Juventus have just mathematically won the fifth consecutive Scudetto, equaling a record already set by the Bianconeri in the early 1930s and then replicated by Grande Torino (with the interlude of the Second World War) and by Inter Milan in the second half of the 00s. The black and white roll of honor, therefore, has been enriched with another trophy. But it is a very crowded register: 32 league titles, 10 Italian Cups, 2 Champions League / European Cups, 3 UEFA Cups, 1 Cup Winners’ Cup, 2 Intercontinental Cups, and various other minor trophies.
In short, there is to lose your head in counting the victories and trying to remember them. For this reason – and, for a level playing field, we will soon do the same for other clubs as well – it seemed useful to us to summarize, and choose the five most memorable types of trophies that the Juventus players have managed to conquer. Here they are.
The Scudetti
An overview of the 32
As mentioned, Juventus has 32 national titles in its Palmares, a real record in Italy. Behind the bianconeri, in fact, the two Milanese from Milan and Inter are placed on an equal footing, with 18 titles each. A little more than half of those of the Old Lady. But there is more: in more than two out of three championships, Juve has reached the final podium.
The first title came in 1905, but it was an isolated achievement for a long time. The Turin team began to grind results at the end of the 1920s, up to ring those five consecutive championships between 1930 and 1935 that we have already mentioned. The team made a big comeback after the war, with two titles at the turn of 1950 and then another three championships in the era of Boniperti, Sívori, and Charles.
Another golden period was that between 1972 and 1986, when, in the space of 14 years, 9 championships arrived, many with the signature of Giovanni Trapattoni, the most successful coach in Juventus history. Then another golden period between 1994 and 2003, the era of Lippi and Capello, was interrupted by the Calciopoli scandal. Finally, the last phase, the one started by Conte and carried out so far by Massimiliano Allegri.
THE MOST BEAUTIFUL SCUDETTI
It is difficult to say which, of all these, are the most beautiful Scudetti. Certainly, we cannot forget that of 1933, won by dominating the tournament (with Felice Borel II capable of scoring 29 goals in 28 games). Ditto for that of 1958, in which the foreigners Sívori and Charles were furious, with the conquest of the first star. Then that of 1977, won by just one point in front of the Turin cousins. Without forgetting that of 1984, with the conquest of the Cup Winners’ Cup and the Golden Ball for Michel Platini. And those of 1995, the first of the Lippi era, and of 2012, which came after the ordeal of B.
The Italian Cups
Ten titles, but with the possibility of increasing the loot soon
If the league titles are 32, the Italian Cups are much fewer. It is, in fact, “only” 10 trophies. But don’t be fooled, because also in this case Juventus dominates the general classification, even if less clearly. In fact, the bianconeri hold the record for victories, ahead of Rome (at 9), Inter (7), Fiorentina, and Lazio (6). And on May 21, Juve could further increase their Palmares, given that that evening, at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, the Turinese will face Milan in this year’s final.
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The first national cup arrived in 1938, a few years after the end of that golden five-year period which, however, had never led Juve to victory in this competition. It was a particularly beautiful victory because Juve got there by eliminating Ambrosiana-Inter (Italian champions that year) in the semifinals and then the cousins of Toro in the double round-trip final.
THE MOST EXCITING FINALS
Another great success was that of 1959, obtained by going to win at San Siro in the final only against Inter with the round result of 4-1 (goals from Charles, Sívori and double from Cervato). The one in 1960 is to be mentioned above all because it was the first Juventus “double” (Turin had already managed it before), while the one in 1983 was heart-stopping. Juve in fact met Roma, then very strong, in the quarter-finals, humiliating them with a 5-0 aggregate; then he overtook Inter in the semifinals, to be faced with the surprise of Hellas Verona. Bagnoli’s Gialloblù, who would have won the Scudetto a couple of years later, won the first leg 2-0, but Juve managed to overturn everything in Turin. After Paolo Rossi’s goal, in fact, Platini grabbed the 2-0 in the 81st minute; in extra time the Frenchman himself closed the case.
Finally, the victories in 1990, obtained by trimming a 1-0 at home to AC Milan of Sacchi and the three Dutch, and in 1995, against rivals Parma, also met that year in the UEFA Cup final and in the head challenge are memorable. -a-head in the league.
The UEFA Cups
Three wins with Athletic Bilbao, Fiorentina and Borussia Dortmund
Let’s leave Italy and move to Europe. For a long time, Juventus failed to impose the same domination on the continent as it did in Italy. The first European triumph, in fact, dates back only to 1977, when the league titles were already 16 and were preparing to become 17. That success came in the UEFA Cup, a trophy that is still today the one, at the European level, that Juve has won most often. That is three times: in 1977, in 1990 and in 1993.
