Marcello Lippi maintains that if Pavel Nedved hadn’t been suspended, then Juventus ‘would’ve won’ the 2003 Champions League Final against Milan.
The Czech Republic midfielder was ruled out of the Final after a late yellow card in the semi-final victory over Real Madrid.
That was only his second card of the competition, and the incident was part of the reason why the rules were later changed to wipe out bookings after the group stages in major tournaments.
It ended 0-0 on the night, Milan prevailing in a penalty shoot-out at Old Trafford.
“In 2003 we massacred Spanish football with Juve, we beat Real Madrid,” said Lippi at the Festival dello Sport event.
“I am convinced that if Nedved had been there for Milan-Juventus, then we would’ve won the Champions League.
“So if I had to pick a player to bring with me in the most important match of my life, it would be Nedved.”
Nedved’s influence was also recognised elsewhere that year, because despite not featuring in the Champions League Final, he still won the Ballon d’Or trophy for 2003.
Lippi: “Se ci fosse stato Nedved nella finale del 2003 avrebbe vinto la Juventus” https://t.co/1OPkN0ZGbN
— TUTTOmercatoWEB (@TuttoMercatoWeb) October 10, 2021
And I’m convinced that had we had van basten and Baresi on the pitch, we would’ve won the game in 90 minutes.
If Juventus were worthy of the trophy, they’d have won it since.
Comparing players that had retired by that point to the best player of that year missing the final?
@rosario: Enjoy Milan going to the Europa League this year! That’s where your club belongs.
Well said Rosario.
Is this the same player that Cafu gave 3 sombreros to in a Rome derby that Lippi is referring to? Not 1, not 2, but 3…in a row! 🙂
In all honesty Juve would have missed him but it’s wasn’t a league match but a EU final. Wonder who else was missing that would have helped them win the the other 6 finals lost, for a record of 7?
That’s hilarious.
Milan also conquered Spanish opposition that season too, beating Real home and away in the grp, and topped the group.
Juve tied on points with 2nd, 3rd & 4th in the grp with all on 7 pts. Man U were clear winners of grp with 13 pts. Scraped through. Was Nedved missing for the grp games with Basel and Deportivo too in the grp?
Honestly you don’t know how it will pan out.
Did anyone ever think we could win vs Barca Dream Team without Baresi and Costacurta in 1994? Odds were stacked against us. Any number could play.
We beat you with the Nedved that same year in Serie A. So what are you talking about?
It’s obvious Nedved would have made the difference in a close match. Marcello Lippi is correct.
You win some you lose some no point mulling over now, most of the times luck balances out, Milan were 50-50 in 2003 and won, better in 2005 and lost and better in 2007 and won so they got 2/3. Juve lost many finals but they should get the luck to win one soon enough
@Kruizer: I agree with you except your last sentence. Newcastle will win a CL before Juve do.
If my auntie had wheels she’d be a bike!
Milan played far better than Juve that season in the UCL and even in the league, and they beat BAYERN ,Deportivo, lens, real Madrid, Dortmund, locomotive Moscow,Ajax and Inter Milan before they beat Juve… Milan deserved it more and played better than Juve throughout the season…
Nedved was their star man that year. He tore Real apart in Turin. It was typical Juve, start sluggish, just qualify from the group, but then beat Barca + Real on the way to another Final. They would’ve had a better chance with him too but you’d always fancy Milan in the UCL. They lost surprisingly in 93 + 05 but 9/10 they were almost unstoppable. My Dad used to call them the “steamroller.”
Yeah, it would have been just like all those other champions league titles that Nedved won at Juventus. Sometimes I wonder whether the endless excuses are a sign of the kind of entitlement that prevents Juve from winning it.
Such a foolish thing to say. If you needed just one player to win that match, then you had a pretty poor team that didn’t deserve the trophy anyway. Many teams “might have” won many matches if they had this or that player. How about all the other finals that you have lost?
Milan convincingly won the 93/94 final against Barca dream team with a couple of our best players out.
yeah,” just one” player. like just one golden ball.
Rube would have choked with him. They have a penchant for being the nearly men of European football established and going strong since 1996. Even with Ronaldo they could not get past Ajax, Lyon and Porto. They only win on PS5 and you have to make sure the difficulty level is set to beginner.
He forgot that Milan should’ve won that match 1-0 during normal time with Sheva’s goal being disallowed incorrectly, not to mention Cannavaro’s handball trying to stop the ball going into the net. Anyway, Milan is a fully deserved winner, even the ref couldn’t help Juve that nite. lol
yea pretty clear that juve would have won that final easily with nedved. but i guess it wasnt meant to be. but juve will get back that c.league title eventually
Lippi seems to forget, Milan played the entire extra time with 10 men, Roque jnr got injured, and he remained on the field because Milan had already made all their substitutions, Milan played far better than anyone that season in the UCL, the game Juve won against Barca was so inside, they packed the bus and sat back, throughout the tournament Milan did not lose a game when it mattered, they only lost or drew matches when they had already qualified, but Juve lost some crucial matches when it mattered, Lippi and the entire Juve world need to stop saying these things, even when it came to penalties, many Juve players refused to play them, they were afraid, In contrast Milan seemed more in control , and more confident in there abilities, they beat better teams from the beginning to the end, how did Juve even qualify…??