Stephen Wright on Facing Juventus

The road to Juventus’ Champions League final victory in Rome in 1996 included a memorable stop-off in Scotland. It came as part of back-to-back ties with the Scottish champions who had defender Stephen Wright in their ranks. Glasgow Rangers had just wrapped up their seventh consecutive Scottish League title when they were drawn in Juve’s group along with Borussia Dortmund and Steaua Bucharest.

Juve’s campaign began in Germany and it couldn’t have got off to a worse start. Former Juventino Andreas Moeller scored the game’s opening goal for the hosts inside the first minute of the match. The Bianconeri recovered well from the early setback as Michele Padovano equalised inside the opening quarter-of-an-hour.

The Italian giants went in front with just under ten minutes remaining in the first half. It was a landmark goal that gave them the lead. Alessandro Del Piero, then only 20-years-old, cut in from the left to curl home a brilliant finish. It was a first Champions League goal for the player who would go on to net another 41-times in the competition over his career.

A second half goal by Antonio Conte secured victory in match day one as Juve topped the group. The second group match saw the Romanian champions arrive in Turin for what would prove to be a more straight-forward win for the hosts. Del Piero scored his side’s second of the game again, this time following up on Angelo Di Livio’s opener. Fabrizio Ravanelli grabbed a third in the opening minutes of the second period as Juve cruised to a second straight victory.

A Wright Humbling Experience

Rangers meanwhile had begun their campaign with a disappointing 1-0 defeat to Steaua in Romania. Future Gers signing Daniel Prodan scored the only goal. Match day two saw the Scottish champions twice come from behind to share four goals with Dortmund at Ibrox to pick up their first point of the group.

The matches against Juve at Stadio delle Alpi and Ibrox were humbling experiences for the Scottish title holders though. Former Rangers and Scotland defender Stephen Wright played in both games against the would-be European Champions. His memories of the ties are somewhat painful and not just because of the results.

The first of the two ties took place in Turin as Juventus welcomed the Glasgow side. The hosts had lost to eventual Serie A winners Milan 2-1 at San Siro three days earlier. Channel 4’s coverage of Italian football was the height of its popularity at the time and Wright was an avid follower of Serie A. “I loved watching Italian football at the time and remember always trying to watch Gazzetta on a Saturday morning. Going to Italy knowing I was going to be facing players like Gianluca Vialli and Alessandro Del Piero was as exciting as it was intimidating”.

Sea of Mist

Stadio delle Alpi’s cavernous bowl was a far cry from the stadia at which Wright had been used to playing back in Scotland. The full-back had visited the stadium a few seasons earlier and knew what to expect on his return. “I had been in Turin before with Aberdeen in a European tie against Torino. I think I was on the bench for that tie but I remembered it being an intimidating place even though the fans were quite far from the field. One of the things that stuck in my mind from the Torino game was that there was a sea of mist around the ground. You could barely even see the fans in the stands because of this mist hanging around and it was the same for the Juventus game.”

It may have been that atmospheric surroundings that impacted Rangers as they fell three goals behind after just 23-minutes. Fabriziano Ravanelli opened the scoring on 15-minutes with a low free-kick, complimented by his famous ‘shirt-over-head’ celebration. The Old Lady doubled her lead two minutes later. Antonio Conte followed up on the rebound after Andy Goram had tipped out a Ravanelli effort. The third came by virtue of an Alessandro Del Piero classic. A free-kick from wide on the left which was curled over Wright in the Rangers wall and dropping in at the back post for a brilliant goal. It was a chastening experience for a then-24-year-old Wright who admits to struggling against the Italian champions.

“Rangers were playing with a back three at the time with myself and Davie Robertson as the wing-backs. I didn’t have a great deal of experience playing in that system from my time with Aberdeen. It felt that I was out of my depth in the game in Turin if I’m being honest. I didn’t feel that I was good enough to play that system, at that level. I actually got subbed off at half-time. Juventus were also phenomenal that opening half-hour.”

Ravanelli added a fourth in the second period with Rangers captain Richard Gough netting a late consolation. Wright was already watching on by then following his half-time substitution. There aren’t many moments in the game that the Scot can recall. “I don’t remember a huge amount about the match itself if I’m being totally honest. The lad I was directly up against was Moreno Torricelli, the big marauding full-back. He was an intimidating guy to go up against. That mist hanging around the ground really sticks in my mind too and obviously lining up against Torricelli. I can’t remember many details of the game although I do remember Del Piero’s free-kick goal from out wide going over my head. I often see myself in compilations of Del Piero’s greatest free-kicks on YouTube.”

