Lucarelli to Miss Juventus Clash
Friday 15th December 2000
Lecce have been stung by the news that their star striker Cristiano Lucarelli is definitely out of Sunday's visit of Juventus, although Croatian forward Davor Vugrinec has been ruled fit to start.
Lecce coach Alberto Cavasin has confirmed that Lucarelli, who has still not recovered from a knock that he received to his left knee in training on Friday, will not play any part in Sunday's game.
Now Vugrinec, who has shaken off a muscle strain injury, looks certain to pair up with crowd favourite, Argentinian Aldo Osorio, in attack.
The Lecce coach said: "No, Lucarelli will not be fit in time. Vugrinec, however, has recovered from his injury and he is a certain starter on Sunday."
The match is almost certainly going to be a sell-out as the locals set their sights on a giant-killing, but Cavasin is not taking anything for granted.
"Any game with Juventus is going to be difficult by itself without having to worry about which of your regular forwards are going to fit in time," explained Cavasin. "We will concentrate on our game in order to try to balance out these technical problems - that means playing with speed and determination."
Defensive duo Matteo Pivotto and Gianluca Colonello are the only two other injury concerns for Cavasin.
Juventus coach Carlo Ancelotti, on the other hand, has a wealth of talent to choose from, although forward Alessandro De Piero could miss the game through injury. The only other doubt for Ancelotti is defender Mark Iuliano, who has a hip injury.
Iuliano will be replaced by Gianluca Pessotto, while Filipo Inzaghi will partner France striker David Trezeguet in attack.
Lecce (probable): Chimenti, Juarez, Viali, Savino, Balleri, Giorgetti, Piangerelli, Conticchio, Tonetto, Vugrinec, Osorio
Juventus (probable): Van der Sar, Birindelli, Ferrara, Tudor, Pessotto, Conte, Davids, Tacchinardi, Zidane, Inzaghi, Trezeguet
