Pressure Is All On Roma, Claims Inzaghi
Friday 20th April 2001
Juventus striker Pippo Inzaghi has stressed his side can still win the Scudetto ahead of Sunday's vital clash with Parma. "The teams doing the chasing have won the last two titles and Roma will probably feel the pressure more than us," he said.
Second-placed Juve trail leaders Roma by four points with eight games to go, but face a stiff test on Sunday when they travel to Parma, who are battling hard for a Champions' League place.
"It will be a very tough game for us, said Inzaghi. "They played bravely on Wednesday against Lazio and lost 1-0. But we need to win to close the gap on Roma."
Parma are well aware of the game's importance, defender Fabio Cannavaro saying: "We have to play Juventus as if it were a final.
"We have to think of our goal - to qualify for the Champions' League. We have a three-point lead over Milan and Atalanta, who are joint-fifth. We have to keep that advantage if we want to succeed in reaching our target."
Of Wednesday's 1-0 defeat at Lazio, he said: "I think we were unlucky on the night. We played good football and had chances to score and I think we deserved to equalise at least."
Cannavaro was a central figure when these two sides met towards the end of last season. With Juventus - going for the title with Lazio - leading 1-0 in the last minute, Cannavaro equalised with a header but referee De Santis controversially disallowed the goal.
"I whistled because I saw there was a foul," Massimo De Santis stressed. But television replays showed there was nothing wrong with the goal.
Now Cannavaro is anxious to put the memories of that defeat behind him. "There's no reason to remember that day. Each time Parma meet Juventus it is a very important match anyway," he said.
Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon added: "We can beat them. We have the Champions' League place to play for and need to attack them."
