From the papers

August 17, 1999
Juventus Official Site

Juventus travel to Milan today to play the Rossoneri in the ninth edition of their traditional high-class friendly, the winners of which will be awarded with the Berlusconi Trophy. The match kicks off at the San Siro at 8.30 (Italian time); subscribers to Tele+ can watch the action live. La Gazzetta dello Sport today focuses on the first ever duel between Shevchenko and Inzaghi. Milan’s Ukrainian striker is expected to be on from the start, and will join Bierhoff and Weah in the attack. The Gazzetta notes that Juventus coach Ancelotti does not have a full squad to choose from, but the good news is that Alessandro Del Piero seems certain to make the starting line-up; his own preparations for the start of the season are going well. Zinedine Zidane is tipped to come on at half time.

Ancelotti warns Gazzetta readers that this will be no feeble warm-up match. "When you’re talking about a meeting between Milan and Juve, the word ‘friendly’ doesn’t exist," he says. Pippo Inzaghi isn’t taking the match lightly either: "To score in front of a crowd of 70,000 at the San Siro would give me special pleasure. I’ve already got seven in European matches so far this season, and I’m on form." By contrast, Milan ace Shevchenko has humbler pretensions, claiming to be first and foremost "at the service of my team-mates".

Tuttosport is similarly full of anticipation for the big match, which it expects to be truly spectacular. In an interview in the paper, Inzaghi warns the opposition, "Watch out, we’re back! Alex and I are in perfect harmony on the pitch, we know each other’s games so well now, and the team is getting stronger all the time."

There is a big question mark over the likelihood of Edgar Davids’ availability this evening. In a race against time he is seeing an eye specialist in Amsterdam this morning and will be in Milan by midday. Tuttosport believes that if everything goes well, he could play. Unfortunately, yesterday’s visit by his eye specialist had to be cancelled when the optician was taken ill. A decision as to his fitness will be made today, though it seems unlikely that he will get a run-out.

The Corriere dello Sport is more down-to-earth about tonight’s event, billing it above all as a test for Del Piero. It does unearth one interesting historical statistic, however, which La Stampa also picks up on. Usually, whoever wins the Berlusconi Trophy goes on to lose the Scudetto. Either way, most of Italy will be tuned into its TV sets, tonight, it acknowledges, to see the formidable Milan attack of Bierhoff, Weah and Shevchenko in action. The Corriere has lower expectations of Juventus, given the fact that so many players are ruled out.
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