English are richer, not better, says Ranieri

Juventus coach Claudio Ranieri insisted on Monday that Italian teams do not feel inferior to their English counterparts, merely poorer.

The Italian giants host Chelsea in the Champions League second round, second leg at Turin’s Stadio Olimpico on Tuesday looking to overturn a 1-0 first leg deficit.

And to qualify they will have to do something that no Italian side has managed against English opposition in the knock-out stages of the last two Champions League competitions: score a goal.

But Ranieri insisted that this does not mean the Italians feel inferior to their English opponents.

“There’s no inferiority complex in Italy, maybe there’s an inferiority complex in terms of money. That’s the only one there is and that’s not really a complex, just a circumstance,” he said.

Earlier in the day Chelsea’s Germany midfielder Michael Ballack had said the club had regained its fighting spirit — something they had lost under previous coach Luis Felipe Scolari.

Ranieri agreed with Ballack’s assessment and said that the west Londoners were back to their best.

“It’s true, this (fighting spirit) is one part of the quality of the Chelsea players, while there are also their qualities as individual players,” he said.

“Chelsea are back and with the great investments they have made they have a great fighting machine.”

Not so many years ago Juventus would have been seen as the favourites against Chelsea but the balance of power has shifted over the last few years.

Juve may have the greater European pedigree but English clubs have slowly pushed themselves to the forefront of continental competition.

It’s a far cry from when Juve captain and lynchpin Alessandro Del Piero was beginning his career in the mid 1990s.

He played in the Juventus team that did the double over Manchester United in the group stages of the 1997 Champions League, in which Juve went on to reach the final only to be stunned by Borussia Dortmund.

“Over the last few years there has been a profound change in English football,” he said.

“There has been a great investment, not just economically but also in the quality of players and coaches with many foreigners coming into the game.

“This has given them the ability to mix the typical English qualities with those of the other leagues around Europe so they have been able to improve a lot.

“Before they were strong in specific areas but now they are strong in almost all areas.”

A lot of emphasis will be on the veteran Del Piero to conjure up something, as he has already done several times in the competition this season.

He scored vital goals in the group stages including two direct free-kicks, against Real Madrid and Zenit St Petersburg, allowing the Italians to top their group.

And Del Piero said it is his enthusiasm and passion for the game that has allowed him to keep playing at the highest level at 34 years of age.

“Enthusiasm is fundamental, I have a great love and passion for my work and that helps me try to improve every day,” he said

“Then there’s also my pride and my skills which are important. But for sure enthusiasm and the love for this sport are the key and the fact that I have played so long at Juventus demonstrates that.”

Coming up against the Italians is Dutch coach Guus Hiddink, who was the South Korea boss when the co-hosts knocked Italy and Del Piero out of the 2002 World Cup.

However, Italy gained revenge on Hiddink four years later when he was the coach of Australia and the Azzurri eliminated the Socceroos on the way to lifting their fourth World Cup crown.

“The memory I have of facing him in Korea is not a positive one,” admitted Del Piero. “He proved to be an excellent coach then and with Australia and right now has some great players (at Chelsea) so it will be really tough for us.”