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READY FOR UDINESE

The Bianconeri face a home match with Udinese (at the Delle Alpi at 3pm CET) on Wednesday without Alessandro Birindelli and Paolo Montero. Birindelli has not yet got over a bruised knee he picked up at the San Siro, while the Uruguayan is still in training hoping to be fit for Juve's match in Athens on 8 November. The rest of the squad is available for selection, including Gianluca Zambrotta, who is back after a knee operation but is likely to only come on as a substitute.

During the last training session Carlo Ancelotti experimented with his line-up: in goal was Edwin Van der Sar, while in defence he played Ciro Ferrara, Marco Zanchi and Mark Iuliano, even though he is suffering from a knee injury. The midfield was made up of Edgar Davids and Fabian O'Neill with Gianluca Pessotto on the left and Jonathan Bachini out on the right before he was replaced by Michele Paramatti. Up front Ancelotti went for an all-Italian front line of Alessandro Del Piero and Filippo Inzaghi with Zinedine Zidane in a supporting role. Both he and his Gallic colleague David Trezeguet received the rapturous applause of a group of French fans at the end of training.

Udinese meanwhile will have to do without Regis Hervè Genaux, Johan Walem and Jan Hendrik Van der Vegt. Luigi De Canio is likely to go with a 3-5-2 formation with Turci in goal, Gargo, Sottil and Bertotto in defence and Bisgaard, Fiore, Giannichedda, Jorgensen and Diaz in midfield. Up front he will probably opt for Sosa and Muzzi. The match referee will be Bolognino.

Juventus received a brief visit from vice-president Dr Umberto Agnelli, while club president Vittorio Chiusano stayed on for the entire training session before speaking to Carlo Ancelotti and the players.

The team is expected to resume training (10.30am) on the Thursday morning after the match against Udinese. This will be followed by afternoon training sessions on Friday and Saturday before departing for Reggio Calabria (Sunday 5 November Reggina-Juventus 3pm) from where the team will leave directly for Athens on the eve of their vital Champions League match against Panathinaikos (8 November 8.45pm CET).