Victory clash with Sydney FC sold out

January 23, 2013
By Greg Buckle

Melbourne Victory defensive midfielder Mark Milligan says Sydney FC superstar Alessandro Del Piero wouldn't be in a position to produce four-goal salvos without the support of his teammates.The third-placed Victory's A-League clash with the Sky Blues, who are seventh, at AAMI Park on Saturday is sold out with a crowd of 28,000 expected.All eyes will be on 38-year-old World Cup winner Del Piero, who's making his Melbourne debut, much to the excitement of the city's Italian community.The former Juventus striker scored four goals in a game for the first time in his illustrious career against bottom side Wellington last Saturday, helping Sydney to a 7-1 win and lifting them to within one point of the top six.However, Socceroos defender Milligan says limiting Del Piero's influence won't be the key focus for the home side."I don't think we're going to pay any special attention to him. We have our shape and we'll set up as normal," Milligan told reporters on Thursday."We've got players who can hurt them on the counter-attack as well. We're aware of their strengths."On the weekend they showed with Joel Griffiths coming in and (Jason) Culina and (Brett) Emerton especially in that front third, they're very, very dangerous."They've got quality all across the pitch and I don't think Del Piero would have had the chances he did if it wasn't for the quality around him as well."He's an unbelievable player but unless the boys around him are chipping in, it's difficult for him."There's no doubting his quality. But if we worry about him we're going to get hurt in other areas."Coach Ange Postecoglou's Victory side enjoyed a 3-2 win over the Sky Blues in Sydney in round six and beat Perth 1-0 last week thanks to an own goal from Glory defender Scott Jamieson.However, Milligan admitted it was not a vintage performance from his side in Perth."We were very disappointed with the way that we did a lot of things and we've been working on those," Milligan said.Milligan, a premiership winner with the Sky Blues in 2005-06, expects the big home crowd to provide an extra edge to the Australia Day encounter."It's always very exciting. The first game I played for Melbourne Victory was against Sydney FC here in the Australia Day match (in 2012)," Milligan said."It's a very big deal."