From the papers

September 27, 2000
Juventus Official Site

Juve's 0-0 draw at home to the Spanish Champions Deportivo was not well received by the Italian press.

The Gazzetta dello Sport highlights Juve's poor performance and the fact the team left the pitch to the whistles of the home support. Filippo Inzaghi failed three times in front of goal, while the Spaniards went close themselves on more than one occasion in the second half. What's more, Zinedine Zidane was sent off for a bad foul, and Alex Del Piero only came on for the last twenty minutes.

Once again the club's honorary vice president, Umberto Agnelli has had to step in in the Del Piero saga, stating that "We will have to wait some more to see the old Del Piero."

Inzaghi states simply, "What bad luck," although with Deportivo's second half performance, one might argue that luck was even.

The Corriere dello Sport says, "a grey Juve. The quality of their game had about as much colour as their shirts." The paper contends that, given the performance, there can be no complaints about the point won. Deportivo in particular had some great chances, and only a top draw Edwin Van der Sar performance saved the home team.

Alessio Tacchinardi was one of the few Juve players to have a good game, while Edgar Davids looks to be on his way back to full fitness. Del Piero, on the other hand, was an anonymous presence.

Carlo Ancelotti wasn't disheartened, however, saying: "You'll see. After the Napoli game we will see that Juve are back on track for the Champions League also. The fifteen days break will help me there. Trezeguet got a start because I thought he would give us more chances on the break. If Zidane had stayed on, who knows what would have happened..."

When asked about Deportivo, the Umberto Agnelli was dismissive. "They're just a bunch of divers. Zidane never even touched Emerson."

Tuttosport also maintains Juve were lucky to nick a point, given that they were caught in what the Turin daily calls a "hurricane". Once again Van der Sar is given the credit for keeping the game scoreless. While the assessment of Del Piero is that he came on only to fail to make an impression.

Aside from Van der Sar, the ratings for most of the team were rock-bottom. A "nightmare" is how Tuttosport defined Zidane's evening while the adjective "bad" was enough for Trezeguet.

Several papers note that the players left the pitch with heads bowed, among calls for Vialli Vialli!.
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