Mirko Vucinic believes Roma legend Francesco Totti can "strike fear" into Juventus ahead of Sunday's Serie A clash between the two unbeaten sides.
Montenegrin Vucinic played for both clubs before joining Al-Jazira this summer, and is well placed to judge which of the top two Italian sides may prevail at Juventus Stadium in Turin.
Juventus have scored 10 goals without conceding this season, but Roma also have an impressive record of nine goals scored with only one conceded.
Both have won their opening five matches in Serie A, but the Giallorossi may feel they have the edge given their 1-1 draw at Manchester City in the Champions League on Tuesday, whereas Juve were beaten 1-0 at Atletico Madrid.
What the midweek European games also showed was the irrepressible form of Roma veteran Totti, who scored a fine chip to hand his side a point at the Etihad and become the oldest goalscorer in Champions league history.
"They've been trying to stop Francesco for 21 years now and nobody has found a way," Vucinic told La Gazzetta dello Sport. "I'm glad I'm not a coach and that I'm not faced with him because that would really cause me problems. With their attack, Roma strike fear into you."
Roma coach Rudi Garcia has the luxury of having Totti on his side, but also enough difficulty of his own trying to find a way to stop Carlos Tevez. "On his day, Tevez is incredibly hard to stop," added Vucinic, who sees Sunday's game as too close to call, but feels Juve "are under more pressure."
Confidence is understandably high in the Roma camp with their president James Pallotta warning Juve not to expect things quite as easily as they had them last year, when the hosts prevailed 3-0 -- a game in which Vucinic was on target for Juve.
"It's going to be a tough game against the Bianconeri, but we are good enough to give anybody in the world a good game," he told Roma Radio. "Just look at the way we reacted after conceding in Manchester; the pride we showed with Maicon hitting the crossbar and the many other great chances. This gives me reason to be optimistic."
That optimism is shared by the defending champions, with defender Giorgio Chiellini telling his club's official website: "We come out of this away game [in Madrid] strengthened. Our strength is being able to evaluate well the positives and the negatives from each game in order to play our next match in the best way possible.
"Sunday's going to be a big game between the two strongest sides in Italy, and we are ready. Roma are not only about Totti. We have the utmost respect for them and they have a great squad with quality players and of course we're keen to get a good result."