The 'old lady' of Italian football, Juventus were founded in 1897 and are the second oldest football club in Italy behind Genoa CFC. They are the most successful club in Italian football with 36 league titles, 14 Coppa Italia and 9 Italian Super Cups. They have also won the European Cup (twice in 1985 and 1996), UEFA Cup (three times in 1977, 1990 and 1993) Cup Winners Cup (in 1983) and the Super Cup (in 1984 and 1996).
Juve famously play in black and white striped shirts, these colours were adopted in 1905 after being inspired by Notts County. For people of my vintage, the Juventus side of the 1980's led by legendary Frenchman Michel Platini, and also containing Zbigniew Boniek and Marco Tardelli, is the one that sticks in the mind. Of course there have been a couple of Welsh legends who have turned out for I Bianconeri in the shape of John Charles and Ian Rush, who infamously claimed he couldn't settle in Italy as "it was like living in a foreign country".
The Juventus Stadium was opened in 2011 and was the first modern, club owned stadium to be built in Italy. For sponsorship purposes it is currently known as the Allianz Stadium. The ground has a capacity of 41,500, was built on the site of the old Stadio Delle Alpi and is approximately 5 miles from the city centre of Turin; I'd bear that in mind if you ever need a quick getaway after a game!
I'll be honest and say that after the atmosphere of last night's game at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris, this stadium felt a little sterile by comparison.
This afternoon Juventus laboured to a 3-2 victory over struggling Frosinone and it took a 95th minute winner from defender Daniele Rugani to cruelly deny the visitors a deservedly point.
Dušan Vlahović put Juve ahead after just 3 minutes before Walid Cheddira headed home an equaliser after 14 minutes. Frosinone silenced the stadium when they took the lead after 27 minutes, Marco Brescianini firing home. Vlahović levelled after 32 minutes with a sublime left foot finish. All square at the break. Juventus dominated the second period but despite creating a few decent chances they didn't look like breaking the deadlock. Frosinone thought they had earned a deserved point but Rugani's intervention, with the last kick of the game, finally broke their resistance and their hearts.
That concluded a fantastic trip. A liitle bit hectic at times but well worth it. Until the next time, arrivederci!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: only a member of this blog may post a comment.