1996 UEFA Champions League final

1996 UEFA Champions League final
Match programme cover
Event1995–96 UEFA Champions League
Ajax Juventus
Netherlands Italy
1 1
After extra time
Juventus won 4–2 on penalties
Date22 May 1996
VenueStadio Olimpico, Rome
RefereeManuel Díaz Vega (Spain)
Attendance70,000[1]

The 1996 UEFA Champions League final was a football match played on 22 May 1996 between Ajax of the Netherlands and Juventus of Italy. The match ended in a 1–1 draw after extra time, forcing a penalty shoot-out, which Juventus won 4–2.[2] It was the club's second triumph in the competition. As of 2025, this is the last time a Dutch team appeared in a final.

Background

The match was a repeat of the 1973 final, making it the fourth repeated final pairing.[3] Ajax won the 1973 final 1–0. Ajax was also the defending champions of the 1995 title where they defeated Milan 1–0.

Juventus had not featured in the Champions League for nine years until this edition of the tournament. Juventus reached their fourth final. In the semi-finals, Juventus eliminated French side Nantes, with a 2-0 victory in the first leg at home, and 3–2 defeat in the return leg. Previously Juventus won the final in 1985, and lost in 1973 and 1983.

Ajax reached their sixth final. In the semi-finals, Ajax eliminated Greek side Panathinaikos; they lost the first leg 1–0 at home, but won 3–0 in the second leg. Previously Ajax won the finals in 1971, 1972, 1973 and 1995, and lost in 1969.

Juventus entered the final as 1995–96 Serie A runners-up to Milan, as well as 1995 Supercoppa Italiana winners. Ajax entered the final as 1995–96 Eredivisie champions, 1995 Dutch Supercup winners, 1995 UEFA Super Cup and 1995 Intercontinental Cup winners.

Route to the final

Further information: 1995–96 UEFA Champions League
Netherlands Ajax Round Italy Juventus
Opponent Result Group stage Opponent Result
Spain Real Madrid 1–0 (H) Matchday 1 Germany Borussia Dortmund 3–1 (A)
Hungary Ferencváros 5–1 (A) Matchday 2 Romania Steaua București 3–0 (H)
Switzerland Grasshopper 3–0 (H) Matchday 3 Scotland Rangers 4–1 (H)
Switzerland Grasshopper 0–0 (A) Matchday 4 Scotland Rangers 4–0 (A)
Spain Real Madrid 2–0 (A) Matchday 5 Germany Borussia Dortmund 1–2 (H)
Hungary Ferencváros 4–0 (H) Matchday 6 Romania Steaua București 0–0 (A)
Group D winner

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Netherlands Ajax 6 16
2 Spain Real Madrid 6 10
3 Hungary Ferencváros 6 5
4 Switzerland Grasshopper 6 2
Source: UEFA
 Final standings Group C winner

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Italy Juventus 6 13
2 Germany Borussia Dortmund 6 9
3 Romania Steaua București 6 6
4 Scotland Rangers 6 3
Source: UEFA
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Knockout phase Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Germany Borussia Dortmund 3–0 2–0 (A) 1–0 (H) Quarter-finals Spain Real Madrid 2–1 0–1 (A) 2–0 (H)
Greece Panathinaikos 3–1 0–1 (H) 3–0 (A) Semi-finals France Nantes 4–3 2–0 (H) 2–3 (A)

Match

Summary

The start of the match was dominated by Juventus, while some of the young Ajax players committed various errors in this phase.[4] In the 12th minute, Ajax defender Frank de Boer clumsily headed the ball while falling back, allowing Juventus striker Fabrizio Ravanelli to quickly get between de Boer and goalkeeper Edwin van der Sar, who was coming out of his net, and despite the very angled position, slid in the net to give Juventus the lead.[4]

Ajax responded well, pushing further towards Juventus' half, taking advantage of their physical strength.[5] From a corner kick, Nwankwo Kanu forced the Juventus goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi to make a tough save,[4] only for Ajax to later get a free kick in the 41st minute that surprised Peruzzi[6] who only managed to block the ball which fell at the feet of Jari Litmanen to tap in to equalise.[4] Just before half-time, Antonio Conte was subbed out due to injury, replaced with Vladimir Jugović.[7]

