History of Juventus F.C. - The Lippi Era

The Lippi Era

Peruzzi Torricelli Ferrara Vierchowod Pessotto Conte Deschamps Sousa Ravanelli Vialli Del Piero

Marcello Lippi an Italian who had recently left Napoli as a coach, took over as Juventus manager in 1994. His first season at the helm of the club was a successful one as Juventus recorded their first Serie A championship title since the mid-1980s. The squad of this period featured former Napoli captain Ciro Ferrara; a defender who had joined the Old Lady with Lippi, Roberto Baggio, Gianluca Vialli and a young Alessandro Del Piero, who had just broke into the squad and would become heir to Baggio's throne.

Although in the following season they finished as runners-up to A.C. Milan at home, Juventus were victorious in the UEFA Champions League 1995-96 final. This was the second time in the club's history that they won the trophy, the match was competed against Dutch side Ajax; after 90 minutes the score was level at 1-1, with Fabrizio Ravanelli scoring for Juve. The Italian club won the penalty shootout 4-2 securing them as champions; Vladimir Jugović scored the deciding penalty kick.

During the following years a second wave of what are considered Lippi-era legends joined; Christian Vieri, Zinédine Zidane, Filippo Inzaghi and Edgar Davids. Since the Champions League victory, Juventus won their home league twice more and the European Super Cup. They also reached the 1997 and 1998 Champions League finals, losing out to Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid respectively.

The latter part of the 1990s was a heated time for rivalries, especially with title rivals Inter and Roma. Roma manager Zdeněk Zeman accused Juventus physicians of doping their players from 1993 until 1998. However, after official inquiries and two trials, Juventus were cleared of all charges by the international Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland. Neither the pharmaceutical substances that were in question were banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency nor did any Juventus players have positive test results for any illegal doping substances. Juventus doctor, Riccardo Agricola, initially found guilty and sentenced to 22 month of prison, was later cleared of all accusations.

Lippi left Juventus for rivals Inter briefly, but returned to Juve after one season, signing the third wave of Lippi-era players; Gianluigi Buffon, David Trézéguet, Marcelo Salas, Pavel Nedvěd and Lilian Thuram amongst others. He led the team to two more Serie A titles in the 2001-02 and 2002-03 seasons. Juventus also appeared in an all Italian Champions League final in 2002-03, against A.C. Milan; the game ended in a 0-0 draw, and so had to be decided by a penalty shootout, but this time Juventus lost with three out of five players missing their penalty. Lippi left the following year as he was appointed by the Italian national team as head coach, he would go on to win the 2006 FIFA World Cup with them two years later.

Read more about this topic:  History Of Juventus F.C.

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