5 Star Names of Champions League Finals for Juventus

On Saturday, Juventus will take the field at Berlin’s Olympiastadion, facing on Barcelona in the club’s first Champions League final in 12 years. The Bianconeri have endured a difficult period in the intervening years, but now—having won four consecutive Serie A titles—are once again Italian football’s most dominant side.

A clear indicator of their return to the continent’s elite, the encounter will also mark the eighth time La Madama has reached the final of the European Cup. Losing on five of those occasions, Juventus will hope to turn around a run of three consecutive defeats since their last triumph back in 1996.

Yet despite this poor record, there have been a number of impressive performances by Juventus players in UEFA’s showpiece event. Over the following pages, the best five of those displays are discussed, ranking in order of importance and impact upon the final result.

5. Zinedine Zidane vs. Real Madrid (1998)

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In 1998, Juventus reached their third consecutive final and would face Real Madrid, a team who were huge underdogs at that time. Predrag Mijatovic would hand the Spanish side the lead midway through the first half however, sparking the Bianconeri into life as they searched for an equaliser.

Guilty of wasting an excellent chance shortly after kick-off, Zinedine Zidane was at the heart of almost every attack that followed, creating numerous chances for his team-mates but ultimately unable to lead them back into the tie.

4. Alessandro Del Piero vs. Borussia Dortmund (1997)

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While Juventus can consider themselves unfortunate to have lost only narrowly on so many occasions, the 1997 edition of the Champions League Final marked the one time the Bianconeri were thoroughly outplayed on European football’s grandest stage.

Despite being holders and overwhelming favourites as they took the field against Borussia Dortmund, they found themselves on the wrong end of a comprehensive 3-1 defeat. Yet the goal they scored was an incredible one, Alessandro Del Piero flicking home with a smart back-heeled effort after a sustained period of pressure from Marcello Lippi’s men.

It was his fourth strike of that European campaign, but it was not enough as Juventus once again fell at the final hurdle.

3. Gigi Buffon vs. Milan (2003)

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Many of Juve’s losses in the Champions League final have been particularly heart-breaking, losing by a single goal on three occasions and another in a penalty shootout following a 0-0 draw over 120 minutes.

That the latter of those—at Old Trafford in 2003—remained so tightly contested was almost entirely due to Gigi Buffon. The goalkeeper pulled off one particularly notable save during normal time, diving to his left to claw a superb Pippo Inzaghi header around the post, preventing an almost certain goal.

He followed that up by stopping two Milan spot-kicks, only to see his team-mates miss three of their own efforts.

2. Angelo Peruzzi vs. Ajax (1996)

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Much like Buffon would seven years later, Juve’s showing in the 1996 final owed much to the man between the posts. Unlike the current club captain however, Angelo Peruzzi’s display at the Stadio Olimpico saw him collect a winner’s medal as the Bianconeri lifted the European Cup for only the second time in their history.

The burly shot-stopper was undoubtedly at fault for Ajax’s first-half equaliser, but from the moment his blunder allowed Jari Litmanen to score, he would turn in a faultless display for the remainder of the encounter.

Both sides would go in search of a winning goal, with both Peruzzi and Edwin van der Sar making excellent stops that forced the tie to be decided on penalties. The Juve man would deny future team-mate Edgar Davids’ opening attempt, then parry Sonny Silooy’s effort to hand victory to the Old Lady.

1. Fabrizio Ravanelli vs. Ajax (1996)

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While that 1996 victory came in part because of Peruzzi’s effort, it was also the performance of Fabrizio Ravanelli that allowed Italian football’s grand Old Lady to emerge victorious. When a poor 12th-minute clearance from Frank de Boer looped into the air, it was the silver-haired striker who reacted quickest.

Getting to the ball first, Ravanelli would sneak home a shot from a tough angle, promptly pulling his shirt over his head to celebrate in trademark fashion.