Del Piero believes in Scudetto

Del Piero believes in Scudetto
Sunday 1 February, 2009

Alessandro Del Piero still believes Juventus can take the title despite two consecutive defeats. “I’m not too worried.”

They were just three points away last week, but if Inter beat Torino this afternoon then the gap will be nine points.

“We still believe, even if it is difficult to say that now,” insisted Del Piero after last night’s 3-2 loss to Cagliari.

“It was easier to make such a statement 10 days ago. The last week has been terrible, but we can hope that the same will happen to whoever is ahead of us.

“This is a period in which all the big clubs are struggling a bit. We hope to get as many players as possible back from injury and for example hope [Giorgio] Chiellini has nothing serious.”

Chiellini and Cristiano Zanetti both limped off during the game with recurring muscular problems that already kept them sidelined for long periods this season.

Del Piero is struggling to understand how Juve’s 41-year unbeaten home record against Cagliari was ended when they were leading 2-1 at half-time.

“It was an odd game with all sorts of things happening. We started well, went behind, then turned it around. We seemed in control and then…

“This is a tough moment for us and we have to roll our sleeves up. We’re not doing well and did not create the usual number of scoring opportunities, so we need to shake our ideas up.”

Nonetheless, the Juventus legend is confident they will overcome their current difficulties.

“We have the quality to make up for these problems and I am not massively worried. We have a good opportunity to make a change on Wednesday in the Coppa Italia against Napoli, as that is a one-off game that could send us to the semi-final.”

Juve also risk being distracted by the Amauri saga, as the striker received a call-up from Brazil, but as it was after the FIFA deadline, the club announced it would not release him.

This leaves the door open for Amauri to eventually choose Italy instead once his citizenship comes through.

“Who should he choose? Well, one way or the other, he’ll end up with a good solution,” smiled Del Piero.

“He has to follow his heart and that which meant more to him during these years. It is not an easy decision, but there are worse…”

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