Juventus will have to adapt fast. Besides being demoted to Serie B for the first time in its 109-year-history, it also needs to surmount a 17-point penalty that accompanied relegation.
A sports tribunal in July relegated the team and stripped it of its last two league titles, saying club officials had been at the center of a network of corruption that tried to influence refereeing appointments. Top teams AC Milan, Lazio and Fiorentina also were sanctioned, receiving point penalties but remaining in Serie A.
The scandal caused a mass exodus that led to the transfer of half of last season's starting lineup, including Fabio Cannavaro, Gianluca Zambrotta, Patrick Vieira and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.
Yet, Juventus still commands respect from opponents. Consider Ricchiuti, the Argentine playmaker for Rimini. After coolly placing his shot past Buffon he had only one pressing concern.
"To score a goal against a world champion was quite a satisfaction," he said. "But the most important thing is to get the picture someone took of me and Del Piero. Please send it to me. Otherwise, my mother will get so angry."
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