As farfetched as this scenario may sound seen Juve’s consecutive 7th place finishes in Serie A, there are some interesting parallels between the last Juve squad to win the Champions League and our current team.
History repeats itself and when Juventus defeated Ajax in the Champions League final in 1996 they were able to end an even longer nightmare for their fan base than the one we are experiencing now. After Platini and Scirea retired Juve struggled to rebuild. The team had 4 different coaches in 8 years: Rino Marchesi (the equivalent of Del Neri), Gigi Maifredi (who Juve thought would be the new Arrigo Sacchi), Dino Zoff and Trapatoni (he came back to Juve in 1991 after a stint at Inter) . Juventus last scudetto dated back to the 1986 season- Zoff and Trapattoni were at least able to each win a UEFA Cup during this period. When Marcello Lippi was hired as Juve coach in 1994 he was still fairly inexperienced, he had previously coached Atalanta and Napoli, the expectations for his tenure at Juve were fairly low. Conte is currently inheriting a very similar situation, Juve has had numerous coaches and 3 year plans since the Calciopoli scandal.
Moggi was the GM that hired Lippi. They both had previously worked at Napoli (although not together); Moggi oversaw the Maradona era while Lippi was the coach that brought Napoli back to European competitions for the first time after el Pibe left the squad in 1991 . Moggi had a knack for selling stars at the perfect time and replacing them with cheaper players who were on the raise. Moggi was able to purchase Jugovic and Padovano (both would score in the penalty shutout in the Champions League final against Ajax) to bring depth to the squad prior to the 1995-96 season. He would then sell Vialli, Ravanelli and Paulo Sosa to bring in Vieri, Zidane and Henry as cheaper alternatives in years to follow. Moggi’s most famous move in the transfer market was selling Zidane to Real Madrid once Zizou established himself as arguably the greatest player in the world- Moggi would use the money from the transfer to purchase Thuram, Buffon and Nedved and build the foundation for what was the last great Juventus team.
Lippi brought with him to Juventus Ciro Ferrara to reinforce the defense and won the scudetto immediately during Roberto Baggio’s last season at Juve (he was sold to Milan as he was a favorite of Berlusconi’s). By winning the scudetto in 1995 and the Champions League in 1996 Lippi started arguably the most successful period in Juve’s history. Juve would win 3 Serie A titles and would make two other Champions League finals (one lost to Borussia Dortmund the other to Real Madrid) under Lippi’s first term at Juve.
Lippi has won 5 scudetti, made 4 Champions league finals and won one Intercontinental Cup in club competitions in two separate terms at Juventus. He was the first coach to win all of the major club competitions as well as a World Cup . By returning to coach the Azzurri for the 2010 World Cup Lippi had not much to gain (the odds that Italy would repeat were very low) and his reputation to lose. Lippi strongly believed in having a cohesive team with players that valued the group above all. That philosophy worked wonders in 2006, as all many of the players on the Italian squad were facing the Calciopoli scandal and the usual low expectations from the Italian press and fans. Winning in Germany and defeating the host country in the semifinal was particularly sweet for the Azzurri and especially their fans, as many of the Italians immigrant working in Germany were mocked for years. Lippi was a master at using Calciopoli, the German attitude towards Italians and the scorn of the press to motivate the team. Unfortunately Lippi is now also remembered for the disastrous performance of the Azzurri in South Africa; for the sake of creating a unified group like he had in 2006, Lippi did not select Cassano and Balotelli (most likely the two most talented players) to the squad.
At the beginning of the 1995-96 season a young Alex Del Piero replaced Roberto Baggio in the starting lineup, he would form a devastating attack with Vialli and Ravanelli. Juventus also added experienced defender Vierchowod to improve the back line. Juventus was able to often play with 3 forwards since they had a very strong midfield with Deschamps, Paulo Sosa and Conte as well as a tough defense. Our current squad has many good strikers (Matri, Quagliarella, Vucinic) and we have 3 midfielders (Pirlo, Marchisio, Vidal) who could play similarly to the trio Lippi used regularly. However our 2011 team does not feature the experience and skill of the 1996 team in the backline, our current best defender is Chiellini and he compares more to Torricelli than say to Vierchowod or Ferrara.
