Not surprisingly, Mr and Mrs Inzaghi are very proud of their boys. The Inzaghi brothers grew up on a diet of football and study, excelling in both fields, although according to their mother, "Filippo was the sociable type, Simone... more of a loner." It was Filippo who turned professional first - but at every opportunity he would plead to whoever would listen, "I have a brother who is better than me!" Now Simone has got there too, making the jump in quality this season by signing for Lazio, where he has also earned his first call-up to the Italy squad.

That both are potent goalscorers is not in question, even though they do have different qualities as players. "Filippo reacts better and has more pace, while Simone is technically more gifted", explains Gigi Cagni, who coached both Inzaghis at Piacenza. Although they share the same shoe size, the two brothers are quite different off the pitch too. Pippo likes spending time with his family and friends while Simone prefers to get engrossed in a book. Nutella apart, Pippo has a soft spot for cakes, while Simone loves his mother´s pasta.

More importantly, despite a three-year age difference between Pippo (26) and Simone (23), the younger Inzaghi is beginning to catch up with his brother in the goalscoring stakes. Simone has already broken one very important record: his four goals against Marseille constituted an Italian Champions League record. The statistics speak for themselves: Simone has 16 goals to his name this season (five in Serie A, eight in the Champions League and three in the Coppa Italia), 10 less than his older brother. Pippo has already scored 26 (15 in Serie A, seven in the Intertoto Cup, three in the UEFA Cup and one in the Coppa Italia).

Now that they are in the national team together, Filippo can continue playing ´dad´ to his little brother, a state of affairs that Simone has by now grown used to. On Saturday night, though, when Juventus play host to Lazio at the Delle Alpi stadium in Turin, the two brothers will be on opposing teams in what promises to be a Scudetto clash to remember. "At least this way if one of them loses, they can console themselves with the fact that the other one has won," reflected their father.