Post by Taxigirl on Feb 10, 2004 10:51:48 GMT
Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero insists that he missed the Roma game because of injury.
There were whispers in Italy that he may have been left out for other reasons but the No 10 has put the record straight.
"I suffered a slight muscle injury on Saturday," he revealed. "I didn’t think it was anything serious but I still felt the pain yesterday.
"I had a fitness test but I wasn’t in any shape to play. But I repeat, it isn’t anything too serious."
Del Piero could do nothing from the stands as he witnessed his teammates being destroyed 4-0 by a rampant Roma.
"When you lose in that way it is the responsibility of everyone," he noted. "But we won’t give up in the Scudetto race.
"We now need to hit back and quickly. Starting with the second leg of the Coppa Italia semi-final against Inter on Thursday."
Juve will need to go to the San Siro and win after the 2-2 draw in Turin last week. And Del Piero maintains he may feature.
"If there are no further problems with my fitness over the next few days then I could be available for selection," he added.
Meanwhile, his teammate Alessio Tacchinardi insists Juventus are still in the championship race despite being eight points behind leaders Milan.
"If people think we have resigned ourselves to losing our crown then they really don’t know us," he stated. "We are not dead."