What a dilemma (only joking) but comparing Craven Cottage to the Stadio delle Alpi, players like Clinton Morrison to Marcelo Salas, Craig Foster to Edgar Davids, and Simon Rodger to Zinedine Zidane and there's just no contest.

The game was possibly the biggest of the season in Italy as Juventus were top of Serie A, but a Lazio win would close the gap to just three points.

The Lazio squad were staying at my hotel and, on the Friday evening before the game, their players were in the bar. Internationally-renowned stars like Ravanelli, Veron, Boksic, Inzaghi, Lombardo, Couto and Mihajlovic were happily relaxing in the bar chatting to guests.

But outside it was a different matter as crowds gathered, peering through the glass doors amidst tight security as the build-up to the game was immense.

It was the perfect opportunity to chat with the players and get something for my scrapbook. Ravanelli seemed reluctant to pose as he knew we were English and he had not been too keen on "our lot" since his time with Middlesbrough and after suffering a bad crowd reaction when Italy last played England.

In contrast, former Palace hero Attilio Lombardo was happy to pose. But when asked if he would come back to south London if we paid him a lot, he said nothing and just laughed loudly.

Never mind. My brief encounter with Lombardo made the whole holiday for me. Meeting an Italian great who had played for Sampdoria, Juventus, the national team and poor old Palace was amazing. After a meal, the players retired for an early night while I and my travelling companions had some "extra time" out on the town.

Early on Saturday evening the Lazio team left the hotel with a police escort to guide them through the crowds, while we made the less glamorous trip via tram to the stadium.

The stadium itself looked like a giant UFO. It was specially constructed for the World Cup in 1990 and is also shared by Torino. There were thousands of people milling outside, eating burgers and waving flags but I found it difficult to dodge the ticket touts and avoid tripping over the hundreds of beer bottles that were strewn around.

We saw for the first time Italy's much-maligned Carabinieri, the branch of police responsible for keeping public order, and are the equivalent our riot police but were wielding large guns and looked in no mood to take any hassle from drunken fans.

After a long queue, we entered the stadium emerging at the top tier and were amazed at what greeted us. It was certainly a far cry from Selhurst Park.

I have never seen a stadium like it. Not even the cream of English stadia, Old Trafford, Anfield and Wembley compared with this.

The "ultras" is the name given to the hardcore supporters who generate spectacular, co-ordinated displays of banners, flags and fireworks at every game and each club has its own group. The ultra culture is a unified identity of Italian youth who lack any real focus.

Italian clubs see the importance of having good support at games and offer cut-price tickets. Here, the Juventus ultras were visible behind both goals and were singing non-stop, banging drums and waving flags.

On the pitch, the Juve and Lazio teams warmed up but, as we were so high up, we could barely make out the numbers on the back of their shirts. And as the players lined up, the ultras displayed a communal show of cards creating a colourful display of the Italian flag.

The match itself was different class, end-to-end stuff. The passion of the Italian fans was evident, and no matter what country you are in, the referee always gets abuse with "Il arbitro bastardo!" being a commonly-used chant.

The Juve ultras then lit flares and threw them onto the running track below where firemen were waiting to douse them.

During the game, the Juve ultras threw a flare into the Lazio end, whose fans responded by chucking coins and lighters back. But it was nothing the Carabinieri could not handle.

At half-time, the fans settled back in their seats to consume beer before the players returned to an amazing firework display ignited by the ultras behind each goal. The second half saw continued noise from the ultras and chanting was co-ordinated by a man with a megaphone standing between the crowd and the pitch, directing the constant flow of songs, hand-waving, humour and abuse.

Simeone scored the winning goal for Lazio, to send five thousand of the 60,000 crowd delirious.

The game ended in a 1-0 win to Lazio and the Juve fans trudged home, despondent, knowing they had a real battle on their hands for the Italian championship - lo scudetto.

But for us, it was a memorable footballing experience which we are unlikely to experience again in our lifetimes.

Of course, there is always Prenton Park on Sunday for the last Palace game of the season against Tranmere Rovers.

I'll be there as I would not miss it for the world. Well, perhaps there's just one place ....