From the papers

August 11, 1999
Juventus Official Site

Today’s papers are united in praise for Carlo Ancelotti’s Juventus, which tamed Rennes 2-0 in the first leg of the Intertoto Cup final last night. Inzaghi scored both goals, but it was the partnership of Alessandro Del Piero and Zinedine Zidane which really caught the eye of the pundits. Both players came on at the start of the second half, and were responsible for the Bianconeri’s most creative and exciting moves.

By contrast, Inter made a faltering display in their pre-season friendly away to St.Etienne, losing 2-1, with Christian Vieri scoring their only goal from the penalty spot. Worryingly for the Milanese side, they seemed to have made no real improvements on their recent performances.

"Juventus, you’re beautiful!", declares La Gazzetta dello Sport, citing moments of great football, above all in the second half, at the feet of the Del Piero-Zidane-Pippo Inzaghi trio. Other praise is reserved for Bachini and Van der Sar, who made one fantastic save. There’s more good news, too, for the Bianconeri. It seems that the Edgar Davids crisis is close to being solved. The Italian authorities’ medics have announced that the Dutch star could treat his glaucoma eye problem using pharmaceutical drugs which are not classified as banned substances. They added that ultimately it was Agricola’s (the Juventus club doctor’s) responsibility to decide whether or not Davids was fit to play. Tuttosport says that Juventus were "fantastic" last night, with an unleashed Inzaghi and Del Piero. Zambrotta is said to be a thoroughbred in midfield, with Bachini and Tacchinardi also showing signs of progress. The Bianconeri are already playing at a tremendously high standard, even before the season has started. Zidane was also euphoric. "Together with Del Piero and Inzaghi", the Frenchman declared, "We can win the League. If the commentators do not consider us to be among the favourites, so much the better."

"Forever Inzaghi" is the headline in the Corriere dello Sport. The Rome-based daily continues, "Juventus get off to a struggling start, Rennes hit the crossbar, and Inzaghi unlocks the game with a header". Again, Zidane and Del Piero are said to have a brilliant second half, helping to create the Bianconeri’s second goal, Inzaghi’s seventh of the tournament.

"It’s Superpippo’s Cup!" announces La Stampa, while admitting that the game improved enormously with the entrance of Zidane and Del Piero. La Stampa finds the Davids saga "absurd" though concedes that it is right that the game looks after its athletes.

Moving on to Inter, the Gazzetta observes that the Nerazzurri seemed to be doing an awful lot of running, but not much thinking. Having scored Inter’s only goal from the penalty spot, Vieri then got himself sent off for pushing the referee. Ronaldo, meanwhile, is scheduled to rejoin his team-mates on Friday, and will start training on Saturday 14 August.

Tuttosport has no sympathy for Inter. It says that defender Blanc is in crisis, Peruzzi is lacking confidence in goal, and the whole team doesn’t seem to know what it is meant to be doing.

The Corriere’s coverage is pretty much along the same lines, though it warns that Vieri’s sending off may mean he risks disqualification from the second leg match. Fiorentina and Parma are putting the final touches to their first Champions League matches later on today. Polish side Lodz have travelled to Florence to play the Viola, who will be fielding the
Batistuta-Chiesa-Mijatovic trio. The match can be seen on TMC at 8.24pm, Italian time. Parma, meanwhile, are unable to field Amoroso and Crespo and will face Glasgow Rangers in Scotland with Ortega and Di Vaio up front (Rai 2, 9pm Italian time).

Torino fans’ appeal to Ferrante, the striker who is always in trouble with the management, to stay at the club makes front-page news in Tuttosport. Torino play at Marassi this evening against Genoa.
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