Juventus vs Real Madrid: A look At Their Last CL Semi-Final Clash

Last time these two teams met in a UEFA Champions Leagu was in 2003.

By 2003, Real Madrid’s “Galactico” era was in full flow. An excessive amount of spending had brought the likes of Ronaldo, Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane to the club. Lippi on the other hand, now in his second spell with the Bianconeri had also added expensive signings to bolster an already formidable squad. Gigi Buffon, Lilian Thuram, Pavel Nedved  Gianluca Zambrotta (£7 million) and David Trezeguet all joined Juve’s charge to push for more European success.

In a match dominated by the attacking flair of Real, the home side came away with a credible 2-1 result. Ronaldo had already showed why he was still one of the best strikers in the world by sending Manchester United out of the competition with a hat trick at Old Trafford in the previous round. He scored another one in this leg and despite Roberto Carlos adding another one later on, Trezeguet’s away goal meant Juve’s hopes of progressing to the final were still alive.

Click on the next slide to see what happened in the second leg…[tps_title]Second Leg[/tps_title]

The second leg of the 2003 Champion’s league semi-final remains to this day one of the most exciting games between the clubs in living memory. Madrid came into the tie as slight favourites and coach Vicente Del Bosque adopted a more defensive approach leaving Morientes and Ronaldo on the bench. The decision backfired spectacularly as Juventus dispatched the Madrid giants 3-1 going through 4-2 on aggregate.