Juventus held in Serie B opener
Saturday, 9 September 2006 20:03Disgraced Italian giants Juventus were held to an embarrassing draw against the ten men of Rimini in the Turin club's first Serie B appearance following their relegation for their leading role in the Italian match-fixing scandal.
Didier Deschamps' side have a points total of minus 16 after starting their campaign in the second division with a 17-point deduction - the club has also been stripped of the past two Serie A titles.
When Matteo Paro had driven through a crowd of players to give them the lead on the hour mark it looked as though Juve might start off the season with a victory.
Pavel Nedved, one of several world-famous names who stayed at Juve, was then crudely fouled by Rimini's Domenico Cristiano who earned a red card.
But with 15 minutes remaining Rimini confounded the odds and delighted the 10,000 crowd with an equaliser.
A misunderstanding between Jean-Alain Boumsong and Robert Kovac allowed Adrian Ricchiuti to beat Juve's Italy World Cup-winning goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