Juventus faced a very difficult road to the final of 1996 Champions League. In the group stage they had to face Borussia Dortmund, Steaua Bucarest and Rangers (Juve scored an impressive 15 goals in the group stage alone). They would then eliminate Real Madrid and French League Champion Nantes in the knock out stages before facing Ajax (who had won the Champions League the previous year) in the final which took place at the Olimpico stadium in Rome. Ajax had a great team that featured striker Litmanen (a poor man’s Ibrahimovic), the De Boer brothers, a young Davids, Nigerian star Kanu and Kluivert who was injured at time of the game (he came in for the second half of the final). Juventus dominated most of the game and squandered numerous opportunities; Ravenelli took advantage of a defensive mistake and scored from a very tough angle within the first 15 minutes. Ajax tied the game towards the end of the first half with a goal by Litmanen. The game ended on penalty kicks after Peruzzi stopped two of them and Juve scored all 4.
Here is a brief description of the players on that squad.
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Angelo Peruzzi - one of the most underrated GKs in Juventus and Italy’s history. He came to Juventus after a suspension for doping in 1991 (he allegedly took a diet supplement that caused him to test positive, and seen that he was always pudgy the story does have credence) and quickly replaced Tacconi in the starting lineup. There are some interesting parallels between the Tacconi-Peruzzi GK controversy and what we saw last season with Buffon and Storari (although Peruzzi was considerably younger then Storari and Buffon was a bigger star then Tacconi), ultimately inserting Peruzzi into the starting lineup was a very successful move for Lippi as Peruzzi remained the starter for the entire first Lippi term at Juve which ended in 1999. Peruzzi was a very strong and acrobatic GK, his only weakness was defending crosses but he was especially good at stopping penalty kicks. Peruzzi was Buffon’s back up in the 2006 World Cup. Modern day equivalent: Neuer. Potential FIFA 2011 rating: 83. |
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Ciro Ferrara - one of the best Italian defenders of the last 30 years. Played with Maradona on the great Napoli teams from the late 80s (he became the captain of the team once Maradona left) and was brought to Juve by Marcello Lippi when he became our coach. Formed one of the great defensive tandems in Juve’s history with Montero (he joined Juve as Vierchowod’s replacement for the 1996-97 season) Ferrara was known as a very tough man marker who was also able to score some spectacular goals. He was not able to play for the Italian National team once Arrigo Sacchi became the coach, as he played a strict zone defense that was not suited to Ciro’s style. Ferrara scored one of the penalties in the shootout against Ajax. Modern day equivalent: Puyol. Potential FIFA 2011 rating: 84. |
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Gianluca Pessotto - probably the most anonymous member of this squad, Pessotto now works at Juventus as a team manager after spending 11 years on the team as a player. He was a very hard working player in the Zambrotta mold; he could play both as defender and a midfielder and was able to run nonstop during games. Pessotto attempted to commit suicide in 2006 in the wake of the Calciopoli scandal. Modern day equivalent: Ansaldi and hopefully someday De Ceglie. Potential FIFA 2011 rating: 80. |
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Pietro Vierchowod - the “Czar” (he is of Ukrainian dissent) also known as the “butcher” (for his rugged style of play) remains one of the most underrated defenders of the modern era. After spending most of his career at Sampdoria (I have great memories of his duels with Van Basten in the early nineties) he came to Juve where he would remain for only one season . Vierchowod was very tough and was not afraid of cheap shots, while he was mainly known as a man marker he was still able to play in the zone defense Sacchi used as coach for Italy- something Ferrara was not able to do . Modern day equivalent: Nesta. Potential FIFA 2011 rating: 85 in his prime and 82 in 1996. |
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Moreno Torricelli - Russell Crowe and Ron Howard could have based the movie Cinderella on Torricelli’s life instead of James Braddock’s. In 1992 Torricelli was 22 and he was working in a factory in northern Italy. He also played for an amateur team named Caratese whom Juventus faced in a friendly to prepare for the upcoming 1992/93 season, Torricelli was so impressive that Juve purchased him for 80 million lire (about 50000 Euros) .Torricelli was similar to Chiellini, he was tall and very strong, he could play as both a center or wing back. He would go on to play 10 games for Italy before the end of his career. Modern day equivalent: the version of Chiellini we saw this past season. Potential FIFA 11 rating: 82 |
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Didier Deschamps - as the French would say Didier Deschamps has “la gagne”- a winning spirit. Zidane may have been the captain but Deschamps was the real leader of the French team that won the World Cup in 1998. If you could create a Frankenstein out of the best defensive midfielders in the world you would get a player with strong tackling ability, stamina and great tactical sense- all the qualities that describe Deschamps. He was an ideal partner for Paulo Sousa and Conte in supporting our strong offense. Modern day equivalent: Van Bommel. Potential FIFA rating: 85. |
