Di Vaio steps into the Juve spotlight

By Paolo Menicucci in Turin

Marco Di Vaio is more than prepared to shoulder the scoring burden when Juventus FC take on RC Deportivo La Coruña tonight, knowing nothing less than a win will do.

Trezeguet out
The Italy striker is likely to be the spearhead of the home attack in the absence of injured French international David Trezeguet, but Di Vaio is used to the pressure. Speaking to uefa.com, he said: "It will not be the first time I have done it. It's a difficult match for us but I am really happy to be involved. I hope to be in good form and play a great match."

Three goals
An unused substitute in the 1-0 defeat at the Riazor stadium two weeks ago, Di Vaio is determined to continue the good form he showed during the group stage. The 27-year-old figured in all six matches, starting four times and scoring three goals.

Patience required
Di Vaio, who joined Juventus in a €26m deal in 2002, believes the Italian champions must show patience this evening. "We don't need to attack recklessly from the first minute," he said. "They play good football and their strongest side is their attack so we have to be really careful not to concede goals. We must play an intelligent match because I'm sure we are able to score at least one goal during the 90 minutes."
 
Spanish success
Last season, Di Vaio featured eleven times in the Champions League but missed out on the final defeat by AC Milan. Along the way, Juve eliminated Deportivo and two other Spanish sides, Barcelona FC and Real Madrid CF. Not surprisingly, the forward is hoping history repeats itself at the Delle Alpi stadium.
 
Home form
"We have always struggled in Spain because of their way of playing and our own characteristics. However, we have always played wonderful matches at home against the same Spanish sides," he said. "In the first leg at the Riazor stadium we confirmed our problems in facing Spanish sides away. Now I hope we will also confirm that we can play well at home and qualify."
 
Old friends
This is actually the fourth consecutive season in which Juventus and Deportivo have met in the Champions League, although Juve's 3-2 home win in last season's second group stage is the only win recorded by Lippi's men in the previous seven games. "Away from their stadium they play in a much different way," Di Vaio added. "They leave more space and we will have to use this in the best possible way. We have to limit their main strengths, their attack and their passing game. I believe it all depends on us, on the way we will face them."

No concerns
Despite the recent record, Di Vaio is unconcerned, especially as the sides' meetings in the last three seasons have all come in the group stage, rather than knockout phase. He said: "When you play such an important game, you never think of what happened a long time ago. Maybe we will think about the first leg and about how strong they are. But more importantly we will be thinking of what we can expect from them at the Delle Alpi and how we can beat them." With a natural-born finisher like Di Vaio in attack, the Old Lady may still have a long life in the tournament.