24 July 2015
On this day in 1994, one of Juventus’ most successful managers of all time oversaw his first game in charge of the Turin club.
In eight years at the helm, across two separate spells, the Tuscan tactician would go on to lead the Bianconeri to 13 trophies, including five league titles, a Champions League and an Intercontinental Cup.
The friendly rout over Swiss team Buochs saw Didier Deschamps bag a brace, while Fabrizio Ravanelli, Gianluca Vialli, Alessio Tacchinardi and Alessandro Del Piero all got on the scoresheet.
All of the aforementioned would go on to become pillars of the Lippi-led side that would triumph on both Italian and European soil in the mid-late Nineties.
Speaking in his first ever interview to Hurrà Juventus upon his arrival in July 1994, the Viareggio-born coach already gave glowing reports to several members of what would become an all-conquering outfit.
Of Deschamps, Lippi would describe him as a “classic midfielder, versatile and always at hand to help the rest of the team.”
The Frenchman would indeed emerge as an instrumental cog of a well-oiled wheel. A highly functional but classy midfield pivot, who would provide the necessary protection for his admiring manager to field the highly offensive 4-3-3, spearheaded by Ravanelli, Vialli and Roberto Baggio.
The latter would give way to prodigious talent Alessandro Del Piero, a player whose ability to play between the lines epitomized Lippi’s mantra for simple, yet elegant football.
“I am a traditionalist, but this does not mean that I belong to the Stone Age. In the same way, one who believes solely in zonal marking is not really a forward-thinker. Most importantly of all, a coach needs to build a strong rapport with his players.”
Lippi’s success is proof that victory can often be found in doing the simple things correctly. Constructing a cohesive team unit, combining properly the outstanding individual talents at his disposal, was the right recipe for bringing silverware to Juventus.
