Juventus

Ground: Juventus Stadium

Visits: 1

Date: 31st October 2012

Match: Juventus - Bologna 2-1 (Serie A)

Attendance: 38 183

The main reason for choosing Italy was the chance to visit Juventus Stadium in Turin. This ground was opened in August 2011 and has an all-seated capacity of 41 000. I knew tickets for bigger matches might be a bit difficult to get hold on but I thought a Wednesday evening against Bologna would mean I should be able to get a ticket. Ten days before the match they started to sell tickets and unlike most other clubs Juventus sell tickets on-line. I had no problems in buying tickets for Andreas and myself and was of course really looking forward to our visit to Italy´s most modern football ground.

As I woke up in Alice Bel Colle on Wednesday morning it was grey and cloudy outside. We still decided to travel to Turin on minor roads and considering the beautiful landscape it was a pity the weather wasn´t better. We finally arrived in Turin shortly before 3pm. It was by now steady rain coming down and after finding a parking place we braved the elements to walk around the stadium taking pictures. After a while we found the Juventus Museum and as we were queuing we noticed Juventus did "Matchday Special Tours" of their new stadium. The last tour was at 15.30 and the time was by now 15.25. This is what I call luck and perfect timing! During the tour it was obvious this is a very modern football stadium with most things looking top notch. We were by the pitch as well and despite all the rain you couldn´t see any water whatsoever. The pitch looked in perfect condition but from a new stadium I guess this is what to expect.

After the stadium tour we had something to eat in a nearby steakhouse before visiting the Juventus Museum. At 19.30 (kick-off 20.45) we then entered the stadium. Our seats were in Tribuna Est, close to the away supporters. Bologna brought around 800 fans to Turin this evening and they did their best to support their team during the match. Juventus started the better team but couldn´t find the net and it was 0-0 at half-time. In the second half Juventus continued to dominate and it was eventually 1-0. For some reason Juventus then stopped attacking and Bologna had more and more possession. I told Andreas a goal for Bologna would be great for neutrals like ourselves. Two minutes later Bologna did score, via the post, and the last 15 minutes were really entertaining. Juventus attacked non-stop and in the 92nd minute Paul Pogba made it 2-1. Massive celebrations inside the stadium and yet another win for Juventus. Since they moved to Juventus Stadium they have actually never lost a home league match. This was my 250th ground visit and I was quite pleased it turned out to be such a great match.

juventus fc