A Matchup for the Ages
Posted: Tuesday April 20, 1999 11:55 AM
Juventus hosts Man United for Champions Cup berth
TURIN (Reuters) -- Juventus will become the first club since the great Real Madrid side of the 1950s to reach four consecutive European Cup finals if it knocks Manchester United out of the competition on Wednesday.
United, attempting to reach its first European Cup final in 31 years, must either force a draw by a bigger score than 1-1, or win a competitive match in Italy for the first time to reach the final.
Man United, which claimed its first win over an Italian club after 42 years of trying when it knocked Inter Milan out in the quarterfinals, believes it can overcome Juventus at home -- but history is not on its side.
In addition to United having never won in Italy, Juventus has not lost a home European Cup match that mattered since 1968 -- and it has not lost at home to an English side since Arsenal beat it in the European Cup Winners' Cup semifinal in 1980.
This will be the clubs' 10th competitive match against each other, with Juventus holding a clear advantage, beating United 3-1 on aggregate in the 1976-77 UEFA Cup and 3-2 over two legs in the 1983-84 European Cup Winners Cup.
Since the introduction of the Champions League the clubs have played five times with Juventus winning three matches, United one and their first leg meeting at Old Trafford two weeks ago ending in a 1-1 draw.
So, after Antonio Conte's 25th-minute goal for Juve and Ryan Giggs' late equalizer for the home side, this match is finely balanced.
Juventus, which won the Cup in 1996 and then lost both the 1997 and 1998 finals, is desperate to put the disappointment of the last two seasons behind it and reach its fourth successive final.
"We hope we can make it and we hope we can then go on to win it," said French midfielder Didier Deschamps, recalling the bitter disappointment of Juve's loss against Borussia Dortmund in the 1997 final and against Real Madrid last year.
"It would be an extraordinary feat for all of us if we make it -- for us, for the club, for the fans and for Turin."
"We've lost our last two finals. When you lose a final, which is usually the last fixture of the season, it stays with you. It sits inside you for the whole summer."
Deschamps, who salvaged his peace of mind last summer by winning the World Cup with France, said Juventus has to go one better than it did at Old Trafford, when it produced a brilliant first-half performance before succumbing to Giggs' late goal.
"We played like we wanted to in that match, pressing their defense and putting them in difficulty," he said. "But then we gave something away. Here we have to play for 90 minutes like we did for the first 60 minutes in Manchester."
Juve will be alarmed to learn that Giggs has a fair chance of playing on Wednesday despite an ankle injury which left him on crutches following United's epic 2-1 victory over Arsenal in the semifinals of the English FA Cup a week ago.
The injury has proved to be less serious than first thought and the Welsh winger, who scored a wonderful winner in that match to add to his late strike against Juve, faces a late fitness test after a training session in Turin on Tuesday.
"He's improving a lot but it's going to be very close," United coach Alex Ferguson said.
Peter Schmeichel is recovering well from a groin strain and striker Andy Cole, rested for the past two matches, also looks to be fully fit again.
United has to score for Ferguson to become the first United manager since Matt Busby 31 years ago to reach the European Cup final but the Scot remains confident.
"We know we have to score," he said. "If you look at our record away from home in Europe, there is plenty of evidence we can do that and I am convinced we will."
"When we lost to Borussia Dortmund two years ago we should have been in the final. But I was never quite sure that we were ready to go on to win the cup. Now you just feel that we are capable of playing against anyone."
Juventus faces a late fitness test on tough Uruguayan defender Paolo Montero.
Coach Carlo Ancelotti slotted the experienced Ciro Ferrera into Montero's position during a training match on Monday and may be tempted to do the same again against United.
Alessandro Birindelli will step in for disqualified right back Zoran Mirkovic while in attack, Zidane is expected to start just behind solitary striker Filippo Inzaghi.
Zidane has been at the center of some dissent in the Juve camp after the club's honorary vice-president Giovanni Agnelli branded him a wimp for refusing to commit himself to the club because his wife wants to move to the seaside.
Whether that has any detrimental affect on Zidane's performance remains to be seen, but if he plays as well on Wednesday as he did for the first hour in Manchester, he will cause United all kinds of problems.
Likely teams:
Juventus: Angelo Peruzzi, Alessandro Birindelli, Ciro Ferrara or Paolo Montero, Mark Iuliano, Gianluca Pessotto, Antonio Conte, Didier Deschamps, Edgar Davids, Angelo Di Livio, Zinedine Zidane, Filippo Inzaghi
Manchester United: Peter Scmeichel, Gary Neville, Ronny Johnsen, Jaap Stam, Denis Irwin; David Beckham, Roy Keane, Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs or Teddy Sheringham, Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole or Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
Referee: Urs Meier, Switzerland
