29 September 2021
Tonight’s Juventus-Chelsea clash is a confrontation against the team that currently holds the Champions League, won in the final against Manchester City. A situation that has already occurred in several circumstances: the reigning European champions took to the field in Turin and the Old Lady hosted them in several great matches, including the 3-0 of 2012-13 against the Blues in the Group Stages, the first great European victory of Juventus at the Allianz Stadium (in the photo, the team’s celebration).
THE ENGLISH SURPRISE
In the early part of the 1980s, English football was dominant. So much so that in 1982 the Champions Cup had been won by Aston Villa, a club that had entered the competition for the first time. The following year Juve meets this prestigious opponent and asserts an evident superiority, overcoming the Villans 2-1 in England and 3-1 in Italy. In the photo a phase of the meeting at the Comunale with Paolo Rossi in action, Roberto Bettega with the number 7 and Michel Platini, star of the match, with a brace.
THE SUPERCUP OF 1985
Gaetano Scirea raises the plaque of the European Super Cup by wearing the red jersey of Liverpool, as was used at the time between opponents. We are in January 1985: Turin is full of snow, the fans are working hard to shovel it away to prepare for the match between the English, who won the Champions Cup by beating Roma, and Juventus who won the Cup Winners' Cup by beating Porto. The Platini-Zibi Boniek axis is irresistible: the Frenchman shows the way, as the Pole scores two goals.
AGAINST THE GALACTICOS
Another key moment in Juventus history. Alessandro Del Piero's scream in one of the most memorable European matches at the Stadio Delle Alpi: 2003, Juventus-Real Madrid, Champions League semi-final. Many unforgettable flashes: the three goals, the penalty saved by Gigi Buffon against Luis Figo, the yellow by Pavel Nedved that prevented him from playing in the final. And, above all, a skyrocketing enthusiasm for having defeated the Galacticos of Real Madrid, who came to Turin with three cup victories in the previous five years.
ANOTHER SEMI-FINAL
Each stadium has its own semi-final clash with Real Madrid. In 2015 it is the first leg and on the bench there is an all-Italian challenge, with Massimiliano Allegri who has just won his first Scudetto in black and white and Carlo Ancelotti who brought La Decima to the Casa Blanca. In a vibrant contest, Juve won 2-1 with goals from Alvaro Morata (here in the duel with Sergio Ramos) and Carlos Tevez, interspersed with the momentary equalizer of Cristiano Ronaldo. At the Bernabeu it will finish 1-1, with Alvaro once again decisive.
THE MOST IMPORTANT OF ALL
Chelsea, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Real Madrid twice: five victories, all important, to define a line of continuity over time. After all, even outside Turin, precisely in Rome, when Juve won the Champions Legue as they overcame Ajax, then defending champions, in another unforgettable European evening, the most important of all.
