Manchester United Fans Club

A year after being soundly beaten by Juventus home and away, United were bristling with intent when the European masters returned to Old Trafford in October 1997.The electricity which filled the autumnal air wavered briefly when Alessandro del Piero tore up the script almost immediately, cleverly putting Juve ahead after just 13 seconds, but once ahead, the Italians quickly opted to sit back. Big mistake.

United pummelled their illustrious visitors, with Teddy Sheringham calling the tune on his Champions League debut. The summer arrival from Spurs cleverly set up Ole Gunnar Solskjaer for an effort which Angelo Perruzi did well to block, and then had a goal disallowed after he deflected in Ryan Giggs’ shot from an offside position.

The crowd could sense that Juve were on the ropes, and a growing buzz peaked into a thunderous roar when Sheringham headed United level seven minutes before half-time. Giggs crossed from the left, and the England striker headed down, past Peruzzi and between a host of backtracking Juve defenders. Back on level terms with the mighty Juventus, a mental hurdle had been cleared.

After the interval United continued to call the tune, but without forcing as many chances. The rattled visitors upped their robust approach, with Uruguayan Paolo Montero a serial offender, but the gameplan backfired when Didier Deschamps earned two yellow cards and an early bath.

It wasn’t long before United took full advantage. Only four minutes later, Ronny Johnsen flicked a half-cleared corner back into the penalty area. Paul Scholes collected the ball, shielded away Mark Iuliano’s attempts to clear, rounded Peruzzi and slotted into the empty net. The roar that greeted Sheringham’s goal suddenly seemed like a timid yelp in comparison to the baying din that now gripped Old Trafford.

Whereas Juve sought to protect their advantage in the game’s infancy, United aimed to take full advantage of having a stranglehold on the scoreline, and wrapped up the victory in the 89th minute through a stunning goal from Giggs.

Again Sheringham was involved, sliding an inch-perfect pass infield from the left touchline. Giggs raced onto it, jinked his way into the area and drilled a fierce shot into Peruzzi’s near top corner.

Although Zinedine Zidane pulled an injury-time goal back with a stunningly simple free-kick, United held on to notch the victory that showed they could hold their own at Europe’s top table.

Champions League Group Stage
1 October, 1997, Old Trafford

MANCHESTER UNITED 3
Sheringham (38), Scholes (69), Giggs (89)

JUVENTUS 2
Del Piero (1), Zidane (90)