On 20 November 1996, at Old Trafford, Manchester United hosted Marcello Lippi’s Juventus. At the theater of dreams there is almost always a favorite, that is, the home team. On the pitch there were opponents who were decidedly difficult to beat such as Peter Schmeichel, Gary Neville, Eric Cantona, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs and Roy Keane. Instead Juve can count on Alessandro Del Piero, Didier Deschamps, Alen Boksic, Vladimir Jugovic and Zinedine Zidane. In short, a challenge between heavy hitters.
However, Juventus is first in the group and one point would be enough to qualify for the quarter-finals. Lippi does not make any turnovers and inserts his best team and the decision is made by a penalty kick by Del Piero, ready to become the future captain, in the thirty-fifth minute of the first half. The passage to the next round therefore becomes reality – mathematically – but it is also the first time that an Italian team wins at Old Trafford against United.
Manchester United (4-4-2)
Schmeichel; G.Neville, Johnsen, May, P.Neville (from 12′ pt McClair); Beckham, Keane, Butt, Giggs; Cantona, Solskjaer (from 37′ st J. Cruyff).
Trainer: Ferguson
Juventus (4-3-1-2)
Peruzzi; Porrini, Ferrara, Montero, Torricelli (from 38′ st Iuliano); Di Livio (from 35′ st Tacchinardi), Deschamps, Jugovic; Zidane; Del Piero, Boksic
Trainer: Lippi.