96 - European Cups - Triumphing Juve
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UEFA Champions League - Juventus
In the European sphere, Juventus made its debut in the Champions League, beginning its journey from a group in which Borussia Dortmund, Steaua Bucharest and Rangers were included: having defeated the Teutonic players in the opener, the Savoy team then imposed itself against the Romanians at home and in both challenges with the Scots, earning a premature passage to the round.
In the quarterfinals of the Champions League, the Piedmontese overcame Real Madrid, managing to overturn in the return match at the Delle Alpi, thanks to goals by Del Piero and Ravanelli, the narrow defeat suffered in the first leg at the Iberians' ground. Opponent in the semifinals then turned out to be Nantes-Atlantique, ruled 2-0 in the first leg match in Turin, a partial that made the 2-3 defeat in the return match on French soil irrelevant; once again admitted to the final of the highest European competition after eleven years since the Heysel scandal. Juventus will have to confront Ajax, the incumbent Champions League winner in the Final in Rome.
The start was the prerogative of Juventus, partly due to a certain tension blocking some of Ajax's young elements, leading them at this stage to commit various naive mistakes. The game was unblocked in the 13th minute when defender Frank de Boer performed a clumsy header on the rebound, which allowed Juventus striker Fabrizio Ravanelli to sneak smoothly between de Boer himself and the outgoing goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, and despite the very angled position as well as Sonny Silooy's attempted save, to slide in for the Bianconeri lead.
The goal conceded aroused Ajax, which recomposed itself and began to push towards the opponent's half of the field, taking advantage of its greater physical strength, making itself dangerous especially on dead-balls: first, on a corner kick action, Nwankwo Kanu forced Bianconeri extreme defender Angelo Peruzzi into a great intervention that denied the Dutch an equalizer; a goal only postponed since in the 41st minute the Juventus rearguard allowed itself to be surprised on the development of a free kick from the edge of the area, with an uncertain Peruzzi this time not blameless, who only managed to clear a ball that thus fell between the feet of the Ajacid fantasist Jari Litmanen, author of the equalizer with an easy tap-in under the net.
The two teams went to halftime at 1-1, a score that remained unchanged even in the second half, which was more stingy of emotions, and where there was only a clear chance for the top striker of the Torino team, Gianluca Vialli, who from a very favorable position kicked on the outside of the net, and another untaken by Angelo Di Livio.
The challenge then extended to extra time, which ended in a deadlock despite an untaken chance by Bianconeri fantasist Alessandro Del Piero in the second half, handing the outcome of the final to the penalty shoot-out: in the series from the penalty spot the Juventus players were infallible, while among the Dutch the mistakes of Edgar Davids and Silooy proved decisive, whose shots were both repelled by Peruzzi; realizing his attempt, Vladimir Jugović handed Juventus its second title in the competition.
Champions League Roll of Honor
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup - Milan
Milan faced (as Coppa del Re runner up of the previous season) the Cup Winners' Cup, a European trophy that was overshadowed many times by the more prestigious Champions League and UEFA Confederation Cup. Milan quickly dismissed the Albanians of Teuta with a double 2-0 win (Weah's brace in Albania, and Albertini & Bonomi scoring in the home game).
In the round of 16, the Milanese lost 3-0 in Sweden against Halmstad, forcing them to overturn the odds in a resounding 4-0 home win (Weah, Simone's brace, and Boban). Unfortunately for the Rossoneri, they met Paris Saint-Germain in the Quarterfinals. The Milanese won 1-0 at home with Weah scoring against his former team, but in the return game, the Parisians won 3-1 (Rai's brace with two different penalties, and Loko for the French, Simone for the Italians).
Cup Winners' Cup Roll of Honor
UEFA Confederation Cup - Lazio, Capitolina, Cagliari, and Andrea Doria
Qualification Round
All the Italian clubs qualified in their respective rounds to the knockout stage
Knockout stage
Round of 16
UEFA Confederation Cup Roll of Honor
In the European sphere, Juventus made its debut in the Champions League, beginning its journey from a group in which Borussia Dortmund, Steaua Bucharest and Rangers were included: having defeated the Teutonic players in the opener, the Savoy team then imposed itself against the Romanians at home and in both challenges with the Scots, earning a premature passage to the round.
