On this day in 1996, Juventus won the Champions League by beating Ajax in a penalty shoot-out.
The knockout stage had seen Marcello Lippi’s side beat Real Madrid and then Nantes, advancing to the final at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.
Winning the competition for the first time since 1985 would be no easy task, however, against an Ajax side which was defending their crown.
Louis van Gaal could call on the likes of Edwin van der Sar, Edgar Davids, Jari Litmanen and the De Boer brother, Ronald and Frank.
On this day in 1996, Juventus won the Champions League by beating Ajax in a penalty shoot-out.
The knockout stage had seen Marcello Lippi’s side beat Real Madrid and then Nantes, advancing to the final at Rome’s Stadio Olimpico.
Winning the competition for the first time since 1985 would be no easy task, however, against an Ajax side which was defending their crown.
Louis van Gaal could call on the likes of Edwin van der Sar, Edgar Davids, Jari Litmanen and the De Boer brother, Ronald and Frank.
Lippi though had his famously deadly front three, Gianluca Vialli flanked by Fabrizio Ravenelli and a young Alessandro Del Piero.
Behind them sat the current Coaches of Fiorentina, France and Chelsea in the shape of Paulo Sousa, Didier Deschamps and Antonio Conte.
Things got off to a flying start for the Old Lady, Ravenelli capitalising on a mix-up between Van der Sar and Frank de Boer to score from a seemingly impossible angle.
The Dutch side came back though, Angelo Peruzzi spilling a ball in the box which allowed Litmanen to equalise.
Ravanelli missed what was arguably an easier chance than the one he had scored, but the sides couldn’t be separated and the match went to penalties.
Future Bianconero Davids went first, but Peruzzi guess right to beat away his low effort.
Ciro Ferrara, Litmanen, Gianluca Pessotto, Arnold Scholten and Michele Padovano all scored their spot kicks, piling the pressure on Ajax’s fourth kicker, Sonny Silooy.
The whistles from the mostly Italian crowd were deafening, and the defender had to re-spot the ball on the instruction of referee Manuel Díaz Vega.
Silooy never looked confident, and his tame penalty was easily read by Peruzzi, who dived to his left and beat the ball away.
Juventus held a 3-2 lead in the shoot-out, meaning Vladimir Jugovic had only to score to ensure the trophy would head home to Turin.
In the event Van der Sar guessed correctly, but the Yugoslavian’s spot kick was right in the side netting and the Bianconeri went wild.
Lippi’s men would go on to reach the final for the next two years in a row, but lost both times to Borussia Dortmund and Real Madrid respectively.
The Old Lady was truly a European power, but she could not, it seemed, repeat the feat of Rome.
Another three losses – in 2003, 2015 and 2017 – mean Juve have not actually won the big-eared cup since that Jugovic penalty hit the netting.