(ANSA) - Alessandro Del Piero is closing in on the all-time Juventus scoring record despite an unusual handicap for a team captain - his coach seems reluctant to play him.
In his first full match for a while, Del Piero bagged two against Ascoli on Sunday to take his tally to 176, a couple behind '70s legend Roberto 'Bobby Goal' Bettega and six behind '50s great Gianpiero Boniperti.
Del Piero, who will be 31 in November, has been edging doggedly nearer while his appearances have got rarer.
Last season the Italy star did a deal of bench time and when he made the starting line-up coach Fabio Capello regularly substituted him. Many pundits thought he would have featured even less in Juve's 28th title win if France's David Trezeguet hadn't picked up an early-season injury.
But Del Piero still managed 13 goals, only two less than Zlatan Ibrahimovic of Sweden, the team's new star. That tally took him past another club great in the all-time standings, Omar Sivori.
This year Capello has already made it clear Del Piero is at least third choice behind Ibrahimovic and Trezeguet. But the captain continues to take his demotion with style.
"If I keep playing at this rate I should reach Boniperti in ten days or so," he quipped after Sunday's match. Del Piero is tipped to see more action because of this year's packed fixture list.
Wednesday will see the first of a series of mid-week league games needed to wind up domestic and international commitments in good time for next year's World Cup. Juve has a two-point lead at the top of Serie A, having notched up nine points from three games. But its 100% record could disappear on Wednesday night.
The champions travel to ever-dangerous Udinese while high-scoring Fiorentina and new power Palermo, both on seven points, play minnows Lecce and Reggina.Another of the Juve chasers, ever poorer but ever more surprising Lazio, take on so-far underachieving AC Milan (four points) at the San Siro.
Sampdoria, Milan's conquerors Sunday, appear to have the easiest challenge of all against newly promoted and already struggling Treviso. A win would put the Genoa side - looking to revive its
early '90s heyday - right up there on nine points.
Meanwhile the third of the Big Three, Inter, could also rise that high if it continues to show against Chievo the form that earned it a 3-0 win against Lecce.
