From the papers

October 13, 2000
Juventus Official Site

Carlo Ancelotti's words on Alex Del Piero's Italy performance takes centre stage in much of the press this morning.

The Gazzetta dello Sport celebrates Del Piero's all-firing performance on Wednesday night, but points out that he now needs to be ready for three games in nearly a week. In fact, Alex's contribution will be all the more important given that the Bianconeri will be without the services of the creative talents of Zinedine Zidane in the midweek trip to La Coruña, due to a two match suspension.

"The turn about came with the goal against Napoli - one of those goals typical of Alex," explained the manager. "Enthusiasm will help him...he's going through a positive period of form today. It will be important for the intense seven days of Serie A and Champions League we face," he added.

Del Piero has had a difficult time over the last year, with many beginning to doubt he would ever return to the top of his form after suffering serious injury, but Serie A is hoping that it will finally be able to welcome back a player who has been so important for Italian football in the past.

The Corriere dello Sport also looks to Del Piero. "Alex takes Juve in hand" headlines the Rome daily before speculating that He will play as a striker against Eugenio Fascetti's Bari, and a playmaker in the Champions League.

Meanwhile, Filippo Inzaghi is not recovering from the 'flu reports the Corriere rather worryingly. But for Fascetti that's just not enough, "Take out Alex as well!" he urges.

The paper also reports that the Bianconero club has declared an interest in the 18-year-old Bari prodigy Antonio Cassano.

We all know that Tuttosport finds transfer stories irresistible, so unsurprisingly, that's where they concentrate their attention. Valerio Bertotto, the Udinese defender, who on Wednesday made his debut for the Azzurri under Giovanni Trapattoni, "is in Juve's sights" reports the Turin daily. It also carries news of Juve's interest in Cassano. "Cassano is of great interest to us - now he just needs to confirm his talent," Ancelotti is quoted as saying when asked about Bari's talented striker.
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