

Liverpool midfielder Alberto Aquilani could soon find himself returning to Juventus amid reports of coach Antonio Conte opting to implement a three-man midfield system, according to La Gazzetta dello Sport.
The Anfield outfit is reportedly willing to negotiate at a reduced price, surprisingly as low as €6 million, and the new arrival of Mirko Vucinic at Juventus has also given Antonio Conte food for thought in regards to his tactical philosophy for the upcoming season.

Photo by ToniCM_38

So far this summer, Juventus has spent money all over the pitch, already adding ten players to their books as of this writing. But despite spending somewhere in the range of 70 million euros on new transfer fees and making permanent loan deals from last season, the biggest buzz the Turin giants created this offseason comes from a free signing.

Before Sunday night Juventus' start to the season hadn't been anything to write home about. Laboured performances against Siena, Bologna and Catania had eroded some of the optimism born from the opening day's 4-1 thrashing of Parma. The Vecchia Signora took five points from these games but their displays were arduous: plenty of heart, but little fluidity or panache.

Serie A leaders Juventus came from 2 goals down to draw with Napoli at the San Paolo stadium in a enthralling Serie A fixture last night. Goals from Hamsik and Pandev in the first half put the host in the driving seat and in position to secure all points on offer before a resurgent Bianconeri responded with goals from Matri, Marcelo Estigarribia and Simone Pepe saved Juventus from suffering their first loss of the season.

Another exciting match is upon on us Monday when two of the historically best teams in Italy collide in the country's capital, as Juventus travel to face Roma. This will be the Old Lady's fifth game in a little over two weeks. Juventus are coming in with blistering form as they continue to get positive results.

Gazzetta dello Sport Milan assist for Juve The Rossoneri are stumped (2-0) by Bologna. Di Vaio and Diamanti are goalscorers. Antonio Conte's team take on Roma in Rome at the stadio Olimpico tonight. The Bianconeri could move four points ahead of their rivals. Luis Enrique hangs in the balance: "Resignation?

Here we go again with Serie A Weekly giving you a list of five stories to read this lunchtime that we have seen from around the web and enjoyed ourselves. Many of these will be about Italian football of course but there is always room for something different and those will be here too. Take a look at our recommendations, pass them on and be sure to leave a comment on these great articles.

TURIN, Italy — Luigi Delneri confirmed on Saturday that as expected he would not be Juventus coach next season after he failed to guide them to either a trophy or barring a miracle a place in European competition next season. The 60-year-old who arrived this season after a successful spell with Sampdoria where he [.

Il secondo anno zero è terminato con un risultato fallimentare.

Bisogna stare molto attenti anche a parlare di ennesima ricostruzione. Non si può pensare di riedificare lo stesso immobile ogni anno.

Mettiamola così; la stagione appena trascorsa è stata l'anno zero dell'avvento di Andrea Agnelli.

Chiuso il campionato di Serie A, impazza il toto-allenatore. Alcuni tecnici saranno confermati, altri prepareranno le valigie. Molte panchine cambieranno, a partire da quella della Juventus, che ha gi salutato Delneri e si prepara ad abbracciare una vecchia bandiera come Antonio Conte, protagonista della promozione del Siena.

New Juventus signing Andrea Pirlo believes that he can provide a major contribution to help Juventus return to being a top team in Italian football. Pirlo, who signed from Serie A rivals AC Milan on a three year contract, arrives at the Stadio Delle Alpi on a free transfer. The 72 capped Italian midfielder hopes to bring glory back to the city of Turin, with Juventus not winning a Scudetto since the 2002-03 season.

While any real transfer decisions at Tottenham may have to wait until the speculation over Harry Redknapp is dealt with one way or another, there have been some interesting stories coming out of Italy today.

The papers keep referring to Wilson Palacios and suggesting that he has to make a fresh start in Serie A following his well publicised family tragedy and today, Napoli have emerged as candidates for his signature.

Liverpool manager Kenny Dalglish is prepared to let midfielder Alberto Aquilani leave for as little as £8million just two years after Liverpool paid £17m for the Italian international.
Aquilani spent last season on loan at Italian giants Juventus and despite impressing many with his assured performances in the centre of midfield was told that he would not be signed on a permanent deal after the club appointed Antonio Conte as their new manager.

