The rivalry between Juventus and Fiorentina is among the fiercest in Serie A and can you imagine a bigger pleasure for the Bianconeri fans that bouncing back from a two-goal deficit and grab all three points on offer thanks to a goal form their legend Alex Del Piero?
Well, that’s exactly what happened in the 1994/95 campaign, a season that would see Juventus coming back to winning ways in Serie A after going nine years without a Scudetto.
When Juventus and Fiorentina met, the Viola, coached by Claudio Ranieri, sat third in the table with two points less than Parma, and one less than the Bianconeri. Led by Gabriel Batistuta, who had been scoring consecutively in all the first eleven matches of the season (an unbroken record as of today), Fiorentina paid visit to Juventus for the 12th Round on December 4. They hoped to leave the Delle Alpi Stadium unbeaten, and maintain their presence among the top Scudetto contenders.
However, the start was all for Juventus: first, a Sergio Porrini header drew a miraculous save from Francesco Toldo; then, Fabrizio Ravanelli dribbled past the whole Viola defense including Toldo, but saw his shot cleared right on the goal line by defender Marcio Santos.
Fiorentina, on the other hand, proved to be much more cynical and managed to gain a double lead within just 12 minutes. On 24 minutes, Spadino (“Little Sword”) Anselmo Robbiati served a delicious assist for Batistuta. The shot from the Re Leone (“Lion King”) was neutralized by Angelo Peruzzi, but Francesco Baiano was quick to tap the ball in. Twelve minutes later, Batistuta once again opened a breach in the Bianconeri’s defense, converting a long-range pass into a flank play for Angelo Carbone’s second goal.
After the break, Juve got back to the pitch determined to rebalance the match. Their multiple offences kept crashing and burning against Fiorentina’s solid defensive line until the 74th minute, when Gianluca Vialli halved the gap with a clinical header from a Ravanelli assist. Four minutes later, it was again Vialli to equalize with a perfectly-timed shot.
As both teams looked tired, the match tempo slowed down and seemed destined to end on a 2-2 tie. However, with just two minutes to go, Alessandro Orlando caught the ball just past the midfield line and delivered a long-range lob pass from the left flank.
A young Alessandro Del Piero, who was only 20 at the time, followed the ball and, from the left side of the box, hit it with perfect coordination. Del Piero’s soft volley gave the ball an awkward trajectory that Francesco Toldo, despite his 196 cms of height, failed to defuse.
The Juventus comeback against the much-hatred Fiorentina was thus complete, thanks to Alex Del Piero’s masterpiece – one of the first, but surely not the last in his legendary Bianconeri career.
MATCH SCORECARD
December 4, 1994 – Serie A 1994-195 Round 12
JUVENTUS-FIORENTINA 3-2
SCORERS: 24’ Baiano (F), 36’ Carbone (F), 74’ Vialli (J), 78’ Vialli (J), 87’ Del Piero (J)
 |
JUVENTUS: Peruzzi, Ferrara, Orlando, Carrera, Porrini, Paulo Sousa, Torricelli, (54’ Tacchinardi), Marocchi, (75’ Jarni), Vialli, Del Piero, Ravanelli (Rampulla, Tognon, Grabbi) Coach: Lippi |
 |
FIORENTINA: Toldo, Carnasciali, Pioli, Cois, (90’ Flachi), Marcio Santos, Malusci, Robbiati, Carbone, Batistuta, Rui Costa, Baiano, (72’ Amerini) (Scalabrelli, Luppi, Sottil) Coach: Ranieri |
REFEREE: Mr. Stafoggia from Pesaro
NOTES: Yellow cards: Marocchi, Vialli (J), Amerini, Cois, Malusci (F)