2002–03 Juventus F.C. season

Juventus
2002–03 season
Owner Gianni Agnelli
Umberto Agnelli
Head coach Marcello Lippi
Serie A 1st
Coppa Italia Quarter-finals
Champions League Runners-up
Supercoppa Italiana Winners
Top goalscorer League: Alessandro Del Piero (16)
All: Alessandro Del Piero (23)
Home colours

Juventus F.C. had a special season, in which it took its last sanctionated league title for the better part of the decade. Despite this, the club mourned the death of its patriarch Gianni Agnelli, and even though his brother Umberto took over the lead of the club, he was also ageing.

League season

On the field, the side coached by Marcello Lippi had a relatively slow start to the league season. They remained unbeaten in the first 12 games, but this included five draws. The club's form suffered a blip at the beginning of autumn with two draws and two consecutive defeats, to Brescia and Lazio, between 23 November and 15 December. At this point of the season, with 14 games played, Juventus were fourth in Serie A, trailing Inter, Lazio and AC Milan. On 22 December, a late Mauro Camoranesi goal at Perugia was needed to put an end to this winless streak.

From this moment on, the Bianconeri gained a momentum they sustained going into the new year, winning nine of their next ten games. Unfortunately, the only fixture they failed to win during this period, a 1-1 draw against Atalanta in early February, was marred by a serious injury to Alessandro Del Piero, at a time when he had rediscovered his goalscoring touch. Del Piero missed two months of football following that injury. Even in his absence, la Vecchia Signora continued to prevail, though in a less dominant fashion. On 2 March, Juventus thrashed Inter 3-0, a result that took the club to top spot in the league, a position it would never leave. After that game, the Bianconeri lost only two more of their remaining games and won most of the remainder, including an important success over Roma, who had been something of a bogey side for the Turin club in previous years.

The 27th league title of Juve's history was confirmed on 10 May, following a 2-2 draw with Perugia. With two games to go, second-placed Inter were no longer in a position to challenge for the scudetto, despite again spending big in the previous summer. When this title was secured, Luciano Moggi's reputation reached its peak and Juventus looked set to continue dominating Serie A in years to come.

Europe

For a change, all three North Italian clubs succeeded in Europe. Along with the two Milan clubs, Juventus were one of the three Italian sides who appeared in the semi-finals that season. Juventus knocked out the only remaining non-Italian team, Real Madrid C.F. to set up an all-Italian final with Milan, who had beaten Inter in the other semi. The final, played out at Old Trafford in Manchester, ended 0–0, with Milan winning on penalties. Normally reliable goalscorer David Trezeguet was among the players who fluffed their attempts.

It was Juventus's best run in the competition since the 1997-98 season, where they had also been beaten finalists. However, the Bianconeri's run to the final wasn't exactly a case of plain sailing, and actually involved a lot of tough moments. After impressing in the first group stage, topping their group and conceding just 3 goals in 6 games (the meanest defence of all 32 teams competing), Juventus suffered in the second group stage.

Drawn in Group D alongside FC Basel, Deportivo La Coruña Manchester United, Juventus began their campaign disastrously, conceding two early goals in La Coruña. The Italians managed to fight back with goals from Alessandro Birindelli and Pavel Nedved, but the problems encountered in this fixture would set the tone for the remainder of this group stage. Having beaten Swiss side Basel 4-0 in Turin in December, the Bianconeri were to face Manchester United in their next two games.

The first match, played in Old Trafford, saw Juventus send a depleted squad to England after many players caught flu. In spite of this, the Turin club put up a spirited display and only lost 2-1. They were widely expected to make amends in the return leg at the Stadio delle Alpi; but, in front of 59,000 spectactors, the home side collapsed to a 3-0 loss. It was the first time in six Champions League encounters that Juventus had failed to score against United.

