The 1996 European Cup was arguably one of the most fascinating in the history of the tournament.
Blackburn were cruelly exposed in the European Champions league. The low point of their campaign came in Moscow with the unedifying sight of Graeme Le Saux and David Batty brawling during the match against Spartak Moscow. Their British rivals, Glasgow Ranger’s faired little better as they were thrashed 4-0 against Juventus, this was Ranger’s heaviest home defeat in more than 30 years of playing in European competition.
The final between Juventus and Ajax was highly anticipated, the omens were not good for Juventus as Ajax were hot favourites to win. For Juventus, last year’s beaten UEFA Cup finalists; it was a trophy they really needed to win. Their desire to win was evident from the beginning of the tie and in the 13th minute, Fabrizio Ravanelli scored a goal born from this determination. Frank de Boer had attempted to head the ball back to his keeper, Edwin Van der Sar, however Ravanelli sprinted past and slotted the ball home. De Boer compensated for his error five minutes prior half time. This time it was the turn of Angelo Peruzzi, the Juventus keeper, to commit a mistake when he could only pat de Boer’s swerving free kick onto the back of one of his defenders. Jari Litmanen seized on the error. The second half became tedious as fear seemed to grip both clubs, despite Juventus creating decent chances to win in the final minutes. Extra time was similar to the 90 minutes and the tie was decided by the penalty shoot out. The penalty shoot out gave Peruzzi the opportunity to make up for his costly mistake during the first half. He did so, in emphatic fashion, stopping Ajax’s first penalty from Edgar Davids and the forth by Sony Silooy to award Juventus a 4-2 penalty triumph.