Del Piero eyes league start after cup stunner

Del Piero netted his first goal at Juve's new stadium in Tuesday's 3-0 quarter-final win over AS Roma and with Mirko Vucinic and Fabio Quagliarella not fully fit, the 37-year-old hopes ex-team mate-turned-coach Antonio Conte again gives him the nod.

"If you had asked me to imagine my first goal in our new stadium, I would have dreamt it like that," Juve's record scorer Del Piero said on his own website.

"I've scored my first goal. Let's say it is a good start."

Juve are hoping to wrap up the signing of Sevilla defender Martin Caceres but the Uruguayan may not move in time for Saturday.

Udinese trail Juve by three points after an astonishing first half of the campaign despite selling Alexis Sanchez and Gokhan Inler, two of their best three players, in the close season.

Second-placed champions AC Milan, a point behind Juve, host Cagliari on Sunday while city rivals Inter Milan travel to lowly Lecce with the duo no nearer to signing Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez.

Milan will instead hope newly-voted Italian players' player of the year Zlatan Ibrahimovic can continue his goalscoring form.

Inter, who could well be saying goodbye to Thiago Motta amid interest from Paris Saint-Germain, lie fourth after a superb surge up the table since Claudio Ranieri took over in late September.