As Juventus ready to
face Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League Final in Cardiff, they would want
to rid themselves of the disappointment that the Italians faced in the 1998
Final. Then, in Amsterdam, Real Madrid had emerged victorious by 1-0 margin.
Zinedine Zidane picked
the ball that bounced off the Real Madrid wall from an Alessandro Del Piero
free-kick. He then got clear of the defender in front of him and made an
attempt at goal from an awkward angle. It went and hit the side netting and
Zidane walked back, screaming at himself in anger and frustration.
Anger and frustration
was all Juventus could get out of the night in the 1998 Champions League final
against Real Madrid in Amsterdam. They were the favourites – it was their third
final in as many years and the team boasted of names like Filippo Inzaghi,
Dutch great Edgar Davids (yet to don the goggles that made him one of the most
recognisable sights on the pitch) and Didier Deschamps who would lift the World
Cup with France under two months later. At the helm were Del Piero and Zidane.
1998 was the year that gave Zidane the status of a superstar in the world of
football. His performances for Juventus cemented his place in the French
national team that played in the World Cup. His performances there edged his
name in history books and also got him a Ballon d’or.
Real Madrid, on the
other hand, were nothing like the side that Zidane has led to the 2017
Champions League final in Cardiff. This was before the Galactico era started at
Santiago Bernabeu and Real only managed a fourth-place finish in La Liga that
year.
The difference could
be seen from the time the referee blew the whistle to mark the start of the
match. Juventus were the side making more inroads into the opposition half. Del
Piero and Zidane repeatedly fed Inzaghi but the latter failed to convert any of
those chances. Deschamps too had his chances and for the better period of the
first half, centre backs Fernando Hierro, Manolo Sanchis and goalkeeper Bodo
Illgner were the busiest Real Madrid players on the pitch. Los Blancos did have
their chances, with the best one coming when Predrag Mijatovic put a low ball
into the path of young striker and future club captain Raul but he could only
put it wide of the post.
But Juve kept missing
chances and Real’s attacks became increasingly confident and frequent. On one
such instance, Mijatovic latched on to a driven shot from Roberto Carlos across
the box and the ball nestled itself inside the back of the net. Real Madrid
were ahead and the Juve players had their heads in their hands.
Juve, though, kept
pushing till the end. Just minutes later, Del Piero put in a ball into the box
that Inzaghi only had to tap in. Instead, he put it wide. Davids then charged
past multiple defenders into the box. It was a run that caught the eye but the
shot that came at the end of it was straight at Illgner. such moment was when
Mark Luliano gave Fernanddo Redondo a careless tap on his head after the latter
went down and complained of a push. Redondo remonstrated but was held back by
his team mates. In the dying minutes of the match, Clarence Seedorf made a rash
challenge on Davids that led to a red card being shown to the Dutch
international. But it didn’t matter as the referee’s next action was to blow
the final whistle. Juventus had lost a second consecutive final. Real Madrid,
the underdogs on that night, lifted the Champions League trophy.
Since then, Real have grown into arguably one of the biggest
clubs in the world. Juventus, on the other hand, have seen the dark days of the
Calciopoli that pushed them into the second division of the Italian league.
They have since regained their status as the rulers of Serie A and have also
been to the Champions League final where they lost to Real’s bitter rivals
Barcelona. Whether history will repeat itself on Sunday at Cardiff, or whether
it will be the day of redemption for the Old Lady, one can only wait and watch.
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