Gianluigi Buffon is confident Juventus will challenge all the way for the Champions League and Scudetto.

A full two years after the Calciopoli scandal and their demotion to Serie B, the Bianconeri are back in the thick of the action.

“I am convinced we’ll battle for the Champions League and the Serie A title, as these are objectives Juventus have always gone for,” said the goalkeeper.

“It is going to be a long and very intense year, so we have to start preparing for it as best we can right from now, with the Champions League preliminary round.”

The fans have protested against what they see as a substandard transfer campaign, as Christian Poulsen, Olof Mellberg, Dario Knezevic and Amauri have not convinced everyone.

“The grit and willingness to fight for ambitious objectives have always been present, even if in the last few months we weren’t quite on a par with some of our opponents,” mused Buffon.

“Now we have reinforced the squad and because of that have absolutely no excuse to be anything less than 100 per cent convinced of our potential.

“That is a quality that has always stood by Juventus and we should always hold it dear.”

General manager Jean-Claude Blanc confirmed that Juve will only be signing one more player this season, a second choice goalkeeper to act as Buffon’s understudy.

The latest names circulating are Antonio Chimenti and Siena’s Alex Manninger.

Ref From channel4.com

Italy boss Marcello Lippi has backed Inter to win the Scudetto and outlined his strategy to restore glory to the Azzurri.

There’s a fascinating Serie A campaign in prospect as Inter look to maintain their grasp on the crown but face a fight from Milan, Roma and Juventus.

However, Lippi has great respect for the Nerazzurri’s new boss Jose Mourinho and thinks the Portuguese man can deliver the silverware,

“I believe Inter will win the Scudetto again because I really like the Coach that Massimo Moratti has brought in,” Lippi told Tg5.

“Mourinho is a closed person, but when all the players speak so highly of a boss it means that he has sowed the seeds correctly.”

Lippi will be watching the new campaign with eager interest having been charged with the task of building another winning Italy side ahead of World Cup 2010.

“I want to rebuild a winning group and lots of the players who were at Euro 2008 will be there,” the 60-year-old said.

“I need to choose intelligent players who know how important it is to be a compact unit with united goals and to be playing for one another. Those were the qualities that allowed us to win the World Cup.”

Ref From channel4.com