From the papers

August 29, 1999
Juventus Official Site

After yesterday's curtain-raiser between Bologna and Torino (a 0-0 draw), the 98th Serie A campaign gets underway officially today. The pressure is on Juventus to uphold their tradition as the Grande Dame of Italian football and launch a serious challenge for Scudetto No 26. Watching the televised match against Reggina (Tele+ at 8.30pm, local time) will be thousands of fans, all eager to see for themselves what kind of shape Ancelotti's men are in. Alessandro Del Piero, returning to the Serie A stage for the first time since his injury last November, features prominently in today's papers. The Bianconeri star has thrown down the gauntlet to the rest of Serie A. Gazzetta dello Sport proclaims "Del Piero is back" and offers the following quotes from the Juventus striker: "I am ready, the side is stronger, we want the title. I am not yet fully fit but the knee is fine."

Corriere dello Sport's headline is "Hunger for success", below which we read of Del Piero's targets for the new season: "A Champions League place is our minimum objective. But I also want to win the UEFA Cup and...". Tuttosport follows a similar line with the headline "Del Piero's title ambition". Del Piero tells the paper: "The Champions League is our target but we can win the title. The injury has matured me - even starting to walk again was a special moment." La Stampa labels the Bianconeri star "the leader of a stronger Juve".

Juventus coach Carlo Ancelotti is a figure of calm amid the excitement surrounding the new season. He says he wants "a fired-up Juventus" (Tuttosport), he knows "there is still some fine tuning to be done, but we have put in some excellent work", and he describes his mood as optimistic - "Lazio are the favourites but I am looking at Alex and his new state of mind" (Corriere).

Reggina will not be there to just make up the numbers and their coach Franco Colomba tells Corriere: "We're going out there to win. We're going to do ourselves justice."

Turning to Juventus, Tuttosport offers the following transfer speculation: "Keane and Campbell two for the future. Agnelli approves." Meanwhile, Nicola Amoruso may be moving to Perugia, although the player has some reservations about the deal.
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