1996 UEFA Champions League final

Match programme cover
Event	1995–96 UEFA Champions League
Ajax Juventus 1 1
After extra time Juventus won 4–2 on penalties
Date	22 May 1996
Venue	Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Referee	Manuel Díaz Vega (Spain)
Attendance	70,000[1]
← 1995 1997 →

The 1996 UEFA Champions League final was a football match played on 22 May 1996 between Ajax of the Netherlands and Juventus of Italy. The match ended in a 1–1 draw after extra time, forcing a penalty shoot-out, which Juventus won 4–2.^[2] It was the club's second triumph in the competition.

Route to the final

Ajax				Round	Juventus
Opponent	Result			Group stage	Opponent	Result
Real Madrid	1–0 (H)			Matchday 1	Borussia Dortmund	3–1 (A)
Ferencváros	5–1 (A)			Matchday 2	Steaua București	3–0 (H)
Grasshopper	3–0 (H)			Matchday 3	Rangers	4–1 (H)
Grasshopper	0–0 (A)			Matchday 4	Rangers	4–0 (A)
Real Madrid	2–0 (A)			Matchday 5	Borussia Dortmund	1–2 (H)
Ferencváros	4–0 (H)			Matchday 6	Steaua București	0–0 (A)
Group D winner Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Ajax 6 16 2 Real Madrid 6 10 3 Ferencváros 6 5 4 Grasshopper 6 2 Source: UEFA				Final standings	Group C winner Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Juventus 6 13 2 Borussia Dortmund 6 9 3 Steaua București 6 6 4 Rangers 6 3 Source: UEFA
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg	Knockout phase	Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
Borussia Dortmund	3–0	2–0 (A)	1–0 (H)	Quarter-finals	Real Madrid	2–1	0–1 (A)	2–0 (H)
Panathinaikos	3–1	0–1 (H)	3–0 (A)	Semi-finals	Nantes	4–3	2–0 (H)	2–3 (A)

Match

Details

22 May 1996

20:30 CEST

Ajax	1–1 (a.e.t.)	Juventus
Litmanen 41'	Report	Ravanelli 13'
Penalties
Davids Litmanen Scholten Silooy	2–4	Ferrara Pessotto Padovano Jugović

Stadio Olimpico, Rome

Attendance: 70,000^[1]

Referee: Manuel Díaz Vega (Spain)

Ajax

Juventus

GK 1 Edwin van der Sar RB 2 Sonny Silooy CB 3 Danny Blind (c)  83' DM 4 Frank de Boer  69' LB 5 Winston Bogarde RM 6 Ronald de Boer  91' RW 7 Finidi George  22' LM 8 Edgar Davids CF 9 Nwankwo Kanu AM 10 Jari Litmanen LW 11 Kiki Musampa  46' Substitutions: GK 12 Fred Grim MF 13 Arnold Scholten  69' MF 14 Dave van den Bergh FW 15 Patrick Kluivert  46' MF 16 Nordin Wooter  92'  91' Manager: Louis van Gaal

GK 1 Angelo Peruzzi CB 2 Ciro Ferrara LB 3 Gianluca Pessotto RB 4 Moreno Torricelli  102' CB 5 Pietro Vierchowod CM 6 Paulo Sousa  57' LM 7 Didier Deschamps  87' RM 8 Antonio Conte  44' CF 9 Gianluca Vialli (c) LW 10 Alessandro Del Piero RW 11 Fabrizio Ravanelli  77' Substitutions: GK 12 Michelangelo Rampulla DF 13 Sergio Porrini MF 14 Vladimir Jugović  50'  44' MF 15 Angelo Di Livio  106'  57' FW 16 Michele Padovano  77' Manager: Marcello Lippi

Aftermath

Although Juventus won the 1996 Champions League final, the victory remains controversial because of accusations of doping.^[3][4] The Juventus team has been accused of using erythropoietin (EPO) and the matter went to trial in 2004.^[5] In November 2004, club doctor Riccardo Agricola was given a 22-month prison sentence and fined €2,000 for sporting fraud by providing performance-enhancing drugs, specifically EPO, to players between 1994 and 1998,^[6][7] Leading hematologist Giuseppe d'Onofrio said that it was "practically certain" that midfielders Antonio Conte and Alessio Tacchinardi had taken EPO to overcome brief bouts of anemia, and that it was "very probable" that seven other players – Alessandro Birindelli, Alessandro Del Piero, Didier Deschamps, Dimas, Paolo Montero, Gianluca Pessotto and Moreno Torricelli – had taken EPO in small doses.^[8]

In April 2005, the Court of Arbitration for Sport gave the following advisory opinion, in part: "The use of pharmaceutical substances which are not expressly prohibited by sports law, and which cannot be considered as substances similar or related to those expressly prohibited, is not to be sanctioned by disciplinary measures. However, regardless of the existence or not of any judgement rendered by a State court, sports authorities are under the obligation to prosecute the use of pharmaceutical substances which are prohibited by sports law or any other anti-doping rule violation in order to adopt disciplinary measures."^[9] In December 2005, Agricola was acquitted of the charges by Turin's court of appeal.^[10] In March 2007, in the final verdict by the Supreme Court of Cassation, stated: "that in the years of 1994 to 1998 there was no ascertained positive case of doping substances by Juventus players, that the purchase of erythropoietin or its administration to the athletes of the club does not emerge from any act of the trial, and that the same expert had identified the possibility of an administration of erythropoietin in distant terms from the sure evidence ("very probable" and in two cases "practically certain"): it is that therefore, the judgement of probability and not of certainty, did not allow for a statement of responsibility."^[11] The verdict also went on to say: "In response to the conclusion taken, the territorial court notes that there were no deferred values higher than the limits set in the various antidoping protocols and that the situation of the Juventus players, both with reference to the average hematological values, and in relation to that of material balance, did not differ from the national average population.^[11]