Manchester United v Juventus: A Titanic Clash

Tuesday night sees not just the return of one Cristiano Ronaldo to Old Trafford, but also the resumption of Manchester United’s most regular European rivalry.

Sparks tend to fly, knees clash and sinews strain when England’s ‘cock of the north’ mixes it with the Italian equivalent. But despite the abundant similarities between two of the continent’s most titanic footballing institutions, their old romantic names also evoke wildly divergent emotions within the popular imaginations of their respective countries.

As time-served Reds well know, when you’re the leading domestic exponents of your nation’s most beloved sport, the flipside is a barrel-load of contempt from those who don’t pledge allegiance to the badge. Juventus’s record 34 Serie A titles mean that, like United, they are loved and loathed in equal measure. But while detractors grudgingly respect our history of promoting youth and daring, attacking football, Juve’s enemies would offer little to recommend them.

One of the disparaging nicknames given to ‘the Old Lady’ by tifosi from rivals like Fiorentina, Inter and Napoli is ‘Rubentus’. This comes from the Italian rubare, meaning ‘to steal’, and derives from the Bianconeri’s once-murky reputation, culminating in the Calciopoli scandal that saw them stripped of the 2005 title and relegated to Serie B as punishment for a series of match-fixing allegations. And before Channel 4’s Football Italia gave Serie A a makeover in the 1990s – casting the country as a Fellini-esque dreamscape of pretty piazzas and cosy cafes, where the ice cream never melts – British fans eyed Italian teams with suspicion. Their ability was never questioned; some of their other ‘tactics’ undoubtedly were.

United first met Juve in October 1976, in the second round of the UEFA Cup. The Reds had faced Milan in 1958 and 1969, but during the intervening years, a number of English and Scottish sides had endured fractious confrontations with sides from ‘the Boot’.

In 1973, Juve themselves had drawn the ire of Derby County boss Brian Clough, whose assistant Peter Taylor had seen an opposition player enter the referee’s room, and been manhandled when he tried to listen in. Two Rams players that were on yellow cards were later booked, ruling them out of the second leg, while numerous Italian assaults went unpunished. Celtic and Leeds were also involved in bitter clashes against Italian outfits deploying not only the famously cynical catenaccio system but also varying degrees of nefarious off-the-ball snidery.

United did emerge with a win from the first leg at Old Trafford – thanks to a stinging Gordon Hill volley – but the Juve players left the pitch to repeated chants of ‘animals, animals’. Daily Telegraph reporter Donald Saunders adjudged the Turin side “past masters of skilful, intelligent and, when necessary, cynically brutal defensive football”. One goal would not prove enough: United were swiped aside 3-0 at the Stadio Communale two weeks later. Arthur Albiston, then just 19, said: “With the racket of the crowd and the general atmosphere, it was quite frightening. It took a lot out of us, mentally and physically. I was exhausted before the end.“

Juve were even better by 1984. Under legendary coach Giovanni Trapattoni, they’d won four titles in the late ‘70s and early ’80s, and boasted the star of the 1982 World Cup, Paolo Rossi, incumbent European Footballer of the Year Michel Platini and infamous hardman Claudio Gentile.

Trapattoni’s side utilised the zona mista system – a more progressive update on catennacio that could accommodate Platini’s godly ball-playing acuity – but were no easier to unpick.
Gentile had ruthlessly dealt with Diego Maradona at the 1982 World Cup – fouling him 11 times in a savage first-half – later quipping: “Football is not for ballerinas; football is a thing for men.”

Unfortunately, Ron Atkinson and United didn’t have too many men available when Juve arrived for the Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final. The Reds themselves had dispatched Maradona just weeks before – by somewhat more ethical means – but were now without their chief inspiration, Bryan Robson, due to a hamstring problem.

With Ray Wilkins suspended and Arnold Muhren also struggling for fitness, Atkinson had to call on several youngsters, including the ill-fated Alan Davies, whose only United goal cancelled Rossi’s opener.

Back in Turin, however, it was the same old story. A 70th-minute equaliser from substitute Norman Whiteside made it 2-2 on aggregate but, just as dreams of an unlikely win began to form, Rossi latched on to a loose ball and fired past the hitherto outstanding Gary Bailey.

But, undoubtedly, the golden period of our tussle with the Turin masters came across six matches between 1996 and 1999, when Alex Ferguson’s young team hauled themselves towards the astonishing Treble by using clashes with the Bianconeri as a litmus test.

“Juventus were unbelievably good,” said Gary Neville. “Just standing in the tunnel next to them was intimidating.” Of a 1-0 defeat in September ‘96, the full-back remarked: “It was the biggest battering I’ve ever had on a football pitch. They took us to school, boys against men.”

A goal from Alen Boksic did for United in Piedmont; a penalty from Alessandro Del Piero did likewise in Manchester. But, drawn in a group with the Old Lady again the following term, United proved they could cope with the massive physical, technical and mental test posed by Juve.

Under a floodlit Old Trafford, with a blitz of high-energy attacking play, United registered their first win against the black-and-white virtuosos in almost 21 years. Juventus had reached the last three Champions League finals, but goals from Sheringham, Scholes and a slaloming solo cracker from Giggs earned a heavenly 3-2 success. Defeat followed in the return, via a late header from Inzaghi – onside for once – but United could map their obvious progress.

When the teams met in the 1998/99 semis, United knew what awaited – “their world champions like Zidane and Deschamps, their streetwise Italians, not to mention the scary pitbull, Edgar Davids” in Neville’s words – but this time the Italians would finally meet their Waterloo.

Juventus looked to be taking a 1-0 lead back to Turin until Giggs struck late in the first game, to give United scarcely deserved parity. The Independent’s Glenn Moore wrote that Ferguson’s men had mounted a ‘Herculean escape’. Davids was moved to comment: “They are very hard to beat and they never give up.”

But when Inzaghi struck twice within the opening 11 minutes of the second leg, even the Dutchman might have deemed Juve home and dry. You’re never safe when facing Roy Keane, mind, and United’s captain quickly replied with a glancing header.

Despite receiving a booking that ruled him out of the final, the Irishman’s staggering competitive appetite propelled United back into the game. “Far from inhibiting him, it inspired him,” claimed Ferguson. “It was a truly selfless contribution and everyone responded.”

Eleven minutes before the interval, Yorke stooped to head home a clipped Beckham centre and, as full-time beckoned, Cole completed the comeback. After 31 long, lean years, United were back in the European Cup final, thanks not just to Keane and co, but also to a superb Juventus side whose street-smart class had given the Reds an indispensable three-year crash course in continental excellence.

More imperishable drama would follow in the final, but United had arguably already crested the highest point of the mountain by overcoming the Bianconeri. The clubs would meet again in 2003 – a season in which Juve themselves returned to the final, at Old Trafford, no less – and United comfortably won both meetings, but it is undoubtedly the Homeric scope of those late-Nineties battles that are etched into both the memories of United fans and the annals of European football.

As we welcome the Old Lady back to M16 after 15 years, who knows what lies in store? But if the history of this fixture is any reasonable guide, we’re in for two tight, tense and tumultuous encounters.