JAKARTA - The dream of Juventus to win the Champions League trophy again ran aground. This time the Old Lady was defeated in front of FC Porto. More than defeat. Juventus' failure to bring back the story of the curse that former AC Milan player Sulley Muntari gave to Gianluigi Buffon: Juventus would never have won the Champions League if Buffon had not acknowledged Muntari's goals in the past.
Muntari's curse started with a Serie A match in February 2012. At the San Siro, the two teams played equally strong. The Rossoneri's lead in the first half was leveled by the Bianconeri towards the end of the match. Final score 1-1. Even so, the match was marred by controversy. The referee annulled Muntari's goal in the first half. Muntari was angry because of this. More than the goal disallowed, Muntari was disappointed with Buffon not conceding the goal.
Muntari said Buffon knew very well that the ball had crossed the goal line. And for Muntari, Buffon should admit that. Buffon himself refused to admit Muntari's goal, even two days after the match. To Sky Sport Italia, Buffon repeated the statement that he did not see the ball cross the goal line. Even if you see, Buffon says he will not bury his own team.
"I will say my statement again. If I know the ball has crossed the goal line, then I will not tell the referee about that. "I'm not going to try to bury my own team", Buffon said in the interview.
“My only credit goes to my team-mates and doesn't care about the rest. I am happy with who I am. This is a world where we will maintain our respective positions. I don't have to judge myself and everyone is free to say what they want", added Buffon.
To Buffon's response regarding the goal, Muntari said: As long as Buffon does not recognize the goal, I curse until whenever Juventus will not win the Champions League again.
Juve's repeated failures in the Champions League
Juventus Stadium is witness to Juventus' repeated failures in the Champions League. Facing FC Porto in the second leg of the last 16, Juventus had to work hard until the extra time around. Juventus won the match with a score of 3-2, even though the quarter-final ticket was still held by Porto, who won on away goals with a score of 4-4 on aggregate.
Several parties blame Christiano Ronaldo for the goal, including the former Juventus coach himself, Fabio Capello. According to Capello, Ronaldo's mistakes are unforgivable, especially the moment when Ronaldo failed to play the role of a posse which caused Sergio Oliveira's free-kick to enter Wojciech Szczesny's goal.
Ronaldo's position behind Oliveira was a fundamental mistake. The more so because Ronaldo opened his legs, let the ball through the gap. "In my day, you pick players who are the fences and they can't be afraid of the ball ... That's unforgivable," Capello said.
Ronaldo turning his back on the free kick and letting it go straight through his legs. Let down his team. pic.twitter.com/XNvJP688sf
- Jürgen (@kloppaged) March 10, 2021
The previous season, Juventus also failed to win the Champions League trophy. At that time Juventus was stopped by Olympique Lyon in the last eight. Like last night, Juventus failed to progress because they lost to an away goal from Lyon. At the age of defeat from Lyon, Juventus immediately fired the coach who had given the club the ninth Scudetto title, Maurizio Sarri.
In the Champions League season 18/19, Juventus also recorded a failure. At that time Juventus had reached the semifinals, before losing 2-3 on aggregate to Ajax Amsterdam. The failure of Juventus at that time had an impact on the stability of the dressing room. Christiano Ronaldo, who at that time had just arrived from Real Madrid, reportedly intended to leave.
Juventus Champions Finals
The closest step for Juventus to winning the Champions League trophy occurred in the 17/18 season. At that time Juventus had reached the final, before being beaten by Real Madrid.
In a match at the Millenium Stadium, Cardiff, Wales, the Bianconeri were defeated by Ronaldo Cs with a score of 1-4. Juventus also had to settle for being runner-up.
The match was not the best chance for Juventus to win the Champions League trophy. The Turin club has failed at least five times in the Champions League final since they last won the final and won the Champions League trophy in 1996.
Juventus Champions League title
In fact, Juventus is not a fancy club at the European competition level. Throughout the club's history, the Old Lady has only won two Champions League trophies.
The Champions League was won by Juventus in 1985 and 1996. In 1984/1985 Juventus beat Liverpool in Heysel, Belgium by a score of 1-0.
Meanwhile, the title for the 1995/1996 season was obtained by Juventus after defeating Ajax Amsterdam at the Stadio Olimpico, Rome. At that time Ajax was very strong under the direction of coach Louis van Gaal.
Juventus coached by Marcello Lippi had to work hard after Fabrizio Ravanelli's goal in the 12th minute was equalized by Jari Litmaten in the 41st minute. Juventus' victory was achieved through penalties.
BERNAS Others
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
