This Thursday (28), Milan’s Champions League title over Juventus in the 2002/03 season celebrates its 23rd anniversary. The Rossoneri wore their alternative kit, predominantly white with red details, and took the field with what became known as the “Immortal Squad”.
The Fashion Capital side lined up with Dida, Nesta, Costacurta, Maldini, Kaladze, Pirlo, Rui Costa, Seedorf, Gattuso, Shevchenko and Inzaghi. As if that starting XI was not impressive enough, Roque Júnior, Ambrosini and Serginho came off the bench after hearing Carlo Ancelotti’s call.
The Vecchia Signora, meanwhile, started with Buffon, Zambrotta, Thuram, Ciro Ferrara, Paolo Montero, Igor Tudor, Camoranesi, Davids, Tacchinardi, Del Piero and Trezeguet. But they were unable to prevail and finished as runners-up at Old Trafford, in Manchester.
Milan and Juventus played a tense and tightly contested match in the first final between two Italian teams in Champions League history. With the score level after 90 minutes, the title was decided on penalties. In the duel between legendary goalkeepers Dida and Buffon, the Brazilian came out on top, saving three penalties and helping Milan conquer Europe for the sixth time in its history.
On the other side, beneath the traditional white shirt with red stripes on the shoulders and lower part, Juve wore their classic black-and-white kit produced by Lotto, but with one slight difference: the badge. No, we are not talking about Juventus’ latest crest redesign (to say the least, questionable), but rather the previous one.
From 1989 to 2004, Juventus used this little-remembered crest, making that shirt even rarer and more iconic. The polygon-shaped zebra and a simpler shield were still worthy of Juve — unlike what happens today…