The first victory is memorable not only for the way it was achieved but also for the fact that the Juventus team at the time was made up of only Italian players. Trapattoni’s Juve reached the final by eliminating Manchester City, Manchester United, Shakhtar Donetsk, Magdeburg, and AEK Athens. In the final double confrontation, he will then get rid of Athletic Bilbao by winning 1-0 in Turin and losing 2-1 in Spain.
In 1990 one of the protagonists of the 1977 victory, Dino Zoff sat on the Juventus bench. The former goalkeeper led the bianconeri to conquer the second cup after eliminating Gornik Zabrze, Paris Saint-Germain, Karl-Marx-Stadt, Hamburg, and Cologne. In the final, he faced the Fiorentina of Dunga and Roberto Baggio, for the first all-Italian final of the European competitions. The first leg ended 3-1 in Turin, the return 0-0 in Avellino, in a field chosen – not without controversy – for the disqualification of the Fiorentina stadium following an invasion of the field.
THE LATEST VICTORY, THAT OF 1993
Finally, the success of 1993. Juventus that year was coached by Trapattoni and fielded some of the players who would join Lippi’s battleship. Down there were Peruzzi, Carrera, Torricelli, Conte, Marocchi, Vialli, Ravanelli and Baggio. And the march in that competition was at times triumphal. The Cypriots of Anorthosis Famagusta, the Greeks of Panathinaikos, the Czechs of Sigma Olomouc, the Portuguese of Benfica, and the French of Paris Saint-Germain were eliminated, before entering the final against Reuter and Chapuisat’s Borussia Dortmund. The bianconeri won 3-1 in Germany and then replied with a sharp 3-0 at Delle Alpi.
The Champions League
The two titles and the lost finals
The most important European trophy, however, is not the UEFA Cup but the Champions League, heir to the European Cup. Juventus won once with both words, in 1985 and 1996, but have reached the final on many other occasions. In fact, the Juventus fans will remember with regret the finals of 1973 (lost with Cruijff’s Ajax), 1983 (with Magath’s Hamburg), 1997 (against Sammer’s and ex Paulo Sousa’s Borussia Dortmund), 1998 (with Real Madrid), 2003 (on penalties with Milan) and in 2015 (against Barcelona).
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But let’s focus on the wins. In 1985 Juventus was at the point of arrival of a long series of successes. The team coached by Trapattoni was an almost perfect mechanism, which exhibited a good part of the world champions of three years earlier, with the addition of the champions Michel Platini and Zbigniew Boniek. Juve eliminated the Finns of Ilves, the Swiss of Grasshoppers, the Czechs of Sparta Prague, and finally the French of Bordeaux. At the final in Brussels, he found Liverpool, who had won the previous year against Roma. Juve overcame it with a goal from Platini from a penalty, but the final one remains sadly famous for the Heysel tragedy, caused by the English hooligans and the old age of the facility.
In 1996, however, the party was a real party. The competition recorded the definitive explosion of Alessandro Del Piero, who with six goals led the team towards the final. In the elimination round, the bianconeri overtook Borussia Dortmund, Steaua Bucharest, and Rangers Glasgow. In the quarter-finals, they ruled Real Madrid while in the semifinals they got rid of Nantes. This led to the final in Rome, where Juve faced Louis van Gaal’s Ajax, with the brothers de Boer, Litmanen, and the future Juventus fans van der Sar and Davids on the pitch. The match was decided on penalties, with the decisive goals from Ferrara, Pessotto, Padovano, and Jugović.
The Intercontinental Cups
The two Tokyo races, from Platini to Del Piero
Finally, we conclude with the two Intercontinental Cups that Juve won in 1985 and 1996, immediately after the two victories in the Champions Cup. At the time, as you will recall, the trophy was awarded through a single game played in Tokyo, generally between the end of November and the beginning of December. In 1985, Juve found themselves challenging the Argentinos Junior, winner of the Libertadores Cup. The challenge was epic and remained in the annals. The game ended 2-2 in regulation time, and it was necessary to get to penalties. Decisive was the fifth of the Juventus players, kicked by Michel Platini, then also named the best player on the pitch.
His heir, eleven years later, was Alessandro Del Piero. Also on that occasion, Juve faced an Argentine, River Plate, a team that information showed people of the caliber of Enzo Francescoli, Ariel Ortega, and Marcelo Salas. A Juve that, compared to the victory in the Champions League a few months earlier, had changed a lot. In the eleven were entered Paolo Montero, Zinedine Zidane, and Alen Bokšić. Perhaps also, for this reason, Juve only managed to impose themselves in the final, with a goal in the 81st minute by Del Piero on the development of a corner kick.
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