After three and a half years
The grit found again
Del Piero returns to score in the Champions League and to lead his teammates

September 26, 2001
Raisport (translated by Alice)

It will not be easy for Lippi to include Del Piero on the players rotation, after the great match played yesterday night at Trondheim. 'Pinturicchio' was Juventus' leader and goal scorer, a striker and a trequartista, during 90 minutes played in high standards.

Lippi, who had benched him on Saturday at Lecce, in Serie A, thinks this pause is exactly one of the reasons behind the great performance in the cold Norwegian evening: "Resting on Saturday rest probably did him well", the black-and-white coach points out.

Del Piero agrees, but he also confirms how tough it was for him to be on the bench: "It's true, when you skip a match, you don't spend so much energy, and this energy is saved for the following matches; but, undoubtedly, I rather play all the time". There was no problem, though: it's not his style to cause trouble. Besides, Lippi is oriented to have the player on the boxes only when he really needs to take a breath.

Yesterday, Del Piero scored again in the Champions League, more than three years after his last goal, against Monaco, in the 1998 quarter-finals. "Yes, I am happy - Del Piero affirms - I'd be lying if I said otherwise. But I look to the future, to the great successes that Juventus can obtain. The squad has all it takes to be a title contender, in the championship and in the cup. Obviously, there will be many obstacles in our way, but yesterday's match, despite the remorse for the victory that escaped on the last minutes, showed we have the right spirit: if we continue our way though this road, we will draw very few matches. I liked the Juventus from Trondheim, and, it's true, I also liked the way I played".

In that "we will draw" there is still anger for an incredibly missed victory, after having created so many plays and making things difficult for Rosenborg, quickly changing the first fifteen minutes' scenario. "The regret is still big, but we can't cry over the spilt milk. Let's look to the future".

In the future there is Roma, traditional enemy of the "Old Lady": the most poisoned match of the last years will take place at the Delle Alpi Saturday night: "I think it's right to put the polemics off, even though it's normal that they exist between two ambitious squads, which were protagonists on the run for last year's Scudetto. Roma beat us by a whisker and, for us, this is an extra incentive to beat them. Our duty is to think about the external factors as least as possible".

The rule, after the Lecce brawl, is to extinguish the fire. Del Piero comments the statements of Roma president Franco Sensi: "A detail - he says - regarding the things we've heard on the last years". For 'Pinturicchio', the joke of the "damaged VCR" which saved Trezeguet from suspension "is a nice joke, actually, compared to the ones we heard in the past".

Juventus-Roma has already begun and the tickets sale is going well so far: 55 thousand supporters are expected at the Delle Alpi Saturday night.
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