"Racism is certainly not the only violence, perhaps it's the most distasteful but certainly not the only one. We are guilty of generating violence - players, directors, media, society in general. Is the person who smashes a window more violent than the manager who sacks 20 people?"

Guadeloupe-born French ace Lillian Thuram is the speaker. With his black-rimmed spectacles and his long black leather coat, the Juventus defender looks more like a jazz musician than a footballer. Soft-spoken, thoughtful and articulate, France'98 and Euro 2000-winner Thuram has long been known to Italian football fans as the "Professor".

If that be the case, then what sort of "lesson" will he and Juventus impart to Glasgow Celtic in their Champions League clash at Parkhead tomorrow night? Even if Juventus have already won first-phase Group E, Thuram argues that the "Old Lady" will be loath to take her foot off the accelerator in Glasgow, telling your correspondent last weekend: "I still think we have a duty to go there and play to win, above all because it's good for morale and confidence. Maybe we're under no pressure because we're already through to the next round but, in the end, there is still pressure because this is Juventus and we're meant to win all our matches."

Which is precisely what Juventus have been failing to do in recent league games. Notwithstanding their impressive Champions League form, they have struggled in the league, picking up four draws and one defeat (by Roma) in their last five outings.

Most recently, Juventus were far from earth-shattering in a tactical stalemate of a 0-0 draw with Inter Milan at the Stadio Delle Alpi on Saturday night. That was a game that had many of us longing for the intuitive flair of midfield wizard Zinedine Zidane.

Without Zidane, Juventus may have gained in athletic resilience and physical strength but those gains are arguably more than offset by the loss of midfield invention. Thuram, himself a $35 million-new boy in Turin this year, begs to differ: "This is Juventus, and it will remain Juventus, after Zidane, after Thuram, after Trezeguet. They've always had great players here, great players like Platini and Baggio, for example, who come and who then leave. As for this squad, when you look at the players that Juventus have then you'd have to hope that they can win the Champions League."

Thuram may be one of the few regular first-choice players who starts against Celtic tomorrow night since coach Marcello Lippi is almost certain to want to rest midfielder Pavel Nedved and goalkeeper Gigi Buffon, while strikers Alessandro Del Piero and David Trezeguet are likely to play only one half each.

Despite a probable makeshift formation, Thuram expects Juventus to do well both tomorrow night and for the rest of the season, saying, "it's true that recently we haven't found the set-up that allows us to play really well. What I think though is that we're still close to the top of Serie A, we're already in the second round of the Champions League and we have yet to play well. I'd say that in the weeks to come, you're going to see a very, very good Juventus".