Juventus Look to Lay Ghosts to Rest
Friday 25th August 2000
Juventus will have to drown out some bad memories of Hamburg, Panathanaikos and
Deportivo La Coruna if they are to qualify from Champions' League Group E.
Memories of SV Hamburg will probably be fresh in the minds of many Juventus
supporters after the Turin giants succumbed to the Germans in the European Cup
final in Athens in 1983.
Panathanaikos, who play in the city of Athens, have the Portuguese midfielder in
their ranks. Sousa was a key member of the Borussia Dortmund side that defeated
Juventus in the 1997 Champions' League final.
Finally, Deportivo La Coruna will also be looking to cause an upset like their
fellow Spaniards Celta Vigo did last season.
Carlo Ancelotti is not sure what to make of the draw. "It's a medium group:
could be better but could be worse," said the Juventus coach.
"Deportivo are very strong Spanish champions. But pay attention also to
Panathinaikos, who fought until the end for the last Greek championship. I don't
know about Hamburg.
"I'm sure that we will be ready for 13 September. We have a little advantage:
two consecutive home matches," he added.
Striker Pippo Inzaghi also feels that his side have a great chance. He feels
that Group E is "between the terrible group of Milan and the easy group of
Lazio," in terms of quality of teams.
Juventus' vice-chairman and former player Roberto Bettega said: "I have bad
memories of Hamburg. It was the last match of my career and we lost to a goal
from Magath. But the players of today don't remember that match. The memory is
really terrible, but we can cancel it out."
