So Manchester United were unlucky against Juventus last season, were they? That observation is prompted by the remarkable revelation - at least it is remarkable to a soccer critic living and working in Italy - that Manchester United defender Gary Neville told British television viewers immediately after one of his side's two 1-0 defeats by Juventus in last season's Champions League that, really, United had outplayed Juventus. Had they indeed? Reassessing history along the same lines, one could suggest that Napoleon "outplayed" Wellington at Waterloo.
Let us put it simply - Manchester United might be the champions of England and they might have developed the most successful and sophisticated merchandising operation of any soccer club in the world, they might be a lot of things, but one thing is crystal clear and it is that, one year ago, they got STUFFED by Juventus (admittedly, more stuffed in Turin than at Old Trafford, but that matters little).
Perhaps, Gary Neville was merely indulging in a bit of understandable post-match "heads off the chests, lads" psycho-banter. That matters little. What matters is that tomorrow night at Old Trafford, Neville and United get another Champions League crack at Juventus.
Faithful readers may recall that this time last year, we issued the following decree - United Beware. Despite the evidence of Juventus's lucky, last-gasp, 1-1 draw with Sampdoria on Saturday, we have no hesitation in issuing the same warning this season. Juventus 1997-98 look as formidable, as resilient and as useful as their predecessors of three recent seasons. Indeed, Juventus 1997 look remarkably similar to the Juventus of recent seasons. Uruguayan Paolo Montero and the wily Ciro Ferrara still hold the central-defensive fort in front of goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi. Frenchmen Zinedine Zidane and Didier Deschamps are still in midfield, while Angelo Di Livio (suspended tomorrow night) and captain Antonio Conte still storm down the midfield flanks.
Up front, it is true, there have been changes. Two years ago, Juventus surprised us all by getting rid of Roberto Baggio. Last year, Juventus were even more outrageous when offloading two strikers - Gianluca Vialli and Fabrizio Ravanelli - who had seemed fundamental to their success.
This summer, Juventus have done it again, offloading last season's revelation striker Christian Vieri (Atletico Madrid) and Croat Alen Boksic (Lazio). To replace these two, Juventus splashed out $13 million for Filippo Inzaghi, top Serie A marksman last season with 24 goals for Atalanta.
The bad news for United fans is that Inzaghi has started off with his new club where he left off last season, having already scored six league and cup goals for Juventus. The (possibly) good news for United is that his attacking partnership with Alessandro "Pinturicchio" Del Piero could seem a little "lightweight" when faced with the might and brawn of English soccer's finest (if not re-finest) defensive talent.
Apart from the insertion of Inzaghi, however, this is a well-tried Juventus "chassis" and that consideration may be at the base of the cautiously confident noises being made this week by coach Marcello Lippi.
Saturday's draw with Sampdoria, when Inzaghi made the most of a defensive error to grab an undeserved 91st-minute equaliser, is not a problem, suggests Lippi, adding: "In recent years, we've shown everyone that we forget about our wins quickly so as to concentrate on our next match. Well, we'll do just the same with this poor game."
Lippi's only selection conundrum appears to concern the three-way contest between Fabio Pecchia, Gianluca Pessotto and Alessio Tacchinardi as replacement for the suspended Di Livio. Otherwise, his side picks itself, even if both reserve strikers Michele Padovano and Nicola Amoruso are on standby to step in during the second half if Inzaghi or Del Piero are in trouble. Like the Juventus fans, Lippi is hoping soccer history will repeat itself, saying: "Playing against Manchester (United) reminds me of last year's opening win, which was the first of a series including the Intercontinental Cup final . . . However, we'd better not forget that Manchester (United) is the strongest and probably most creative side in English soccer . . .
"If we were to win, it would be a step forward, but not necessarily decisive. The final group standings may well depend upon the results against the other two group sides (Feyenoord and FC Kosice)".
Indeed. In that case, it's worth remembering that Juventus opened their Champions League campaign with a facile 5-1 home win against Feyenoord two weeks ago. United, you have been warned - again.
