The 1997-98 Scudetto race effectively came down to one game in Turin on 26 April 1998 between Juventus and Inter.
The hosts triumphed 1-0 thanks to a goal from Alessandro Del Piero but that was not even half the story. Ronaldo had been denied what many felt was a clear penalty when he was body-checked in the area by Mark Iuliano, sparking a debate that still rages today.
However, putting the controversy to one side for a moment, Juve were undeniably an excellent team; arguably the best in the world at the time.
While Del Piero and new striking sensation Filippo Inzaghi never saw eye to eye, they still formed a formidable partnership up front, helped in no small part by the genius of Zinedine Zidane in midfield. Captain Antonio Conte and Didier Deschamps got through an incredible amount of work in the engine room, while Ciro Ferrara was the cornerstone of a brilliant and sometimes brutal backline.
In truth, they should also have conquered Europe but they were upset by a weak Real Madrid in the Champions League final. Still, beating great rivals Inter to the Scudetto offered some solace, not least because the manner of their triumph hurt the Nerazzurri so badly.
CHANGES
The story of the summer was Inter’s record-breaking acquisition of Ronaldo from Barcelona for €28 million. However, there were several other notable arrivals, chief among them Ajax starlet Patrick Kluivert, who joined AC Milan two years after scoring the goal that defeated the Rossoneri in the Champions League final.
Elsewhere, Roberto Baggio was a player reborn after leaving Milan for Bologna, while the aforementioned Inzaghi maintained his impressive goalscoring form after joining Juve from Atalanta.
In terms of changes on the bench, Milan desperately turned to former coach Fabio Capello in the hope of bouncing back from a miserable 1996-97 campaign but he was sacked after a dismal 10th-placed finish.
Lazio pulled off a major coup by persuading Blackburn Rovers target Sven-Goran Eriksson to move to…
Source link : https://www.footballcritic.com/season-reviews/when-the-ronaldo-non-penalty-caused-a-national-scandal-serie-a-in-1997-98/114
Author : editors@footballcritic.com (Mark Doyle)
Publish date : 2024-07-19 15:00:00
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.