Trezeguet eyes Charles’ record
The French striker has netted 104 times for Juve, one short of the number achieved by the ‘Gentle Giant’ during his five years in Turin.
Welshman Charles, who died in February 2004, was voted by Juve fans their most loved foreign player, having helped the Turin giants win the Scudetto three times in the 1950s.
There’s nothing that would please Trezeguet more than for his name to appear alongside that of the Swansea-born star.
“I am extremely proud to continue to climb such a prestigious chart and to be part of the history of Juventus,” Trezeguet said.
Fabio Capello’s outfit will need all the inspiration they can get from Trezeguet if they wish to bounce back from Saturday’s 3-1 defeat at AC Milan that brought an end to their otherwise impeccable start to the campaign.
After nine consecutive league victories, the slip at the San Siro was a bitter blow for the team’s morale despite Juve still leading the Serie A standings with a two-point advantage over Milan.
“Against Milan it didn’t go as planned,” admitted Trezeguet.
“We must now focus on clinching a victory against Bayern Munich in what is set to be a very difficult game.”
Juve lost 2-1 to Bayern at the Allianz Arena two weeks ago - a result which allowed the German champions to take sole possession of top spot in the group.
Juve will be without defender Jonathan Zebina who had an appendix operation last night.
The good news for the Bianconeri is the return of goalkeeper Christian Abbiati, who missed last weekend’s game due to personal problems.
Bayern only need a point at the Delle Alpi to advance to the next stage.
Bayern travel to Turin without striker Roque Santa Cruz, who tore cruciate knee ligaments at the weekend and will be out for six months.
Both Club Brugge and Rapid Vienna are struggling to keep the pace in Group A.
Defeat for either side could mean the end and Brugge coach Jan Ceulemans is putting his hopes in attacking midfielder Rune Lange who is returning after injury problems.
Rapid have been hit by the blow of losing their Austrian international Andreas Ivanschitz who is still sidelined after feeling ill on the team bus last week.
In Arsenal’s Group B, Ajax will be without defender Hatem Trabelsi for their clash with Swiss outfit FC Thun. The right back is suffering with a hamstring injury which he picked up against SC Heerenveen.
Striker Angelos Charisteas has also not travelled to Switzerland as he continues to have problems following the concussion he sustained in the match against Arsenal four weeks ago.
FC Thun are just a point behind their Dutch opponents in the table with three points to their name.
In Group C, Barcelona striker Lionel Messi is set to be given a starting place as the Catalan club look to ensure their passage into the next round with victory over Panathinaikos at the Nou Camp.
Argentinian sensation Messi will be given a starting berth, possibly instead of Ludovic Giuly, and in midfield Thiago Motta, who came off the bench at the weekend, could take the place of Andres Iniesta.
Mexican Rafael Marquez returns to the squad after missing the Real Sociedad match as he had to return to his home country following the murder of his wife’s bodyguard.
Panathinaikos must do without leading scorer Vaggelis Mantzios who is injured, while striker Emmanuel Olisabede is also out after picking up a knock in their last match. That means Igor Biscan and Sandor Torghelle will be in attack.
Werder Bremen hope that Miroslav Klose and Ivan Klasnic can reproduce their domestic form when the German club play host to Udinese. The hosts are at the bottom of Group C with just one point and two goals from their first three games and a failure to beat Udinese at the Weser Stadium could bring an early end to their European adventure for this year.
Udinese are second in the group, level on four points with Panathinaikos and just three behind leaders Barcelona.The bad news for the visitors is that midfielder Luis Vidigal has remained in Udine because of a thigh injury and will be replaced by Giampiero Pinzi.
In Manchester United’s Group D, Villarreal travel to Benfica and the former’s coach Manuel Pellegrini is likely to be forced into one change. Goalkeeper Sebastian Viera, who has been in excellent form since arriving from Nacional Montevideo in the summer, looks likely to miss the game after picking up an injury. That has led to ‘B’ team goalkeeper Juan Carlos Sanchez being called into the squad as cover, but everything points to second-string Mariano Barbosa, who played in the preliminary round against Everton, getting his chance.
Benfica have the chance to top the group if they claim victory and Manchester United drop points at Lille.
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