 Match programme cover | |||||||
| Event | 2002–03 UEFA Champions League | ||||||
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| Aftersilver goalextra time Milan won 3–2 onpenalties | |||||||
| 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 → | |||||||
The2003 UEFA Champions League final was afootball match that took place atOld Trafford inManchester, England on 28 May 2003 to decide the winner of the2002–03 UEFA Champions League. The match was contested by twoItalian teams:Juventus andMilan. 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-Spanish2000 UEFA Champions League final betweenReal Madrid andValencia three years earlier. Milan won the match via apenalty 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 2002–03UEFA Champions League as2001–02 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 the2002–03 Coppa Italia. The league games between the two teams in2002–03 had each side winning their home fixture 2–1.
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Old Trafford, the home ofManchester United, was selected to host the match in December 2001, following a meeting of the UEFA Executive Committee inNyon, Switzerland, at the same time asEstadio de La Cartuja inSeville was selected to host the2003 UEFA Cup Final.[3] It was selected ahead of the likes of theMillenium Stadium inCardiff, theSantiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid, theStade de France inSaint-Denis near Paris, and theAmsterdam 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-legged1968 Intercontinental Cup between Manchester United and Argentine clubEstudiantes de La Plata, and the1991 European Super Cup between Manchester United and Yugoslavian clubRed Star Belgrade, which had been scheduled to be played over two legs, only for the Yugoslavian leg to be cancelled due to thewars 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 theTaylor Report and ahead of England hostingUEFA 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 theEuropean Champion Clubs' Cup from the holders to the host city took place on 3 April 2003. After receiving the trophy from a representative of holdersReal Madrid in the ceremony at theManchester Town Hall, UEFA Chief ExecutiveGerhard Aigner presented it to theLord Mayor of Manchester, Roy Walters. Former Real Madrid playersAlfredo Di Stéfano,Francisco Gento,Amancio andEmilio Butragueño, as were Manchester United managerAlex Ferguson, members of the club's1968 European Cup final team, and members ofLiverpool andManchester 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'sAlbert Square. It was the second Starball Match, after the inaugural match was held in Glasgow ahead of the2002 UEFA Champions League final atHampden 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]
Milan won Group G of the first group round, a group that also includedBayern Munich,Lens andDeportivo La Coruña, advancing to the second group round where they won Group C. They defeatedReal Madrid,Borussia Dortmund andLokomotiv Moscow. They lost only two matches (Dortmund 1–0, and Real Madrid 3–1), and advanced to the quarter-finals where they metAjax. The first leg was a draw (0–0) so the decisive match was the one at theSan Siro which Milan won (3–2). In the semi-finals, they met local rivalsInter Milan. Both matches finished equal (0–0; 1–1), but Milan advanced on theaway goals rule, despite both teams technically playing at home.
Juventus won Group E of the first group round, in which the other teams wereNewcastle United,Dynamo Kyiv andFeyenoord. They finished second in Group D of the second group round, afterManchester United, due to their losses against the English side (2–1; 3–0) and againstBasel (2–1), but they qualified to the quarter-finals where they eliminatedBarcelona 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.
         Juventus[8] |     Milan[8] |
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Man of the Match: Assistant referees: | Match rules
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The teams would again meet in a feature final several months later in the2003 Supercoppa Italiana in theUnited 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 theirSerie 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, onlyPaolo 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 offinancial fair play, and therefore could not attend the game.[11]
