There is now nothing in the way of a clash of the goal scoring machines. On Tuesday evening, Juventus coach Fabio Capello announced the return of his superstar striker: "David Trezeguet is there. He has no more problems now. He can play." The French striker has found the net in Italy on 18 occasions so far this season and is second top scorer in the Serie A.
Capello is aware though that he has a comparable strike force to face on Wednesday: "Miroslav Klose is a very important player for Werder, I know that. He's bot the top man in Germany for no reason", explained the Juve coach, who has warned his men of the attacking force of the German side. "We respect the whole front line. Aside from Klose you have to consider Johan Micoud or Valdez", interjected the Juve captain Alessandro del Piero, a player who suffered a hard to swallow Champions League defeat back in 1997 against a strong, attacking German team. With a bitter grimace the midfielder recalled the match against Borussia Dortmund: "I don't know if you can compare the games. Sure, Werder are also dangerous from set plays but I just hope it doesn't end like it did against Dortmund."
Neither del Piero nor Capello were affected by the term "Wunder von der Weser" ( the miracle on the Weser). When journalists confronted the Italian duo with stories of Werders giant killing actions at home in European competition, The coach recalled with great confidence: "I don't believe in miracles. Werder have good players and a good coach, past results won't count tomorrow. We are, as so often, favourites but we know that games are decided on the pitch. We are concentrated on the task and want to score at least one goal."
Johnnie Muldoon