The two teams went into half-time at 1–1, a score that remained unchanged in the second half where the only clear chance was for Juventus captain Gianluca Vialli, who from a very good position shot just wide of the net,[4] as well as a miss from Angelo Di Livio.[5]

After extra-time, the match remained 1–1 and went to penalty shoot-out.[4] The only clear chance in the extra-time was an opportunity missed by Juventus player Alessandro Del Piero in the second half.[5] In the penalty shoot-out, all four Juventus penalty takers scored, with those being Ciro Ferrara, Gianluca Pessotto, Michele Padovano and Jugović. For Ajax, Edgar Davids the first penalty taker's shot was saved by Peruzzi. The next two players scored, those being Litmanen and Arnold Scholten. Their final penalty taken by Sonny Silooy was also saved. Jugović's goal was the decisive penalty that gave Juventus its second title in the competition; Juventus won by a score of 4–2.[4]

Details

Ajax Netherlands1–1 (a.e.t.)Italy Juventus
  • Litmanen 41'
 Report
Penalties
 2–4
Attendance: 70,000[1]
Referee: Manuel Díaz Vega (Spain)
Ajax
Juventus
GK 1 Netherlands Edwin van der Sar
RB 2 Netherlands Sonny Silooy
CB 3 Netherlands Danny Blind (c) Yellow card 83'
DM 4 Netherlands Frank de Boer downward-facing red arrow 69'
LB 5 Netherlands Winston Bogarde
RM 6 Netherlands Ronald de Boer downward-facing red arrow 91'
RW 7 Nigeria Finidi George Yellow card 22'
LM 8 Netherlands Edgar Davids
CF 9 Nigeria Nwankwo Kanu
AM 10 Finland Jari Litmanen
LW 11 Netherlands Kiki Musampa downward-facing red arrow 46'
Substitutions:
GK 12 Netherlands Fred Grim
MF 13 Netherlands Arnold Scholten upward-facing green arrow 69'
MF 14 Netherlands Dave van den Bergh
FW 15 Netherlands Patrick Kluivert upward-facing green arrow 46'
MF 16 Netherlands Nordin Wooter Yellow card 92' upward-facing green arrow 91'
Manager:
Netherlands Louis van Gaal
GK 1 Italy Angelo Peruzzi
RB 4 Italy Moreno Torricelli Yellow card 102'
CB 2 Italy Ciro Ferrara
CB 5 Italy Pietro Vierchowod
LB 3 Italy Gianluca Pessotto
RM 7 France Didier Deschamps Yellow card 87'
CM 6 Portugal Paulo Sousa downward-facing red arrow 57'
LM 8 Italy Antonio Conte downward-facing red arrow 44'
RF 9 Italy Gianluca Vialli (c)
CF 11 Italy Fabrizio Ravanelli downward-facing red arrow 77'
LF 10 Italy Alessandro Del Piero
Substitutions:
GK 12 Italy Michelangelo Rampulla
CB 13 Italy Sergio Porrini
LM 14 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Vladimir Jugović Yellow card 50' upward-facing green arrow 44'
RM 15 Italy Angelo Di Livio Yellow card 106' upward-facing green arrow 57'
CF 16 Italy Michele Padovano upward-facing green arrow 77'
Manager:
Italy Marcello Lippi

Linesmen:
Joaquín Olmos González (Spain)
Manuel Fernando Tresaco Gracia (Spain)
Fourth official:
José María García-Aranda (Spain)

