2003 UEFA Champions League final

2003 UEFA Champions League final

Match programme cover
Event	2002–03 UEFA Champions League
Juventus Milan 0 0
After silver goal extra time Milan won 3–2 on penalties
Date	28 May 2003
Venue	Old Trafford, Manchester
Man of the Match	Paolo Maldini (Milan)[1]
Referee	Markus Merk (Germany)
Attendance	62,315[1]
Weather	Clear 18 °C (64 °F)[2]
← 2002 2004 →

The 2003 UEFA Champions League final was a football match that took place at Old Trafford in Manchester, England on 28 May 2003 to decide the winner of the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League. The match was contested by two Italian teams: Juventus and Milan. The match made history as it was the first time two clubs from Italy had faced each other in the final. It was also the second intra-national final of the competition, following the all-Spanish 2000 UEFA Champions League final between Real Madrid and Valencia three years earlier. Milan won the match via a penalty shoot-out after the game had finished 0–0 after extra time. It gave Milan their sixth success in the European Cup.

Juventus entered the 2002–03 UEFA Champions League as 2001–02 Serie A champions and so qualified for the group phase, Milan finished fourth so started off in the third qualifying round.

Juventus went into the Champions League final as champions of Italy for the 27th time. Milan came third in the league, finishing with eleven fewer points than Juventus, but would win the 2002–03 Coppa Italia. The league games between the two teams in 2002–03 had each side winning their home fixture 2–1.

Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United, was selected to host the match in December 2001, following a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee in Nyon, Switzerland, at the same time as Estadio de La Cartuja in Seville was selected to host the 2003 UEFA Cup Final.^[3] It was selected ahead of the likes of the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, the Stade de France in Saint-Denis near Paris, and the Amsterdam Arena.^[4]

It would be the first time the stadium had hosted a major European final,^[5] although it had been the venue for both the two-legged 1968 Intercontinental Cup between Manchester United and Argentine club Estudiantes de La Plata, and the 1991 European Super Cup between Manchester United and Yugoslavian club Red Star Belgrade, which had been scheduled to be played over two legs, only for the Yugoslavian leg to be cancelled due to the wars in the country at the time.

The stadium had recently undergone a major expansion; following the mandatory conversion to an all-seater venue as a result of the Taylor Report and ahead of England hosting UEFA Euro 1996, the stadium's North Stand was expanded to three tiers, with a capacity of 25,500 spectators. This was followed by the addition of second tiers to the East and West Stands, which brought the overall capacity of the stadium to 68,217.

As has taken place for every Champions League final since 1997, a ceremonial handover of the European Champion Clubs' Cup from the holders to the host city took place on 3 April 2003. After receiving the trophy from a representative of holders Real Madrid in the ceremony at the Manchester Town Hall, UEFA Chief Executive Gerhard Aigner presented it to the Lord Mayor of Manchester, Roy Walters. Former Real Madrid players Alfredo Di Stéfano, Francisco Gento, Amancio and Emilio Butragueño, as were Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson, members of the club's 1968 European Cup final team, and members of Liverpool and Manchester City's past European trophy-winning teams.^[6]

Also in April 2003, a 24-hour football match – named the "Starball Match" in reference to the logo of the UEFA Champions League – was played in Manchester's Albert Square. It was the second Starball Match, after the inaugural match was held in Glasgow ahead of the 2002 UEFA Champions League final at Hampden Park. Over 1,000 players participated in the match, playing for sides named "Internazionale Manchester" and "Real Mancunian", in reference to Italian club Inter Milan and Spanish club Real Madrid. Internazionale Manchester won the match 252–162.^[7]