Del Piero Brilliance

Del Piero made his mark on another player during the game when Rangers’ defender Alex Clelland was given a straight red card. The full-back booted the Juve number 10 into the misty Turin air after the Italian maestro had humiliated him with a turn which featured him dragging the ball through the defender’s legs. Meanwhile, Wright was in the changing room.

“I remember getting taken off at half-time and being in the changing room getting my gear together. I had only just got out the shower and the second half had not long started. Alex Clelland then walked in the dressing room telling me he had been sent off for kicking Del Piero after he had put the ball between his legs. It’s funny as things like that stick in my head more than details about the match itself. I think as a young player losing like we did and being substituted; you just want to forget it. It’s not until you look back that you realise how lucky you were to be on the same pitch as some of those players.”

The return match at Ibrox was another that Rangers fans and players alike would hope to forget as Juve made it four wins from four in the group. As they did in the previous tie, Juve went into the game following a domestic defeat. This time it was Lazio who inflicted defeat on the reigning champions. Pierluigi Casiraghi inspiring them to a 4-0 win at Stadio Olimpico.

Alessandro Del Piero was again the scourge of the Govan side. He fired home a 16^th-minute opener as the Italians looked to bounce back from their defeat in Rome. The aforementioned Torricelli got the second just after the hour mark. Ravanelli and Giancarlo Marocchi added goals late-on for a four-nil victory. The evening was particularly painful for Wright but not just because of the result.

“I did my cruciate ligament in the return match at Ibrox. The second leg ended for me with getting stretchered off injured. I remember being taken into the home dressing room at Ibrox. I’ve never liked the Champions League music after that night. I can remember lying in the dressing room and hearing the music playing in the background from somewhere. I was reminded of that moment every time I heard the tune after that.”

Wright’s season ended that night whilst Juventus would go all the way to win the final the following May. That came as no surprise to the former-Aberdeen man who had seen first-hand just how good the Juve side were. “The players that Juventus had at that time were brilliant. The front three alone would’ve started for pretty much any team in Europe. It’s no surprise that they went on to win the tournament that season. We had big players ourselves at the time in Brian Laudrup and Paul Gascoigne but they just had quality right through their whole team.”

One of Wright’s opponents in those matches would later move to Ibrox. Despite being a potential replacement for the injured defender, the two became good friends.

“I was never really the same player after that injury and it was always going to be really difficult to get in the Rangers team as they had signed other players whilst I was out. Sergio Porrini actually came in from Juventus and played in my position. My wife and I got really friendly with Sergio and his wife. We often spoke about his time at Juventus and he was really good friends with Ciro Ferrara. Ferrara was a team-mate of Maradona at Napoli of course and so he had some great stories about that time. Sergio was actually a really good player himself. He was quick and strong and had a really great touch and ability to read the game. He had a decent career at Rangers and I think he was a bit under-rated for how good a player he was.”

Love of Italy

Wright himself was a fantastic player. He would surely have had a far more stellar career had he not been so unfortunate with injury. Perhaps a move to Italy may have materialised at some point.

“Coming to the end of my time at Aberdeen there was talk of Newcastle and Blackburn coming in for me, as well as Rangers. There was never any suggestion of interest from Serie A but it’s somewhere that I would have loved to play. I grew up watching great AC Milan sides and it’s somewhere I would have loved to play but it didn’t happen for me unfortunately. I love Italy as a place and I still love to watch their football.

I’m very proud and honoured to have played Champions League football. But looking back. I wasn’t ready at that time in my career for coming up against the quality of that Juventus side. I talk to my son about the players I played against in those matches. Though he’s too young to have a great memory of them, they are such big names that he has heard of them all.”

Juventus went on to win the group despite a surprise defeat to Dortmund in Turin. They lifted the trophy after beating Ajax in the final. It came at a cost domestically though. They lost their league title to Milan as the Rossoneri finish eight points ahead of second placed Juve.

Rangers meanwhile bounced back from the disappointment of their European campaign. They won their eighth-straight Scottish League title whilst the injury that forced Stephen Wright off against Juventus ended his campaign.

The matches against Rangers are still fondly remembered in Scotland. Mainly by rival fans for the humbling of the domestically dominant Ibrox men. Supporters of the Glasgow side did have the consolation of having seen the winners play. As well as seeing Football Italia come to visit Scotland.

This article previous feature in The Gentleman Ultra The Gentleman Ultra – Stephen Wright Interview