Pippo Inzaghi addresses the ‘friction’ between himself and Alessandro Del Piero

Pippo Inzaghi has told FourFourTwo about his relationship with strike partner Alessandro Del Piero – and the truth about whether the pair ever got on or not.

Inzaghi played with Del Piero for Juventus and Italy, with many pundits and outlets at the time claiming that the strike duo fell out in Turin. The strikers flourished together with Zinedine Zidane playmaking behind – but after Del Piero returned from a knee injury, there appeared to be tension as the Italians tried to rekindle their chemistry.

In a game against Venezia, Inzaghi ignored the better-positioned Del Piero on several occasions, with Del Piero let his feelings known in the post-match interview, as his barren run in open play continued… no thanks to his colleague. Now, however, Inzaghi has told his side.

"Alessandro and I never really had any problems," he reveals to FFT. "That whole story goes back to a famous match against Venezia in February 2000: I scored a hat-trick, and for my second I could’ve squared the ball to him.

"That’s a typical Italian paradox: a striker scores three and he gets criticised for not passing the ball. I became tired of being criticised all the time; I was scoring 25 to 30 goals every season, but people kept saying I was too egoistic.

"That had nothing to do with Del Piero, though."

Eventually, Inzaghi would move to AC Milan, while Del Piero remained at the Old Lady before moving to Australia. Both players left their respective Italian sides on exactly the same day – and both had a great relationship on the pitch while it lasted.