Rome: Michel Platini, former Juventus midfielder and current president of UEFA, has lauded the Bianconeri for their dealings in the transfer market, particularly in signing ex-Werder Bremen star Diego.
"Diego resembles me? From the name I would say he seems more like [Diego] Maradona," Platini said.
"He and the other Bianconeri signings are very important. This year Juventus deserve some special praise."
Having seen the furore that Marcello Lippi caused with his prediction that the Old Lady would win Serie A this year, Platini may have felt somewhat obliged to give a mention to Inter coach Jose Mourinho as well.
"Mourinho's nice," the Frenchman said. "I like him a lot because he's good, he is loved by the players, he protects them. He wants to say things, to respond to Lippi? Do it, I don't care, at most it suits you journalists."
The Frenchman had plenty of experience of playing at the highest level in his career, winning a number of titles with Nancy, Saint-Etienne and Juventus, and believes that Real Madrid could have a similar sort of success.
"Why not?" he responded after being questioned whether five star signings constituted a team for los Merengues.
"Didn't [Alfredo] di Stefano, [Ferenc] Puskas, [Francisco] Gento and the others play together? [Ruud] Gullit, [Marco] van Basten and [Frank] Rijkaard? I was only told in Italy that you could not play with two strikers. Then [Arrigo] Sacchi arrived and revolutionised things.
"Real will find their balance, like [Lionel] Messi, [Thierry] Henry, [Samuel] Eto'o and [Andres] Iniesta did [at Barcelona]. I would like to see them win titles."
Goal.com
First Published: Friday, August 28, 2009, 14:58