The curse of Juventus in the Champions League? Waiting 25 years to win the trophy

The Old Lady have been waiting for a quarter of a century to win the Champions League and have not started this season in a great way either, with only two losses to PSG and Benfica in Group H so far. While it certainly can’t be said that there hasn’t been some first-class footballers kicking around in the black and white jersey over the last twenty-five years, their European journey has been nothing short of successful.

The last time they rejoiced in Turin in the spring of 1996 after a penalty shootout with Ajax to win the trophy. Del Piero, Conte and Deschamps were all on the pitch for Juve at the time. For the Old Lady, it was only the second time they had reached the trophy in the millionaire competition.

In the following two years, the team under coach Marcello Lippi made it to the final, but both times they had to mourn the sight of a cup-cuddling opponent.

The 2002/03 season saw another painful defeat in the final, this time by AC Milan’s playmakers, led by Shevchenko.

The following years were, at best, marked by elimination in the quarter-finals, and at worst, the famous Calciopoli affair, which forced the famous club to relegate to the second league, meant that it did not participate in European cups at all.

For the Bianconeri supporters, the 2014/15 season was a boost, in which the team around the young Pogba, Pirlo and Tevez made it to the Berlin finals, where they fell short against Barcelona with Messi, Suárez and Neymar.

Although they didn’t quite build on their almost successful campaign the following year, falling out in the eighth round, they played the cup itself again a year later. However, Cristiano Ronaldo and Real Madrid put a stop to them in the final match, just as they did in the 17/18 edition, although in this case the white and black packed up in the quarter-finals.

Juve have not made it to the next stage of the knockout spider since. A year later they were surprisingly waved home by Olympique Lyon, and a year after that by Porto.

For the Old Lady, a twenty-five-year curse in the Champions League is a nightmare materialised and it almost seems that when the Ronaldo treatment has failed, there is no stronger medicine to reach for.

Let’s see if this season proves to be a turning point and European football glory returns to Juventus Stadium under Massimiliano Allegri.

Source: Transfermarkt, Goal