Del Piero to face Belgians Monday 21 November, 2005
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Alessandro Del Piero is set to start in Juve’s Champions League match against Club Brugge on Tuesday night.
No longer guaranteed a first-team place under Fabio Capello, Del Piero has nevertheless been given the go ahead to face the Belgians - in their Group A match at the Stadio Delle Alpi - due to the suspension of Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
"Del Piero will play," confirmed Juventus Coach Fabio Capello. "Del Piero, David Trezeguet, Pavel Nedved and Mauro Camoranesi will represent our attacking players."
It is rare that Capello is so open about his side before a big match, but perhaps the convincing win over Roma has restored his confidence.
Del Piero, meanwhile, is ready to take on a Brugge side that has greatly improved in the Belgian League since the two sides met on the opening day of the tournament group stages.
"It will be a hard game," he said. "We are up against a side that hopefully won’t play as well as they have got used to playing recently because, as always, we want to win. It is important for us to make the most of home advantage."
Respectful as ever, the captain is not one to make brash statements. In fact, according to the 31-year-old, this is one of the secrets to Juve’s success.
"We fear no-one but we always have the greatest respect," added the Italy icon.
"When we keep both of these two factors in mind we have much more chance of winning than if we only think about one of them."
Roma should take note. All of the hot air that emanated from Giallorossi headquarters ahead of their match with the Turin giants came to nothing and they were left suitably humiliated.
Del Piero insists that, just as his teammates avoided becoming embroiled in a war of words with Roma’s outspoken players, so it would be equally unbecoming of his side to boast about their decisive win.
"Winning in Rome was great regardless of what was said in the build-up," he revealed.
"If anything, what was said beforehand ensured that we kept playing at 100 per cent and working really hard right up until the final whistle."
Del Piero for Ibrahimovic is the only team change from the side that won 4-1 on Saturday, as Capello goes all out for the win that would guarantee the Bianconeri a place in the last 16.
A draw would even be enough for Juventus to progress to the next stage, while for Brugge, who are already guaranteed a UEFA Cup place, a share of the spoils would leave them hoping that SK Wien upset the odds to beat Bayern Munich.
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