When Juventus walkout alongside Barcelona on June 6 to contest the Champions League final, it will be just over 30 years since the Bianconeri first tasted victory in the competition back in 1985.
However, with 39 spectators losing their lives ahead of that match at the Heysel Stadium, Brussels, it has always been a triumph tainted with the sadness that tragedy brought.
“For me, that cup will always be covered in death,” Juventus full-back Antonio Cabrini wrote in his autobiography.
“The cup of death.”
After finishing Serie A in fifth place, their opponents were four-time, and reigning, European champions Liverpool; but despite also losing their previous two finals in 1973 and 1983, Juventus were confident of victory.
After all, the Bianconeri had outclassed the majority of the opposition on way to the final and had won the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1984.
That success led to the pair meeting in a then rare one-off European Super Cup Final that season — the second-leg cancelled due to fixture congestion.
Played at Juventus’ Stadio Comunale, the hosts triumphed 2-0 through a Zbigniew Boniek brace.
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Juventus’ march to Brussels began in Finland, Michel Platini adding to a Paolo Rossi hat-trick to secure a 4-0 first-leg win over Ilves before a regulation 2-1 victory in Turin.
Up next for the old Lady were Swiss side Grasshopper, who were swept aside 6-2 on aggregate.
Goals from Marco Tardelli, Rossi and Massimo Briaschi then defeated Sparta Prague in the quarter-final, although losing in Czechoslovakia by a solitary goal.
It was a similar story in the semi-final against Bordeaux, where another three goals were fired without reply in Turin before the Ligue 1 club recorded a 2-0 win back in France.
During an era when crowd trouble was widespread throughout European football, the final was marred by violent exchanges between fans at an hour before kick-off.
A group of Liverpool fans attempted to enter a neutral section containing mainly Juventus followers, and those seated next to wall were crushed when it collapsed as several hundred were injured.
Both Juventus president Giampiero Boniperti and Liverpool counterpart Peter Robinson had previously urged UEFA to switch the venue, claiming it was not suitable.
With clashes escalating, kick-off was suspended for over an hour but the authorities decided the match would not be abandoned in fear of further trouble; it began somewhat subdued.
The first real chance of the match did not come until 30 minutes, Cabrini testing Liverpool goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar after advancing down the left.
However it was quickly the turn of Juventus custodian Stefano Tacconi to deny the Merseysiders, keeping out efforts from John Wark and Ronnie Whelan.
As half-time approached, Boniek’s influence began to show when Wark cynically fouled the Pole — the only booking of the match — after beating three of his Liverpool teammates.
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Eventually, on 56 minutes, the Bianconeri took the lead — albeit somewhat fortuitously.
Chasing down a long ball, Boniek was clipped from behind by Gary Gillespie; however, replays indicated that contact was made a yard outside the box.
That mattered little, with Platini stepping forward to send Grobbelaar the wrong way and ultimately seal a first European Cup for the Turin club.
Although having their own penalty claim waved away by referee Andre Daina on 74 minutes, Liverpool could not breakdown the Juventus rearguard and, amid a tense atmosphere, captain Gaetano Scirea held aloft the famous trophy.
The following season Juventus failed to build on that success, losing ironically to forthcoming opponents Barcelona at the quarter-final stage.
