20 October 2024
Italy-Germany, unforgettable football World Cup stories. A national team rivalry which forms part of the foundations upon which the history of this wonderful sport is based. Tales that ignite and continue rivalries even at club level. A feature in so many European evenings, even involving Juventus. Frenetic nights, capable of keeping generations of Juventus fans glued to their televisions, for whom it is enough to just mention those moments to bring back all the original passion of the time.
Tuesday will see another Champions League encounter for Thiago Motta's Juventus: Stuttgart arrive at the Allianz Stadium with one point to their name so far in the league phase and will be eager to get a positive result to improve their chances of qualification for the next round. For their part, the Bianconeri will be aiming to continue with maximum points, but you should never underestimate a German team. Ahead of the league phase match, Iconic Goals is back to relive one of those memorable matches in this history of Italian-German clashes.
JUVENTUS-WERDER BREMEN, BIANCONERI NEED TO OVERTURN FIRST LEG RESULT
It was the evening of 6 March 2006 and at the Delle Alpi stadium, Juventus-Werder Bremen was being played, the second leg of the Champions League round of 16. On paper Juve were favourites, but in the first leg Fabio Capello's men left themselves with a mountain to climb having conceded two late goals to lose 3-2 to Werder Bremen and now required nothing less than a win in the return leg in order to progress.
Despite needing to win, the Bianconeri remained confident that they could take advantage of the home atmosphere and draw upon their experience in these types of high pressure fixtures.
UPHILL STRUGGLE IN THE FIRST HALF: MICOUD'S GOAL SINKS BIANCONERI HEARTS
As is often the case, though, football throws up all sorts of surprises. Juve dominated possession from the get-go and were slowly pinning Werder Bremen back into their own half. It remained 0-0 though and then in the 13th minute, on the first German attack, Johan Micoud latched onto Christian Schulz's pass and slotted past Gianluigi Buffon to put his team ahead. It looked bleak. Capello asked for his players to show composure, but Zlatan Ibrahimovic and his team-mates began to bombard Tim Wiese: and Werder's goalkeeper respinded by making several outstanding saves. Thomas Schaaf's team lead at the interval.
Two goals were needed to go through. In the second half Adrian Mutu and Alessandro Del Piero were thrown into the fray, but goals continued to be elusive. The Bianconeri became unbalanced and Tim Borowski missed the opportunity to put the game beyond reach from close range. Juve, despite having a mountain to climb, did not let up. In the 65th minute, David Trezeguet got in behind, before powerfully slamming the ball past Wiese to make it 1-1 on the night. It was all still to play for.
ALL SEEMED LOST, THEN THE UNTHINKABLE HAPPENED...
Now it was siege time. Del Piero, Trezeguet and Mutu continually bombarded the opposition defence, Werder Bremen defended to the bitter end and were saved on several occasions by the heroics of their goalkeeper. Time was running out and elimination was knocking at the door.
In the eighty-eighth minute Juve won a yet another corner, the defence cleared the initial delivery and on the following cross Wiese claimed the ball safely in his hands, but something happened. The German goalkeeper fell awkwardly, rolled over and lost control of the ball. Emerson was two steps away, but did not notice. Cannavaro's shout echoed through the Delle Alpi night: ‘Puma, Puma!’ The Brazilian turned, reacted quickly and fired the ball first time into the back of the net. The Brazilian made it 2-1 and the result saw Juve progress to the quarterfinals.
A rollercoaster of a night, one of many timeless encounters between Italy and Germany.
