Dailies digest

May 13, 1999
Juventus Official Site

Parma had the crowd spellbound in Moscow last night as they trounced Marseille 3-0 to win the Uefa Cup. The trophy caps a superb season for Malesani's team, who have also secured a Champions League place by finishing third in Serie A.

The "Gialloblu" make the headlines in today's Italian sports press. "Great Parma - you are the cup kings," says Corriere dello Sport, which waxes lyrical about the Crespo, Vanoli and Chiesa goals which crushed Marseille.

Elsewhere in the paper Juventus director general Luciano Moggi says the club are keen to speed up negotiations over Alessandro Del Piero's contract. There is more speculation over who Juve plan to sign this summer: we're told the club are sending a representative to Deportivo La Coruna in Spain to sound out Flavio Conceicao, and Arsenal's unsettled teenage striker Nicolas Anelka also apparently remains a target. Real Madrid's Clarence Seedorf, we're told, is unlikely to join Torino, with Inter Milan and Lazio the more likely destinations for the Dutch international.

Turin daily Tuttosport dedicates plenty of column inches to Parma's spectacular win, putting the seal on a superb season which will stick in the memory. There is a lot of transfer speculation too: promotion hopefuls Torino are linked to Garzya, Lassissi, Pecchia and Asprilla. There is talk of a possible Amoruso/Fonseca swap deal for Mussi, while Moggi confirms he wants del Piero to stay at Juve. The striker's future will be thrashed out in a meeting on Monday.

Meanwhile there is news of del Piero's off-field activities. The Bianconeri number 10 is offering financial backing to a new hospital in the Albanian capital Tirana. "We are proud of this because a footballer should not solely be judged by what he does on the field, but by how he conducts himself off it," the paper says. "Alex's (del Piero) feet may be among the most precious in the world, but we can still say his real value is elsewhere."

On to Zidane's operation: it will be a month before the Frenchman returns to training.
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