DESPITE being the best-supported club in Italy, with a fan base of over 11 million across the country and being able to boast of 28 Scudettos, Juventus have only managed to bring home Europe’s top prize twice. Compare this to AC Milan’s seven European Cups and it’s enough to give even the most ardent Juve fan a complex.

Today in 1996 The Old Lady picked her second European Cup, when the Turin side defeated Ajax on penalties at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

The clash was a rematch of the 1973 final, where Johan Cruyff had inspired the Dutch side to a 1-0 win in a match they dominated. Ajax also went into the match as the defending champions, their exciting young squad having disposed of AC Milan a year earlier.

Juventus, however weren’t to let the omens get to them, as they surged to an early lead when Fabrizio Ravanelli’s angled drive put the Italian’s in front, before a Jari Litmanen equaliser saw the teams go in to the half-time interval deadlocked. This was the way it would stay, as extra time and penalties beckoned. Gianluca Vialli was captaining the side in his last game before joining Chelsea on a Bosman and despite putting in a blockbusting performance he missed a golden opportunity to win the match in the 86th minute, shooting wide.

The Italian side could have been forgiven for being a tad worried about a penalty shoot-out. Two years earlier the national side had become the first to lose a World Cup final on penalties when Baggio missed against Brazil, and Roma had lost a European final on the same ground when Liverpool out-spot-kicked them in 1984.

Goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi didn’t let the demons put him off though, as he saved Edgar Davids’ and Sonny Silooy’s efforts as Juve won the shoot-out 4-2. The Italians then partied like never before, as their previous triumph in the competition was overshadowed by the Heysel disaster in 1985. Many fans and pundits in Italy failed to even recognise the win over Liverpool, saying the final should never have been played.

Under their Paul Newman lookalike manager Marcello Lippi Juve returned to the final in each of the next two years, but again flattered to deceive, losing them both to Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid respectively. Their record in the final currently reads played seven, lost five, enough togive them a tag of ‘bottlers’ in our book. After a Calciopoli-enforced break from the Champions League, the Bianconeri will be back next season, hoping to improve on their record in Europe’s premier competition. Ajax meanwhile, saw their mid-90s renaissance cut short, as the Bosman ruling ripped apart their squad.

Watch the penalty drama in it’s entirety below and come back here tomorrow for you daily dose of football history.

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