From the papers
March 2, 2001
Juventus Official Site
The Gazzetta dello Sport
describes Juve and Lazio as being together against Roma, in the quest for
the scudetto. Zidane, who played superbly, scoring a magical goal for France
against Germany in the week, is described as being integral in Juve's campaign
for the scudetto, not least because he has "now become a true leader".
Meanwhile, Pessotto reveals in an interview that he is feeling very calm
under the pressure to win the scudetto, even suggesting that; "it can be
an advantage to have to win every week."
In the Corriere dello Sport,
Cragnotti at Lazio is described as being inspired by Juve's recent excellent
form, as well as believing that Roma will start to slip up soon. Van Der
Saar is celebrating his new run of 279 minutes without conceding a goal;
presently the best record in Serie A. Finally, Pessotto is quoted as saying
that regarding disciplinary matters in football, "Here in Italy, the guilty
players remain unpunished."
Tuttosport leads with further
rumours concerning Juve's interest in Arsenal's French midfielder Patrick
Viera. It is claimed that Juve will try to persuade Arsenal to sell, by
offering two incentives; first the possibility of a swap deal involving
Kovacevic, and secondly a promise on Juve's behalf to reject their option
on Djetou, therefore leaving Arsenal to compete solely with Inter for the
young Brazilian's signing. Back on the field, Ancelotti has concerns over
Inzaghi for the clash on Sunday at Udine, as Pippo returned from international
duty with a slight injury. However it is hoped that he will be okay for
Sunday. Pessotto has vowed that Juve "will not concede defeat to Roma in
the battle for the Scudetto, as Roma could still trip themselves up". At
Udinese, it is thought that Conte will come off the bench and resume his
place on the pitch. Del Piero has a more personal target for the game,
wanting to score an important goal to help him forget the great misfortune
of three years ago at the same stadium. Finally, at Udinese, Fiore has
railed against his club's decision to withdraw him from the match, saying
that; "This withdrawal is absurd, and it will make it much harder for the
club to beat Juve"
.