In the meantime, both Basel and Deportivo had managed to win games, meaning the Italian champions faced an uphill struggle to reach the quarter-finals. In the following game, against Deportivo, Juve were facing the prospect of an early exit with both sides tied at 2-2 and mere minutes remaining. In jnjury time, Igor Tudor unleashed an unstoppable volley that beat Deportivo keeper Jose Molina. The victory meant Juventus had a superior head-to-head record against the Spaniards and could only eliminated if they lost their last game in Basel by more than 4 goals. The game was indeed lost, but only by 2-1, giving the Turin side its first quarter-final appearance in the Champions League since the 1998-99 season.

More epic games awaited them, with Barcelona next on their agenda. While struggling in their domestic league, Barcelona had impressed in both group stages, topping their group every time and establishing a new record of nine consecutive wins in the competition. The first leg of the quarter-final in Turin finished 1-1, Javier Saviola's 78th minute goal equalising Paolo Montero's early goal. Barcelona appeared to be in a fine position heading into the second leg at the Camp Nou. There, Pavel Nedved scored first for Juventus, but the Catalans soon equalised through Xavi. When Edgar Davids was sent off for repeated fouling the Bianconeri were seemingly doomed, but they held on until extra time; with six minutes left on the clock, substitute Marcelo Zalayeta shocked the Camp Nou with a second goal. 10-man Juventus qualified for the semi-finals, following a game that ranks forever among the club's greatest European exploits.

Even tougher opposition was awaiting them in the following round. Real Madrid had won three of the previous five editions of the competition and presented a star-studded squad with players such as Iker Casillas, Roberto Carlos, Luís Figo, Raúl González, Ronaldo and former Juventus playmaker Zinédine Zidane. They had imperiously seen off the challenge of Manchester United in the quarter-final and were in search of their 10th Champions League title.

The first leg was played in Madrid on 6 May. Deploying their usual brand of quick attacking football, the Spaniards put their noses in front with a Ronaldo strike and continued to dominate proceedings, Gianluigi Buffon doing well to save a Zidane freekick. However, on the stroke of half time, David Trezeguet silenced the Santiago Bernabéu with an equaliser. The second half saw Real continue to dominate, but with much less success than they had against Manchester United in the previous round. Roberto Carlos did grab a second goal for the home side, but the Juventus performance had sown the seeds of doubt in the previously confident Madridistas.

The return leg on 14 May turned out to be a completely different affair. Criticised for their defensive approach in Madrid, Juventus set out to attack on their home turf and were rewarded for their efforts with just 12 minutes gone. A fine collective move saw Gianluca Zambrotta cross from deep for Alessandro Del Piero, who headed back into the six-yard box for David Trezeguet to smash home. Madrid were all over the place and found no response to the Italians' unexpected all-out attack attitude. Just before half time, Alessandro Del Piero tormented the Real Madrid defence in their own penalty area with his twists and turns, and beat Iker Casillas at his near post with a well-placed shot. Del Piero thus maintained his tradition of scoring key goals against Real Madrid, having already done so as a 21 year-old in a 1996 quarter-final tie.

The Spaniards played better in the second half and earned a penalty after 65 minutes. Gianluigi Buffon delivered a rare penalty save to deny Luís Figo, thus keeping his side's two-goal advantage. On 73 minutes, Pavel Nedvěd delivered the final nail into Madrid's coffin with a thunderous volley that beat the hapless Casillas. Unfortunately, he was booked for a silly foul minutes later, meaning he would miss the final through suspension. On 89 minutes, Zidane, playing on the pitch which had been his home for five seasons, pulled one back for Real Madrid, but the Spaniards ultimately got what they deserved, having been comprehensively outplayed by their opponents.

Key players

For the league title, Nedvěd was considered the key player. Having not been so influential in his earlier two scudettos with Lazio and Juve, this title was credited to his work-ethic and creativity. He was also rewarded as the European Player of the Year, but lost out on the FIFA award for World Player to ex-Juventus player Zinedine Zidane. With 5 goals scored, he was, with Alessandro Del Piero, the club's joint top goalscorer in the Champions League.

Gianluigi Buffon, Lilian Thuram, Ciro Ferrara, Edgar Davids and Alessandro Del Piero all made key contributions to the squad, but the biggest surprise was Mauro Camoranesi. Signed from Hellas Verona in the summer of 2002, the Argentinian-born midfielder adapted with ease to his new surroundings, and was one of the club's best players for the first seven months of the season. In April and May 2003, he suffered from a slight loss of form, which didn't change the fact that he had hugely contributed to a positive season for the club.