Sergio Aguero: Striker, surely. Argentine, indubitably. Statement of intent? Quite possibly. After putting himself on the transfer market, via Twitter of all places, the Atletico Madrid striker has become one of the hottest strikers available, albeit with an immensely high price tag. If Juventus can somehow scrape the money together however, the move may pay off immensely.

Gazzetta dello Sport Marotta: "I'll construct a quality Juve" Coppola is Torino's, Meggiorini almost Hamsik: Yes, I want a big club Inter: Banega or Alvarez Destro to Siena: It's done Chievo sign Hetemaj Novara: Now Garcia emerges Tuttosport Waiting for Rossi Juve get to work at Bardonecchia.

Juventus 2011/2012 Kits - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Even though our home leaked shirt for Juventus were quite off but the away shirt leak was spot on as Juventus reveal their Nike manufactured 2011/2012 kits.

After a disappointing 10th place finish last season, Antonio Conte has been given charge at the club as the manager.

Antonio Conte da Lecce siede ora su una panchina di una squadra con la quale, sul campo, si può dire, ha vinto tutto in Italia e fuori. La Signora si è affidata dunque ad una tempra di casa propria per ridare credibilit e lustro ad una squadra negli ultimi tempi anonima e noiosissima a vedersi. [.

Dopo l'addio di Jeremy Menez, ceduto al Paris Saint-Germain di Leonardo, anche quello di Mirko Vucinic dalla Roma a stelle e strisce è cosa assodata. Destinazione Torino e la Juventus di Antonio Conte. L'attaccante montenegrino ha salutato Roma (dopo 5 anni e quasi 50 goals in 147 presenze) per farsi accogliere a Torino per le [.

Typical Mirko, it was inevitable wasn't it? A big game player by design, scoring against one of the titans of modern day English football on the greatest club stage in the world. In fact, nearly every facet of that goal simply oozed of the Montenegrin, an epitome of the way he played. It was his second of the night, and Roma's third.

Ce ne sar per tutti i gusti stasera al Trofeo Tim: la prima Inter senza Eto'o (in partenza destinazione Russia), il bis di Cassano al San Nicola, il grande ritorno di Antonio Conte. Saranno in 50mila stasera allo stadio, un pienone insomma in quel di Bari. Ovviamente al San Nicola non ci andranno solo i [.

For most clubs in Italy, finishing seventh in Serie A for two consecutive seasons would be considered a positive result. But for a club like Juventus, it is nothing short of a crisis. Since their banishment to Serie B, Juventus has lacked the consistent top-of-the-table finishes they had become so used to, and as a result have lost their status as a european giant.

Juve been busy The Old Lady of Italian football has not been quietly knitting during the recently closed transfer window. Manager Antonio Conte's wheeling and dealing amounted to a staggering 14 players coming to Turin, while five went out the door. In: Reto Ziegler (Sampdoria, free), Alessandro Matri (Cagliari, €15.

Gazzetta dello Sport Ibra KO, go for it Pato! Gasperini Changes: Here is why Hamsik goal towards City, delirium for Lavezzi Buffon: "I looked at Pirlo and thought there is a God..." Mangia: €2,368 for beating Inter Toro go top Pozzi double, Samp fly Tuttosport Conte makes love to Juve Toro, Bianchi scream!

Serie A finally got underway last weekend and the main story to come out of it was a team of the week Juventus with an opening day 4-1 win over Parma in the beautiful new Juventus stadium. Sunday afternoon saw match day 3 underway (unofficially day 2) with Juventus traveling to newly promoted Siena. An attack-minded Juventus was a joy to watch with their attacking 4-4-2 formation (4-2-4).

Siena: Finalmente esordio al Franchi! Di Emanuele La Veglia Finalmente è arrivato! Il tanto atteso esordio casalingo dopo venti giorni di attesa è alle porte. Siena si veste a festa con un tutto esaurito gi annunciato da giorni ed un'attesa che cresce sempre più. Sar un inizio con il botto, arriva la Juventus del grande ex Antonio Conte, che ha lavorato per un anno e mezzo coi toscani.

Although Juventus and Manchester United come from completely different footballing cultures, there is a remarkable similarity between the two clubs, and not interms of domestic triumphs, European successes, and being recognized as two of the most popular clubs in their respective countries. Rather, I'm talking about this season in particular.