Hunger drives on determined Del Piero

At 34, Alessandro Del Piero is just as desperate for UEFA Champions League glory as he was as a young player and he insists the desire to lift the trophy is the same regardless of his team's fortunes in Serie A.

New ground
The first knockout round tie at Stamford Bridge finds the Juventus captain breaking new ground because the Bianconeri have never before met Chelsea FC in UEFA competition. "I'm very happy to be playing at a stadium where I have never played before, it gives me lots of incentive," Del Piero said. "It is such a massive competition that everyone wants to win. Obviously the fact we are not at the top of our league should give us incentive to improve, but the truth is we want to win it no matter what position [in the league] we are in."

Invaluable experience
The Italian international helps lend great experience to Claudio Ranieri's side along with midfielder Pavel Nedvěd and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, and agrees that this could be an important factor at this stage of the competition when there is precious little to separate opponents. At the same time, though, he stresses the part the younger members of the Juve squad can play. "We are very united in our intentions and what we want to do," Del Piero added. "Yes, perhaps people look to [the experienced players] a little bit more but we have a very good set of players who know their strengths and have intelligence. So we should not dwell too much on the question of who has more influence on the team."

English domination
The tie is one of three that bring together rivals from Serie A and the Premier League. Last season England produced both UEFA Champions League finalists in Chelsea and Manchester United FC, and Del Piero sees no reason why the English clubs should not continue to dominate, saying: "Speaking selfishly, I would not mind if there was an English team in the final every year as long as they didn't win it. All the teams at this stage of the competition are very strong and the English sides are particularly well-equipped to reach the latter stages. I imagine that also goes for the next few years."