Juventus				Round	Milan
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg	Qualifying phase	Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
Bye				Third qualifying round	Slovan Liberec	2–2 (a)	1–0 (H)	1–2 (A)
Opponent	Result			First group stage	Opponent	Result
Feyenoord	1–1 (A)			Matchday 1	Lens	2–1 (H)
Dynamo Kyiv	5–0 (H)			Matchday 2	Deportivo La Coruña	4–0 (A)
Newcastle United	2–0 (H)			Matchday 3	Bayern Munich	2–1 (A)
Newcastle United	0–1 (A)			Matchday 4	Bayern Munich	2–1 (H)
Feyenoord	2–0 (H)			Matchday 5	Lens	1–2 (A)
Dynamo Kyiv	2–1 (A)			Matchday 6	Deportivo La Coruña	1–2 (H)
Group E winners Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Juventus 6 13 2 Newcastle United 6 9 3 Dynamo Kyiv 6 7 4 Feyenoord 6 5 Source: RSSSF				Final standings	Group G winners Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Milan 6 12 2 Deportivo La Coruña 6 12 3 Lens 6 8 4 Bayern Munich 6 2 Source: RSSSF
Opponent	Result			Second group stage	Opponent	Result
Deportivo La Coruña	2–2 (A)			Matchday 1	Real Madrid	1–0 (H)
Basel	4–0 (H)			Matchday 2	Borussia Dortmund	1–0 (A)
Manchester United	1–2 (A)			Matchday 3	Lokomotiv Moscow	1–0 (H)
Manchester United	0–3 (H)			Matchday 4	Lokomotiv Moscow	1–0 (A)
Deportivo La Coruña	3–2 (H)			Matchday 5	Real Madrid	1–3 (A)
Basel	1–2 (A)			Matchday 6	Borussia Dortmund	0–1 (H)
Group D runners-up Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Manchester United 6 13 2 Juventus 6 7 3 Basel 6 7 4 Deportivo La Coruña 6 7 Source: RSSSF				Final standings	Group C winners Pos Team v t e Pld Pts 1 Milan 6 12 2 Real Madrid 6 11 3 Borussia Dortmund 6 10 4 Lokomotiv Moscow 6 1 Source: RSSSF
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg	Knockout phase	Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
Barcelona	3–2	1–1 (H)	2–1 (a.e.t.) (A)	Quarter-finals	Ajax	3–2	0–0 (A)	3–2 (H)
Real Madrid	4–3	1–2 (A)	3–1 (H)	Semi-finals	Inter Milan	1–1 (a)	0–0 (H)	1–1 (A)

Milan won Group G of the first group round, a group that also included Bayern Munich, Lens and Deportivo La Coruña, advancing to the second group round where they won Group C. They defeated Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Lokomotiv Moscow. They lost only two matches (Dortmund 1–0, and Real Madrid 3–1), and advanced to the quarter-finals where they met Ajax. The first leg was a draw (0–0) so the decisive match was the one at the San Siro which Milan won (3–2). In the semi-finals, they met local rivals Inter Milan. Both matches finished equal (0–0; 1–1), but Milan advanced on the away goals rule, despite both teams technically playing at home.

Juventus won Group E of the first group round, in which the other teams were Newcastle United, Dynamo Kyiv and Feyenoord. They finished second in Group D of the second group round, after Manchester United, due to their losses against the English side (2–1; 3–0) and against Basel (2–1), but they qualified to the quarter-finals where they eliminated Barcelona in extra-time (1–1; 2–1). In the semi-final, Juventus met Real Madrid; they lost the first match (2–1), but they won the second (3–1), key midfielder Pavel Nedved picked up a second yellow card which meant he was suspended for the final.

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After a brisk start, Milan had an Andriy Shevchenko goal ruled out after Rui Costa was deemed to have blocked Gianluigi Buffon's line of view from an offside position, although television replays showed that the Portuguese had moved out of Buffon's line of sight seconds before the shot.^{[citation needed]} Antonio Conte nearly scored for Juventus after coming on as a substitute at half time, his header clattering against the post with Dida beaten. Andrea Pirlo also hit the bar for Milan. In the second half, both teams began to sit back and created fewer chances despite fielding more attacking players; while Milan went from 4-4-2 diamond to the classic 4-4-2 with Serginho and Rui Costa (later Seedorf) as left and right midfielders, Juventus brought in Marcelo Zalayeta to pair with David Trezeguet, with Alessandro Del Piero also present on the pitch as a left winger (a position normally occupied by the suspended Pavel Nedved) and Gianluca Zambrotta moving onto the right.

