MILAN: Juventus striker Alessandro Del Piero is expected to return to the starting lineup for Wednesday's Champions League game at home to Zenit St. Petersburg, having been left on the bench at the weekend.
Juve, which beat Artmedia Bratislava in qualifying, is back in the group stages of Europe's premier club competition having missed out in the past two seasons following its 2006 demotion for match-fixing.
Del Piero played in the 1996 final when the Turin club won the second of its two European Cups and the 33-year-old's Champions League experience should come in handy for the opening Group H game against the Russian champion.
Coach Claudio Ranieri played close-season signing Amauri and Vincenzo Iaquinta upfront in Sunday's 1-0 win over Udinese with Del Piero and David Trezeguet coming on as substitutes.
Ranieri though has reassured Del Piero that his omission was nothing to worry about as he tries out different striking pairs.
"I have not changed my mind about him, I know that he is a great champion," Ranieri told reporters. "We signed Amauri because he can play with all three of our forwards."
Shirokov out
Zenit warmed up for its Champions League debut by crushing Terek Grozny 4-1 in the Russian premier league at the weekend.
The win lifted the Russian champion to 7th place, 14 points behind leader Rubin Kazan but with a game in hand.
Russia midfielder Roman Shirokov will sit out Wednesday's match with a calf injury, the UEFA Cup winner said on its website (www.fc-zenit.ru)
Belgium defender Nicolas Lombaerts, still recovering after tearing knee ligaments in March, will also miss the trip along with Turkey striker Fatih Tekke, Ukraine international Olexander Gorshkov, South Korea's Li Ho and Alexei Ionov.
Zenit coach Dick Advocaat rested Russian internationals Andrei Arshavin and Konstantin Zyryanov as well as Croatia defender Ivica Krizanac in the second half against Terek and they are likely to return against Juve.
Advocaat, whose side beat European Cup holders Manchester United 2-1 in last month's Super Cup, said he was looking forward to his team's debut in the Champions League.
"After winning the UEFA Cup and the European Super Cup we want to test ourselves against the best teams in Europe," the Dutchman told reporters. "Playing in the Champions League is a new experience for us and we can't wait to get going."
Real Madrid hosts BATE Borisov in the other Group H game. China's leading portal Sina.com, which is UEFA's internet partner, will broadcast all the matches alive.
Source: China Daily/Agencies
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