14 December 2007

Marcello Lippi at the Juventus Center

A pleasant surprise on the eve of the match in Rome: Marcello Lippi paid a visit to the Juventus Center in Vinovo. The former Juventus manager and World Cup winner had been invited by Claudio Ranieri when the two men met last Monday in Turin, at a talk given to present a book about the Avvocato Giovanni Agnelli.

Lippi arrived early in Vinovo together with Ciro Ferrara and, after visiting Juventus Center's Youth Academy facilities, he watched the first team training session, the last one before leaving for the capital.

Before meeting everyone, Lippi gave an interview to Juventus Channel that will be shown during the 231 Live programme at 3 pm. He spoke about today's Juventus, comparing it with “his” old Juventus teams, and previewed Saturday night's game: “I'd never been here in Vinovo and I have to pay my compliments to everybody, it really is a great facility. This team isn't the strongest? Even when I managed Juventus, often they weren't the strongest, but they would win in the end thanks to their mentality. Ranieri is doing a great job and also the big stars that have stayed, as they're transmitting the right mentality to the younger players. Lazio? They're always dangerous and they'll want to erase the Champions League disappointment”.