Post-match

Although Juventus won the 1996 Champions League final, the victory remains controversial because of accusations of doping.[8][9] The Juventus team has been accused of using erythropoietin (EPO) and the matter went to trial in 2004.[10] In November 2004, club doctor Riccardo Agricola was given a 22-month prison sentence and fined €2,000 for sporting fraud by providing performance-enhancing drugs, specifically EPO, to players between 1994 and 1998,[11][12] Leading hematologist Giuseppe d'Onofrio said that it was "practically certain" that midfielders Antonio Conte and Alessio Tacchinardi had taken EPO to overcome brief bouts of anemia, and that it was "very probable" that seven other players – Alessandro Birindelli, Alessandro Del Piero, Didier Deschamps, Dimas, Paolo Montero, Gianluca Pessotto and Moreno Torricelli – had taken EPO in small doses.[13]

In April 2005, the Court of Arbitration for Sport gave the following advisory opinion, in part: "The use of pharmaceutical substances which are not expressly prohibited by sports law, and which cannot be considered as substances similar or related to those expressly prohibited, is not to be sanctioned by disciplinary measures. However, regardless of the existence or not of any judgement rendered by a State court, sports authorities are under the obligation to prosecute the use of pharmaceutical substances which are prohibited by sports law or any other anti-doping rule violation in order to adopt disciplinary measures."[14] In December 2005, Agricola was acquitted of the charges by Turin's court of appeal.[15] In March 2007, in the final verdict by the Supreme Court of Cassation, stated that "in the years of 1994 to 1998 there was no ascertained positive case of doping substances by Juventus players, that the purchase of erythropoietin or its administration to the athletes of the club does not emerge from any act of the trial, and that the same expert had identified the possibility of an administration of erythropoietin in distant terms from the sure evidence ("very probable" and in two cases "practically certain"): it is that therefore, the judgement of probability and not of certainty, did not allow for a statement of responsibility."[16] The verdict also went on to say: "In response to the conclusion taken, the territorial court notes that there were no deferred values higher than the limits set in the various antidoping protocols and that the situation of the Juventus players, both with reference to the average hematological values, and in relation to that of material balance, did not differ from the national average population.[16]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "2. Finals" (PDF). UEFA Champions League Statistics Handbook 2016/17. Nyon, Switzerland: Union of European Football Associations. 2017. p. 1. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  2. ^ "Why Ajax still feel 'cheated' by Juve's 1996 Champions League triumph". The Independent. 9 April 2019.
  3. ^ "Second time round: European Cup final rematches". UEFA. 16 May 2017.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g "La Juve piega l'Ajax dal dischetto". Archived from the original on 7 April 2016.
  5. ^ a b c José del Olmo (1 April 2018). Centro de Investigaciones de Historia y Estadística del Fútbol Español (ed.). "XLI Liga de Campeones 1995/96: Juventus FC Torino (Italia)" (in Spanish). Cuadernos de Fútbol. ISSN 1989-6379.
  6. ^ "Classici: Ajax-Juventus '96" (in Italian). 23 May 1996.
  7. ^ "Antonio Conte's painful relationship with the Champions League". nytimes.com. 7 September 2022.
  8. ^ "Juventus vs Ajax: Revisiting the Doping Scandal That Tarnished the Champions League final of 1996". Sports Illustrated. 10 April 2019.
  9. ^ Pitt-Brooke, Jack (1 June 2017). "Juventus' controversial European past casts dark shadows ahead of Champions League final against Real Madrid". The Independent.
  10. ^ "Zidane admits using creatine in Juventus doping trial". Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 26 January 2004.
  11. ^ "Juve doctor convicted of doping". UEFA. 26 November 2004.
  12. ^ "Judge Convicts Juventus Doctor". apnews.com. 26 November 200.
  13. ^ Dunne, Frank (1 December 2004). "The drug scandal that blackens the name of Juve's team of the Nineties". The Independent.
  14. ^ "ADVISORY OPINION Pronounced by the COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORT" (PDF). coni.it. 26 April 2005. p. 27. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 June 2012.
  15. ^ "Juventus doctor wins doping appeal". UEFA. 14 December 2005.
  16. ^ a b "Repubblica Italiana La Corte Suprema Cassazione Sezione Seconda Penale In Nome Del Popolo Italiano" (PDF). Supreme Court of Cassation. 29 March 2007. pp. 40–42. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 September 2011.
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