++ [ originally posted by Zizou ] ++
In terms of popularity and love, DP filled Baggio's shoes and more. However one cannot really compare the players just on the basis of DP winning more Scudetti than Baggio as that was a team achievement.
Anyone who was following Juve from the early 90s know that that team was Baggio dependent (it was even nicknamed that way). Every weekend he would score and lead the team on his shoulders. He was the only player we could rely on cos the rest of the team was average/good.
Every season Baggio would be out injured for a month and during that month Juve would lose the title to Milan cos we fail to score and win games. Sad but true (check the stats for those years if you don't believe me).
That's why he won the Golden Ball cos single handedly he led Juve consistently for 5 years. DP, good as he might have been in 1998, did not single handedly lead the team cos the squad was much better than the one Baggio had at his disposal.
IMO the early 90s Juve side overachieved only thanks to Baggio. With crap players like Zavarov and inconsistent ones like Moeller, the best we could achieve was 4th or 5th, but Baggio always gave that extra more which helped us reach 2nd place in most seasons.
Juve would have still won the Scudetto (bar 98 probably) with or without DP, that's why I believe that Baggio was more important for Juve in footballing terms.
Obviously as I said before, DP has become more popular through the years, even though at his peak Baggio was adored by most fans all over the world, that's why in the case then yes he did fill his shoes. If Baggio was given the opportunity to play in a star studded side like DP was, then also Baggio would have had the same trophies (if not more).