JUVE TO GET ON WITH IT

"This season we have been without the services of some key players. It is not easy to do without the likes of Igor Tudor, David Trezeguet, Antonio Conte, Gianluca Pessotto and Gianluca Zambrotta - but that was the situation we had to deal with for the first few months of this season," he added.

“When these things happen there are two ways of reacting, either crying or getting to work and showing that Juve has the strength to react. It is not Juventus' style to cry. We have lost an important striker but we still have three strikers that can substitute Del Piero: Marco Di Vaio, Marcelo Salas and Marcelo Zalayeta.”

“I think there will be a good balance between Manchester United and Juventus and I can’t say who will win,” he said.

“Ferguson and I are great friends. There’s a good relationship of mutual respect. I’m very happy that he has a good opinion of me because I see him as a special person, and very good from a technical point of view.”