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Juventus pin hopes on strike duo

Juventus FC hope David Trezeguet and Alessandro del Piero can see off RC Deportivo La Coruña.

With all four teams in UEFA Champions League Group D locked on three points after two second group stage games, it could well be that goal difference will decide who is to progress to the quarter-finals of the competition. As they prepare to entertain RC Deportivo La Coruña on Tuesday, Juventus FC will be hoping for a repeat performance of their previous home fixture in the section, a comfortable 4-0 win.

Confidence to progress
The teams - who both conceded three goals on Matchday Eight, Juventus at Arsenal FC and Deportivo at Bayer 04 Leverkusen - are familiar with each other having met in the first group stage of last season's competition, Deportivo's debut in the Champions League. They shared a goalless draw in the Delle Alpi stadium and drew 1-1 in Spain. The away game convinced Deportivo that they could compete with Europe's best and gave them the confidence to progress to the quarter-final stage.

Victory number 100
Javier Irureta's team return to Turin to find the Italian club in much better shape. At the weekend, they went to the top of Serie A for the first time since 15 September with a 2-1 home defeat of AC Fiorentina. Goals from the prolific David Trezeguet and Alessandro del Piero notched up victory number 100 for Marcello Lippi as coach of Juventus, but afterwards he tried to put a lid on mounting expectation at the club. "So far, we haven't done anything," Lippi said. "We're going to have to battle from here to the end of the season, trying to ration out our energies between the Champions League, the Serie A title contest and the Italian Cup. That's the only way we can hope to win something."

Defensive worries
Deportivo could have chosen a better time to be suffering injury problems on a large scale - particularly in defence where they are likely to come under serious threat from the Trezeguet-Del Piero partnership. The Frenchman has eight goals in the competition, two more than any other forward, while Del Piero has scored four times. Both were on the mark, Trezeguet twice, in the 4-0 home thrashing of Leverkusen which began Juventus's attempt to reach the last eight in fine style.

Squads amended
Deportivo's Manuel Pablo García is still undergoing rehabilitation work after breaking his leg while Donato Gama is expected to be out for three months following surgery on his right leg. Hélder is missing with groin problems and Goran Djorovic with an ankle injury. Manuel Pablo's long-term injury provoked the only amendment to Deportivo's squad list during the winter break, goalkeeper Daniel Mallo Castro replacing him. Juventus also made changes, with Fabián O'Neill moving to AC Perugia and Athirson returning to Brazil. Marcelo Zalayeta and 19-year-old French forward Vincent Péricard have been registered instead of them.

Three missing
Lippi is without three players for this match. Czech Republic midfield player Pavel Nedved is suspended for the second time in this season's competition and Alessandro Birindelli must serve a one-match ban. Uruguyan international defender Paolo Montero misses out after he was forced off the field at half-time at the weekend. Mark Iuliano, suspended against Fiorentina, is his likely replacement.

Tristán threat
If Deportivo are to make a goalscoring impact on Tuesday it is likely to come from Diego Tristán. Like Del Piero, Tristán is among a group of six players who have scored four goals in the competition. The Municipal de Riazor outfit have been struggling in the Spanish league and their eleven games since Matchday Eight have produced four defeats and three draws. The weekend 3-2 reverse against FC Barcelona was their seventh away defeat in the league. Deportivo twice took the lead through Diego Tristán and Sergio González but could not hold on.

Immense respect
Nevertheless, they will be treated with immense respect by Juventus as French international defender Lilian Thuram emphasised to uefa.com: "This is a team [Deportivo] that I've followed for some time now, a team that I really like. They play really well. I don't often go to watch football matches but I went to see them play Milan [AC] last season. It's going to be hard against them in Turin and then, after that, we can start thinking about the return game in Spain."

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