Twenty five years have passed, and Marcello Lippi remains the last manager to win the Champions League trophy with Juventus.
The Old Lady lifted the European trophy twice, but the first occasion will always be marred by the tragic events of Heysel in 1985.
However, the 1995/96 triumph remains one of the happiest memories for the Bianconeri supporters, when their side beat Ajax in the final thanks to penalty shootouts.
Fabrizio Ravanelli opened the scoring for the Italians, but Jari Litmanen equalized for the Dutch side. In the end, Juventus outscored their opponents 4-2 in the penalties after Vladimir Jugovic’s decisive spot kick.
To celebrate the 25th anniversary, Lippi remembered the events of that night in Rome.
“An exceptional triumph. Juve are used to winning, but up to that moment they had only lifted the European Cup once and in a tragic night. Vialli, Ravanelli and Del Piero had great strength as well as class,” said the former Bianconeri boss in an interview with la Gazzetta dello Sport via Calciomercato.
“After full time, I was calm. I remember the beauty and pride within the looks of the players before the penalties with Ajax. A great feeling. Ferrara and Pessotto were the first penalty takers because the first shots can guide the result.
“And so I sent two wise boys to the disk, who knew how to control their emotions. And they scored, and so did Padovano and Jugovic afterwards. The fifth penalty shooter would have been Del Piero, but it was not necessary because Peruzzi had saved two. Jugovic entered in the place of the injured Conte.
Unfortunately for Juventus, they were never able to replicate such achievement, despite reaching the final on five additional occasions – 1997, 1998, 2003, 2015 and 2017. So could it be a curse?
“I don’t know. During my time, we reached four finals, three of which were consecutive. It was a different competition back then, but if you reach the final three years in a row it means that you are dominating European football.
“Moreover, we went to the final always winning the Serie A title, except in 1996. It is difficult to carry on the two events. I’m just saying that you can’t always win and that the most important thing is to renew the squad while maintaining a high level of competitiveness. So the fan can always dream of winning and if success does not come, well, patience is always needed in sport,” concluded Lippi.
The 73-year-old enjoyed two separate stints with the Old Lady, the fist between 1994 and 1999, and the second between 2001 and 2004.
The former Napoli boss famously went on to lead Italy towards World Cup glory in the summer of 2006.
