** ALEX: The hardest moment

In the first four years of the partnership Del Piero-Lippi, Juventus win all the time and everything and the fifth season seems to start off on the right foot. The Bianconeri are firmly on top of the standings and are meeting Udinese on the 8th matchday; Zidane and Inzaghi score, storing away three more points and everything seems to go the right way. A few minutes before the end, Del Piero runs from the left and tries a cross shot but he gets tackled and he remains down on the ground. His left knee is gone: suffering a cruciate and collateral knee ligament damage, he will have to undergo surgery and be out for at least six months. His season is over. Juventus's continues but it's not the same without Alex. Problems seem to multiply and, after a home defeat against Parma, Lippi resigns. In February, the bench is assigned to Ancelotti who finds a team in difficulty. At this point, the championship is gone and the Champions League adventure ends against Manchester United, who are able to fight back at the Delle Alpi after going two-goals down thanks to Inzaghi.

It's an unlucky season and the Bianconeri miss the qualification for the Uefa Cup as well. They'll have to play the Intertoto to get back into the competition. And it's during the summer of the Intertoto that Alex comes back on the pitch and regains his goals; however disappointment is not gone forever: the two following years are not as successful as expected. In the season 1999/2000, after topping the standings for months, Ancelotti's squad see their dream of winning the title drown in the downpour at Perugia on the last matchday of the season. The following year, it will be coach Capello's Roma to sew the shield on their jerseys. Juventus is not winning but Alex doesn't stop and scores his 99th goal with the Juventus jersey. We'll have to wait until season 2001/2002 to go down in history and get back on winning track, with Marcello Lippi's comeback.