2002 topscorer David Trezeguet suffered from a knee injury in pre-season practice. He recovered strongly from this setback. However, his replacement, Marco Di Vaio, did not live up to his reputation earned at his previous club Parma.

Squad

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
1 Italy GK Gianluigi Buffon
2 Italy DF Ciro Ferrara
3 Italy MF Alessio Tacchinardi
4 Uruguay DF Paolo Montero
5 Croatia DF Igor Tudor
6 Italy DF Salvatore Fresi
7 Italy DF Gianluca Pessotto
8 Italy MF Antonio Conte
9 Chile FW Marcelo Salas
10 Italy FW Alessandro Del Piero (captain)
11 Czech Republic MF Pavel Nedvěd
12 Italy GK Antonio Chimenti
13 Italy DF Mark Iuliano
14 Italy MF Cristian Zenoni
15 Italy DF Alessandro Birindelli
No. Position Player
16 Italy MF Mauro Camoranesi
17 France FW David Trezeguet
18 Italy FW Marco Di Vaio
19 Italy DF Gianluca Zambrotta
21 France DF Lilian Thuram
22 France GK Landry Bonnefoi
23 Uruguay MF Rubén Olivera
25 Uruguay FW Marcelo Zalayeta
26 Netherlands MF Edgar Davids
37 Italy MF Matteo Paro
38 Italy MF Alex Pederzoli
42 Italy MF Marco Brighi
43 Italy DF Daniele Gastaldello
44 Italy FW Raffaele Palladino
45 Switzerland MF Gerardo Clemente

Left club during season

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Position Player
20 Italy MF Davide Baiocco (on loan to Piacenza)
24 Italy DF Emiliano Moretti (on loan to Modena)
No. Position Player
33 Italy DF Mattia Cassani (to Sampdoria)

League statistics

Squad statistics

No. Pos. Player A Red card
1GKItaly Buffon, GianluigiGianluigi Buffon 32 -23 7 0
2DFItaly Ferrara, CiroCiro Ferrara 24 0 4 0
3MFItaly Tacchinardi, AlessioAlessio Tacchinardi 27 2 2 0
4DFUruguay Montero, PaoloPaolo Montero 21 0 2 0
5DFCroatia Tudor, IgorIgor Tudor 14 1 2 1
6DFItaly Fresi, SalvatoreSalvatore Fresi 9 1 0 0
7DFItaly Pessotto, GianlucaGianluca Pessotto 17 0 2 0
8MFItaly Conte, AntonioAntonio Conte 18 1 3 1
9FWChile Salas, MarceloMarcelo Salas 11 1 2 0
10FWItaly Del Piero, AlessandroAlessandro Del Piero 24 16 0 0
11MFCzech Republic Nedvěd, PavelPavel Nedvěd 29 9 3 0
12GKItaly Chimenti, AntonioAntonio Chimenti 4 -6 0 0
13DFItaly Iuliano, MarkMark Iuliano 22 1 3 0
14MFItaly Zenoni, CristianCristian Zenoni 13 1 0 0
15DFItaly Birindelli, AlessandroAlessandro Birindelli 17 0 7 1
16MFItaly Camoranesi, MauroMauro Camoranesi 30 4 7 0
17FWFrance Trezeguet, DavidDavid Trezeguet 17 9 0 0
18FWItaly Di Vaio, MarcoMarco Di Vaio 26 7 2 0
19DFItaly Zambrotta, GianlucaGianluca Zambrotta 26 1 4 0
20MFItaly Baiocco, DavideDavide Baiocco 7 0 0 0
21DFFrance Thuram, LilianLilian Thuram27100
23MFUruguay Olivera, RubénRubén Olivera3000
24DFItaly Moretti, EmilianoEmiliano Moretti8030
25FWUruguay Zalayeta, MarceloMarcelo Zalayeta22420
26MFNetherlands Davids, EdgarEdgar Davids26130
37MFItaly Paro, MatteoMatteo Paro1000
Own goals for -4 - -