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Paulo Sousa - the “regista” of the squad he brought class and precise passing to the midfield. He was one of the best players on the great Portugal teams of the 90s which also featured Figo and Rui Costa, he spent two years at Juve prior to be being sold to Borussia Dortmund (Zidane would replace him in Juve’s lineup). He suffered numerous injuries during his career and retired at the age of 31. Modern day equivalent: Xavi. Potential FIFA rating: 84. |
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Antonio Conte - our current coach was a fantastic midfielder who combined both quality and strong defensive prowess. He was a worthy successor to Tardelli and was the type of player we can all hope Marchisio becomes some day. Conte played 12 seasons on Juve and was the captain before Del Piero. In what is either a miracle in modern technology or a great toupee (water proof no less) Conte has more hair now than during his playing days. Modern day equivalent: De Rossi but better offensively. Potential FIFA rating: 84. |
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Gianluca Vialli - I rate acquiring Luca Vialli and Roberto Baggio as the two highest profile transactions completed by Juve in the past 20 years. Vialli had become a football icon at Sampdoria; with Mancini he formed one of the best forward combinations in Serie A. They transformed Sampdoria from a mid level Serie A team to a serious European contender. Vialli was very strong and scored some beautiful goals with powerful volleys. He was the captain of Juve during the final game against Ajax. Vialli had an up and down career with Italy, the 1990 World Cup was supposed to be his great opportunity to shine but instead Toto’ Schillaci replaced him and went on to become the star of the tournament. Modern day equivalent: Higuain. Potential FIFA rating: 86 in his prime and 84 in 1996. |
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Alessandro Del Piero - a Juve legend on the field and one of the classiest sport superstars of his generation. Boniperti could not have found a better replacement for Roberto Baggio both as a player and person, Alex ended up having the career Juve fans anticipated and hoped for Baggio. I have fond memories of seeing him play at the Appiani stadium when he was playing for Padova in Italy’s Serie B at the age of 16. Alex was traded to Juve in 1993 for close to 4 million Euros which was a very considerable transfer fee for the time especially for someone as young as Del Piero. Del Piero’s longevity and success can best be described by mentioning some of his offensive partners at Juve- the list includes Vialli, Inzaghi, Henry, Trezeguet and Ibrahimovic. Del Piero has strong ties to the US; when he got seriously injured in 1998 he opted to have his knee surgery in the States, he is also planning on ending his playing career in MLS most likely replacing Beckham as the star player for the LA Galaxy. Modern day equivalent: Aguero. Potential FIFA rating: 84 at the time of this game. |
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Fabrizio Ravenelli- easily recognizable on the pitch due to his white hair, Ravanelli was physically imposing and scored 27 goals in the first two years of Lippi’s tenure which netted Juve a scudetto and the Champions League. Both Ravanelli and Vialli would leave Juve to go play in England (with Middlesbrough and Chelsea respectively). at the time it was very rare for Serie A stars to leave for other leagues. While Ravanelli had a very successful stint both with Middlesbrough and then with Marseille in France, his most important goal was however with Juve in the final against Ajax. He was a big fan favorite and would have probably been a member of the Drughi had he not become a professional player. Modern day equivalent: Berbatov. Potential FIFA rating: 83. |
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Angelo Di Livio- there are arguably few less likable players in Juve’ history. Di Livio had the heart of a champion and strongest lungs of his era, these attributes made him a fan favorite. Di Livio arrived at Juve from Padova in 1993 after spending all career in Italy’s lower divisions and quickly became a fixture on the right wing for Lippi’s great teams. He also played under 4 different coaches for Italy, a very impressive accomplishment for someone that did not debut in Serie A until the age of 27. Modern day equivalent: a deluxe version of Maggio or Ryan Giggs with much better defensive ability. Potential FIFA rating: 82. |
Random Facts
~ Both times Juve won the Champions League they faced the defending title holder in the final.
~ Edwin Van Der Sar replaced Peruzzi at Juventus in 1999. Davids (who missed one of the penalty kicks for Ajax) would also eventually join Juve.
~ Juventus sold Paulo Sousa to Borussia Dortmund and would face him in a 3-1 loss in the Champions League final in 1998 .
~ Both coaches that brought the Champions League to Juve (Trapattoni and Lippi) would eventually leave to join Inter and both eventually returned to Juve. Lippi’s return was far more succesfull then Trapattoni (he did win a UEFA during his second tenure at Juve).
~ Many players from this Juventus team had come from Sampdoria- Vialli, Jugovic and Vierchowod. |
