1998–99 Juventus FC season

Season summary

Juventus endured their worst domestic season since 1990–91, largely due to injury woes plaguing their star players.

Alessandro Del Piero picked up a serious knee injury in the final minutes of a 2–2 draw with Udinese on 8 November 1998. France's World Cup hero Zinedine Zidane was similarly plagued by injury. Having won the World Cup with France the previous July, Zidane promptly picked up a knee injury and further injured himself in November .{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/football/1999/apr/13/newsstory.sport6|title= Zidane sets up his second battle of wounded knee|publisher=The Guardian|date=13 April 1999|access-date=15 March 2020}}

Unlike the preceding four seasons, under the guidance of Marcello Lippi, Juventus' attack malfunctioned. In December 1998, Lippi announced his intention to depart the following June to manage Inter. In February Lippi was let go by the club, with successful former Parma coach Carlo Ancelotti taking over.

With Ancelotti at the helm, Juve managed to salvage a little respectability by reaching the semi-finals of the Champions League, drawing the first-leg 1–1 at Old Trafford. Following the first-leg, playmaker Zidane limped off at half-time in Juve's home draw against Bologna on 12 April 1999. Eventual champions Manchester United then defeated Juventus 3–2 at Stadio delle Alpi in the second-leg of the semi-final.

Following that Champions League semi-final defeat, Juve's season ended poorly by their high standards, finishing a lowly seventh in Serie A. Juve had to settle for the relative ignominy of the UEFA Cup the next season.

Players

Squad information

Transfers

Summer

Winter

Competitions

Supercoppa Italiana

Main article: 1998 Supercoppa Italiana

Conceição

Serie A

Main article: 1998–99 Serie A

League table

Results summary

Results by round

|text_3-4=UEFA Champions League Qualifying round|color_3-4=green3 |text_5-6=1999-2000 UEFA Cup|color_5-6=blue2

Matches

Bernardini Tudor Pessotto Fonseca Sosa Inzaghi Candela Signori Fontolan Zidane Fonseca Chiesa Birindelli Conte Inzaghi Inzaghi Di Livio Cappioli Amoruso Conte Inzaghi Henry Recoba

UEFA Cup qualification

Main article: 1998–99 Serie A#UEFA Cup qualification

Top Scorers

• ITA Filippo Inzaghi 13
• URU Daniel Fonseca 6
• ITA Antonio Conte 4
• FRA Thierry Henry 3
• ITA Nicola Amoruso 3
• FRA Zinedine Zidane 2
• ITA Alessandro Del Piero 2

Coppa Italia

Main article: 1998–99 Coppa Italia

Second round

Fonseca Zalayeta

Round of 16

Luppi Ferrara

Quarter-finals

Ingesson

UEFA Champions League

Main article: 1998–99 UEFA Champions League

Group stage

Main article: 1998–99 UEFA Champions League group stage#Group B

Birindelli Ümit Amoruso

Knockout phase

Main article: 1998–99 UEFA Champions League knockout stage

Quarter-finals

Conte

Semi-finals

Main article: Juventus F.C. 2–3 Manchester United F.C.

Yorke Cole

Statistics

Players statistics

References

References

1. "Serie A: Presenze (Spettatori abbonati/ gara)". Lega Serie A.
2. (10 November 1998). "Campionato gia' finito per Del Piero infortunato". Il Corriere della Sera.