Just three years ago Juve were facing up to the fact they’d be playing in Serie B after being found guilty of match-fixing.

Now, they sit third in Serie A with two games to go but that is not good enough for the Old Lady of Turin. The risk they might miss out on an automatic Champions League spot was too great.

Claudio Ranieri has been sacked despite doing wonders last term when they comfortably finished third.

His team beat Real Madrid home and away this season in the Champions League and they reached the Italian Cup semi-finals.

Juve have been riddled with injuries, Alessandro Del Piero suddenly stopped scoring at the turn of the year yet the run of seven league games without a win is deemed as Ranieri’s fault.

Like when he was dumped by Chelsea, Ranieri has carried himself with great dignity through recent weeks when the media and most of his own fans were calling for his head.

But at Italy’s biggest supported club and the most successful domestically, there is no place to hide.

PHOTO: Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri looks on during thier Italian Serie A soccer match against Lecce at the Olympic stadium in Turin, May 3, 2009. REUTERS/Alessandro Garofalo

Jose Mourinho will clash with old foe Alex Ferguson in the Champions League last 16 with holders Manchester United playing Inter Milan.

It is England v Italy twice more with Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri facing former club Chelsea while Arsenal and Roma, two teams who love to play the beautiful game, also meet.

Real Madrid against Liverpool will also be special for Madrid-born Rafael Benitez. Here’s the draw. What do you make of it?

Chelsea v Juventus

Villarreal v Panathinaikos

Sporting Lisbon v Bayern Munich

Atletico Madrid v Porto

Olympique Lyon v Barcelona

Real Madrid v Liverpool

Arsenal v AS Roma

Inter Milan v Manchester United

It’s hard to think of two coaches in the world with such an apparent dislike of one another as Inter’s Jose Mourinho and Juve’s Claudio Ranieri.

Even Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger have got on better of late and the only coach to have real gripes with new Argentina boss Diego Maradona is Scotland no. 2 Terry Butcher.

The feud between Mourinho and Ranieri, which comes to the boil in Saturday’s match between Serie A leaders Inter and in-form Juve, originated at Chelsea where the Special One took over from the sacked Italian in 2004 and promptly went and won two Premier League titles.

The usually modest Ranieri feels he deserves more credit for building up the Chelsea team ahead of Mourinho’s arrival (Petr Cech and Arjen Robben for example) but the confident Portuguese is having none of it, saying Ranieri’s English at Chelsea was laughable and implying the 57-year-old is past his sell by date.

Their contrasting styles and the already strong rivalry between the two clubs promises fireworks this weekend, with Juve able to join Inter at the top with a win. ‘Grudge match’ is a horrid cliche, but just this once I think it applies.

Inter v Juve is actually known as the ‘Derby of Italy’ because they have battled against each other for the title so often.

The rivalry is fiercer than Inter v AC Milan in many respects. Remember, Inter were given the title when Juve were stripped of the scudetto and demoted in 2006. Inter then signed Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Patrick Vieira off their rivals to further infuriate fans of the Turin-based club.

Despite talk of the two managers making peace, they will probably end up disliking each other even more after Saturday.

PHOTO: Claudio Ranieri blows a kiss to Chelsea fans knowing his days are numbered at the London club back in May 2004 REUTERS

The press in both Italy and Britain are speculating that Juventus want Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez to replace Claudio Ranieri.

On face value the rumour looks plausible.

Juve have not won in four games and there is talk of dressing room unrest while Benitez has obviously had his run-ins with the bosses at Anfield, which is looking no nearer to demolition and a nearby stadium built.

Looking at the situation closely, however, and the story seems like a tabloid tale on a quiet day.

Yes Juve have not had a great start but Sunday’s 2-1 home defeat by Palermo was only their first loss of the season. The Turin side are also struggling with injuries.

The club hierarchy have fully backed Ranieri while it is an interesting fact that Juve have not sacked any coach since Luis Carniglia back in 1969. Lippi, Deschamps, Capello etc all resigned.

There also seems less reason at the moment for Benitez to quit or be forced out at Liverpool. Fans are actually beginning to believe that this could finally be their year in the Premier League after an exciting start.

Rafa wouldn’t want to drag his Spanish contingent off to Italy just yet.