The 20th November, 1996. That was the first time we saw Alessandro Del Piero in the flesh, playing against Manchester United.
It was in the Champions League group game against Juventus at Old Trafford, in which the then 22 year old Italian striker scored the only goal; a 36th minute penalty.
United had already been beaten by the Italian giants by the same scoreline in Turin and Del Piero played in that one also, but it was Alen Boksic (who went to to play for Middlesbrough) who got that goal. Both teams progressed from the group but while United fell to Borussia Dortmund 2-0 on aggregate in the semi-final, the Old Lady reached the final, only to be beaten by United’s conquerors, 3-1 – Del Piero scoring the only Juventus goal.
The two teams met again in the Champions League group stage the following year. United won 3-2 at Old Trafford with Del Piero scoring in the 1st minute, while in the reverse fixture Filippo Inzaghi got the only goal in a 1-0 win for Juventus. Both teams went through to the knockout stages – United were knocked out on the away goal rule by Monaco, Juventus once again reached the final but were beaten 1-0 by Real Madrid. Del Piero was the top goalscorer of the Champions League with 10 goals.
United and Juve met again in the 1998/99 and the 2002/03 Champions League, the first in the two-legged semi-final in which a 1-1 draw was played out at Old Trafford with United taking a thrilling game 3-2 away to reach the final and eventually beat Bayern Munich to bring home the European Cup for the first time since 1968. In 2002/03, United won 2-1 at home and 3-0 away in the second group stage, but Del Piero played in none of those games.
It would be nearly 14 years before Del Piero played against United again, as a strong Juventus side came to Old Trafford for Gary Neville’s testimonial game.
A United side that featured the likes of former United players David Beckham, Nicky Butt and Phil Neville mixing with current stars such as Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes. Juventus won the game 2-1, but the result didn’t matter – it was the occasion that took centre stage that night, and Gary Neville wasn’t the only player to receive a standing ovation when he left the field, as Del Piero was also rightly applauded from all sections of Old Trafford
By Jay and Mark Ashworth @he6rt6gr6m.