Overall statistics

Total Home Away
Games played 34 17 17
Games won 21 12 9
Games drawn 9 4 5
Games lost 4 1 3
Biggest win 5–0 vs Reggina5–0 vs Reggina 4–0 vs Torino
Biggest loss 0-2 vs Brescia 1–2 vs Lazio 0-2 vs Brescia
Clean sheets 15 8 7
Goals scored 64 37 27
Goals conceded 29 14 15
Goal difference +35 +23 +12
Average GF per game 1.88 2.18 1.59
Average GA per game 0.85 0.82 0.88
Yellow cards 40
Red cards 3
Most appearances Italy Gianluigi Buffon (32)
Top scorer Italy Alessandro Del Piero (16)
Worst discipline Italy Alessandro Birindelli 7 1 Red card
Penalties for 9/11 (81.82%)
Penalties against 2/4 (50%)
Points 72/102 (70.59%) 40/51 (62.5%) 32/51 (59.26%)
Winning rate 61.76% 70.59% 52.94%

Competitions

Supercoppa Italiana

Serie A

Standing

Pos
 Team
 Pld
 W
 D
 L
 GF
 GA
 GD
 Pts
Qualification or relegation
1 Juventus (C) 34 21 9 4 64 29+35 72 2003–04 UEFA Champions League Group stage
2 Internazionale 34 19 8 7 64 38+26 65
3 Milan 34 18 7 9 55 30+25 61
4 Lazio 34 15 15 4 57 32+25 60 2003–04 UEFA Champions League Third qualifying round
5 Parma 34 15 11 8 55 36+19 56 2003–04 UEFA Cup First round
6 Udinese 34 16 8 10 38 35+3 56
7 Chievo 34 16 7 11 51 39+12 55
8 Roma 34 13 10 11 55 46+9 49 2003–04 UEFA Cup First round 1
9 Brescia 34 9 15 10 36 38−2 42 2003 UEFA Intertoto Cup Second round
10 Perugia 34 10 12 12 40 48−8 42 2003 UEFA Intertoto Cup Third round 2
11 Bologna 34 10 11 13 39 47−8 41
12 Modena 34 9 11 14 30 48−18 38
13 Empoli 34 9 11 14 36 46−10 38
14 Atalanta (R) 34 8 14 12 35 47−12 38 Relegation play-off
15 Reggina 34 10 8 16 38 53−15 38
16 Piacenza (R) 34 8 6 20 44 62−18 30 Relegation to Serie B
17 Como (R) 34 4 12 18 29 57−28 24
18 Torino (R) 34 4 9 21 23 58−35 21

Source: Lega Serie A
Rules for classification: 1) points; 2) goal difference; 3) number of goals scored
1Roma qualified for the first round of the 2003-04 UEFA Cup as Coppa Italia runner-up because the winner, Milan, qualified for Champions League through championship position.
2Perugia gained entry to the 2003 UEFA Intertoto Cup after Chievo renounced.
(C) = Champion; (R) = Relegated; (P) = Promoted; (E) = Eliminated; (O) = Play-off winner; (A) = Advances to a further round.
Only applicable when the season is not finished:
(Q) = Qualified to the phase of tournament indicated; (TQ) = Qualified to tournament, but not yet to the particular phase indicated; (RQ) = Qualified to the relegation tournament indicated; (DQ) = Disqualified from tournament.

Matches

Coppa Italia

Round of 16

Quarter-finals

UEFA Champions League

Group Stage

Group E
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
Italy Juventus 6411123+913
England Newcastle United 630368−29
Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 621369−37
Netherlands Feyenoord 612348−45

Second group stage

Group D
Team Pld W D L GF GA GD Pts
England Manchester United 6411115+613
Italy Juventus 6213111107
Switzerland Basel 6213510−57
Spain Deportivo 621378−17

Knockout stage

Quarter-finals

Juventus won 3–2 on aggregate.

Semi-finals

Juventus won 4–3 on aggregate.

Final

References

    Sources