Both Juventus and Milan had injuries to defenders during the course of the game; Igor Tudor had to be substituted for Alessandro Birindelli towards the end of the first half of regular time after pulling a muscle in his right thigh. Five minutes into the first half of extra time, Roque Júnior sustained an injury to his left thigh in a challenge against Paolo Montero and had to play the rest of the game through the pain as Milan had run out of substitutions.

The penalty shoot-out has caused controversy among some fans^[who?] as replays showed that Dida was in front of the goal line when saving penalties from David Trezeguet, Marcelo Zalayeta and Paolo Montero. Buffon was also off his line when saving penalties from Clarence Seedorf and Kakha Kaladze. Shevchenko put away the final penalty to win the European Cup for Milan for the sixth time.

28 May 2003

19:45 BST

Juventus	0–0 (a.e.t.)	Milan
	Report
Penalties
Trezeguet Birindelli Zalayeta Montero Del Piero	2–3	Serginho Seedorf Kaladze Nesta Shevchenko

Old Trafford, Trafford

Attendance: 62,315^[1]

Referee: Markus Merk (Germany)

Juventus[8]

Milan[8]

GK 1 Gianluigi Buffon RB 21 Lilian Thuram CB 2 Ciro Ferrara CB 5 Igor Tudor  42' LB 4 Paolo Montero RM 16 Mauro Camoranesi  46' CM 3 Alessio Tacchinardi  69' CM 26 Edgar Davids  65' LM 19 Gianluca Zambrotta CF 17 David Trezeguet CF 10 Alessandro Del Piero (c)  111' Substitutes: GK 12 Antonio Chimenti DF 7 Gianluca Pessotto DF 13 Mark Iuliano DF 15 Alessandro Birindelli  42' MF 8 Antonio Conte  46' FW 24 Marco Di Vaio FW 25 Marcelo Zalayeta  65' Manager: Marcello Lippi

GK 12 Dida RB 19 Alessandro Costacurta  18'  66' CB 13 Alessandro Nesta CB 3 Paolo Maldini (c) LB 4 Kakha Kaladze RM 8 Gennaro Gattuso CM 21 Andrea Pirlo  71' LM 20 Clarence Seedorf AM 10 Rui Costa  87' CF 7 Andriy Shevchenko CF 9 Filippo Inzaghi Substitutes: GK 18 Christian Abbiati DF 24 Martin Laursen DF 25 Roque Júnior  66' MF 23 Massimo Ambrosini  87' MF 27 Serginho  71' MF 32 Cristian Brocchi FW 11 Rivaldo Manager: Carlo Ancelotti

The teams would again meet in a feature final several months later in the 2003 Supercoppa Italiana in the United States. The game again required penalties to determine the winners, this time, however, Juventus came out on top.

On 28 May 2023, the twentieth anniversary of the UEFA Champions League final in Manchester, both teams coincidentally met on the penultimate matchday of their Serie A domestic league, with Milan once again prevailing over Juventus in a 1–0 away victory in Turin.^[10] Out of all players and technical staff from both teams present in Manchester twenty years ago, only Paolo Maldini was still involved with his club as a technical director at the time, shortly before his resignation in early June. Ironically, Pavel Nedvěd, suspended for the 2003 final through accumulation of yellow cards, had also been suspended from his executive duties at Juventus for 8 months in January 2023 due to his club's involvement in violations of financial fair play, and therefore could not attend the game.^[11]

• 2002–03 UEFA Champions League
• A.C. Milan in European football
• Italian football clubs in international competitions
• Juventus F.C.–A.C. Milan rivalry
• Juventus F.C. in European football

• Official Site (Archived)

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