In the quarterfinals of the Champions League, the Piedmontese overcame Real Madrid, managing to overturn in the return match at the Delle Alpi, thanks to goals by Del Piero and Ravanelli, the narrow defeat suffered in the first leg at the Iberians' ground. Opponent in the semifinals then turned out to be Nantes-Atlantique, ruled 2-0 in the first leg match in Turin, a partial that made the 2-3 defeat in the return match on French soil irrelevant; once again admitted to the final of the highest European competition after eleven years since the Heysel scandal. Juventus will have to confront Ajax, the incumbent Champions League winner in the Final in Rome.
The start was the prerogative of Juventus, partly due to a certain tension blocking some of Ajax's young elements, leading them at this stage to commit various naive mistakes. The game was unblocked in the 13th minute when defender Frank de Boer performed a clumsy header on the rebound, which allowed Juventus striker Fabrizio Ravanelli to sneak smoothly between de Boer himself and the outgoing goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, and despite the very angled position as well as Sonny Silooy's attempted save, to slide in for the Bianconeri lead.
The goal conceded aroused Ajax, which recomposed itself and began to push towards the opponent's half of the field, taking advantage of its greater physical strength, making itself dangerous especially on dead-balls: first, on a corner kick action, Nwankwo Kanu forced Bianconeri extreme defender Angelo Peruzzi into a great intervention that denied the Dutch an equalizer; a goal only postponed since in the 41st minute the Juventus rearguard allowed itself to be surprised on the development of a free kick from the edge of the area, with an uncertain Peruzzi this time not blameless, who only managed to clear a ball that thus fell between the feet of the Ajacid fantasist Jari Litmanen, author of the equalizer with an easy tap-in under the net.
The two teams went to halftime at 1-1, a score that remained unchanged even in the second half, which was more stingy of emotions, and where there was only a clear chance for the top striker of the Torino team, Gianluca Vialli, who from a very favorable position kicked on the outside of the net, and another untaken by Angelo Di Livio.
The challenge then extended to extra time, which ended in a deadlock despite an untaken chance by Bianconeri fantasist Alessandro Del Piero in the second half, handing the outcome of the final to the penalty shoot-out: in the series from the penalty spot the Juventus players were infallible, while among the Dutch the mistakes of Edgar Davids and Silooy proved decisive, whose shots were both repelled by Peruzzi; realizing his attempt, Vladimir Jugović handed Juventus its second title in the competition.
Champions League Roll of Honor
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup - Milan
Milan faced (as Coppa del Re runner up of the previous season) the Cup Winners' Cup, a European trophy that was overshadowed many times by the more prestigious Champions League and UEFA Confederation Cup. Milan quickly dismissed the Albanians of Teuta with a double 2-0 win (Weah's brace in Albania, and Albertini & Bonomi scoring in the home game).
In the round of 16, the Milanese lost 3-0 in Sweden against Halmstad, forcing them to overturn the odds in a resounding 4-0 home win (Weah, Simone's brace, and Boban). Unfortunately for the Rossoneri, they met Paris Saint-Germain in the Quarterfinals. The Milanese won 1-0 at home with Weah scoring against his former team, but in the return game, the Parisians won 3-1 (Rai's brace with two different penalties, and Loko for the French, Simone for the Italians).
Cup Winners' Cup Roll of Honor
UEFA Confederation Cup - Lazio, Capitolina, Cagliari, and Andrea Doria
Qualification Round
All the Italian clubs qualified in their respective rounds to the knockout stage
Knockout stage
Round of 16
- Cagliari ended eliminated after a double 2-0 with Sparta Praha, exiting the competition in the Round of 16 in the extra time of the return game in Prague with a late goal by Nedved.
- Capitolina overcame Broendby with a home win, overturning the defeat in Denmark in the first leg.
- Doria defeated Aalst at home with a goal by Mancini and then tied 0-0 in Belgium, qualifying to the Quarterfinals.
- Lazio was eliminated in with a double 1-1 with Strasbourg, with the Alsace team managing to win at the penalties shoot-out.
- Doria suffered a tremendous 0-3 defeat by Strasbourg, and their 2-1 away win was useless, leading to the Genoese's being eliminated
- Capitolina was eliminated by Slavia Praha because of the away goal rule, with the Czechs achieving the goal of the 3-1 in the late minutes of the return leg at the Olimpico stadium in Rome.
UEFA Confederation Cup Roll of Honor