Come On, You Know You Smiled

There aren't many words or phrases that can bring an instant smile to the face of a grown man. The word Weasel makes most people smile, the phrase, "Carla Bruni has got her toe stuck in the tap again and needs your help with some lubrication," would bring a smile to the face of most men of a certain age. Well to those you can add Juventus v Fulham.

My first reaction was, "I never thought I'd hear those words in the same sentence, let alone the same fixture." Fulham were a football league division three side at the same time that Juventus were winning Serie A for a twenty fourth time, winning the Champions League and the World Club Championship. This is the old lady of Turin v the Corner Shop of West London.

It's obviously a measure of how far Fulham have risen in the English game but also an idea of how Juventus have slipped down a notch of two, literally when you think about their enforced relegation following the most recent bribe scandal to affect Italian football. It is also a game for the romantics, those who believe that the smaller sides should be given the opportunity to play the big boys. If the Premiership was the closed division some clubs would prefer then the likes of Fulham, Wigan, Burnley and Portsmouth would be excluded.

As for the first leg, well Juventus showed in the first half that if you give three chances to any team with half decent players in it they will score goals against you. David Trezeguet, who for my money is the most underrated striker in European footballer, showed that you don't get a collection of medals similar to his by accident and Fabio Cannavaro once again showed that he is still one of the best defenders around, even allowing for the fact he was up against Bobby Zamora.

3-1 down from the first leg the second game at Craven Cottage will be interesting and as much a culture shock to the Italian team as it was to Roma and Shaktar Donestk in previous rounds.