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Past meetings with Porto

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Past meetings with Porto
Past meetings with Porto
Past meetings with Porto

One draw, one win in the UCL

Juventus and Porto have only locked horns twice in the Champions League: a pair of group games 15 seasons ago, the first of which took place in Portugal on 10 October 2001.

Back then, Porto were still playing at the Estadio das Antas – they would move to their current ground, the Estadio do Dragao, two years later – but, just as today, the hosts made for formidable opposition in their own backyard, making life very difficult for the Old Lady on the night.

Led by the highly talented midfielder Deco, the ‘Dragons’ poured the pressure on their visitors from the very first whistle, Brazilian striker Pena forcing this fine save out of Gianluigi Buffon, who was in his first season with Juventus at the time:

The Bianconeri would grow as the game wore on and provided a goal threat themselves with no other than Alessandro Del Piero up front, but it was Buffon who would seal the man of the match honours for performing further miracles between the sticks such as the one below in order to keep a precious clean sheet: 0-0 the final score.

Just 13 days later, Marcello Lippi’s men hosted Porto for the return group fixture in Turin and, by contrast, supporters were treated to four strikes on the evening, as Del Piero, Paolo Montero and David Trezeguet sealed a 3-1 comeback victory after Clayton had handed the visitors an opener.

Juve had done enough to progress to the Champions League’s second group stage, but it was there that their European adventure that season would eventually end.

A brilliant night in Basel

Despite not being a Champions League tie, there’s no doubting the most important meeting between Juventus and Porto: the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup final on 16 May 1984.

Played in the neutral venue of Basel, Switzerland, the early exchanges were pretty even, that is until the 13th minute when Beniamino Vignola fired an unstoppable, left-footed drive into the bottom corner from the edge of the box.

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The Bianconeri had their tails up, but the lead would scarcely last a quarter of an hour, Porto’s Antonio Sousa finding the net with a low drive that Stefano Tacconi got his gloves to but couldn’t keep out.

This was Juve’s night, however, and they got their noses in front once more when Vignola played a wonderfully lofted through ball in to the path of Polish forward Zbigniew Boniek, who poked deftly past the onrushing keeper for what would ultimately prove to be the winning goal.

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Juventus supporters can relive this unforgettable European evening also at Juventus Museum, where Vignola’s iconic number 7 jersey and pendants from the final are all on display.

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