Juventus...0 Manchester United...3Juventus, an institution of proud achievement, were turned into record-book fodder by Manchester United last night. With a win that exploited the accident-prone Italian champions, they have become the first side to reach the Champions League quarter-final for a seventh consecutive year.
Much as Alex Ferguson admires Marcello Lippi, his opposite number in Turin, he will rejoice if this result does so much harm that there is no risk of a reunion later this season. Juventus may now struggle to escape the group.
United's recent excellence in the tournament is so fixed a procedure that it barely seems to matter who is in the line-up. The assurance with which the side began the night in Turin was also a sign of the relaxing circumstances of Group D for the visitors. Knowing that they could still cruise into the last eight even if they lost here made them all the harder to beat.
"There are a lot of things that suit us," said Ferguson beforehand with a nonchalance that would have been unimaginable four years ago, when United had to surpass all their known limits to prevail here in the semi-final. Last night a serious ankle injury to Diego Forlan merely led to the introduction of the scorer of the goals that gave United a 2-0 lead by the interval.
In the 15th minute, Gianluca Zambrotta, a right-footed midfielder who seemed a troubled left-back, took possession only to let Juan Sebastian Veron wrestle the ball from him, and the Argentinian's cross picked out Giggs. There was a slight pause as he prepared to shoot, but the forward was painstaking rather than hesitant with his finishing.
Fragile as Juventus were in defence, there was a vein of ill-fortune and vexation that also wound through their performance. Just before United took the lead, a deflected effort by Ciro Ferrara had come back off a post.
David Trezeguet appealed heatedly for a penalty when John O'Shea and Roy Keane converged on him at the back post, but extensive space was not to suit the striker a little later. After 34 minutes, he was unmarked when he met Mauro Camoranesi's cross, yet still headed against the bar.
Camoranesi himself, put through by Marco Di Vaio soon after, had his drive blocked by Fabien Barthez.
Even so, United were never beleaguered. A stamping challenge by Ferrara is believed to have torn Forlan's ankle ligaments and Sunday's English League Cup final is one of several matches that he will miss, but the team still enjoys great firepower.
An agitated Zambrotta added to the menace, leaving the ball short when he tried to chest play back to his goalkeeper with 20 minutes gone, but Ole Gunnar Solskjaer could not nudge it beyond Gianluigi Buffon.
There was an exuberance to a United team that never settled for lying in wait for errors. A shot by Nicky Butt cannoned off a post in the 38th minute.
It must be conceded, however, that Juventus could not stifle a self-destructive trait. The captain, Antonio Conte, misplaced a pass four minutes before the interval and, worse still for the Italians, had given Giggs a clear run. His pace allowed him to outstrip the defence with glee before finding the net from the edge of the area.
The finish came from his right foot and there was redemption in that. Those same toes had betrayed him when he became a laughing stock by firing over an unattended goal in the FA Cup defeat by Arsenal this month.
It is of larger import that he made the kind of vivid impression that has been rare of late, but following a thigh knock, he was substituted. If he really is to be sold to Internazionale in the summer, United's negotiating position will take a turn for the better should Giggs be reactivated by his feats.
Juventus, having won their previous five Champions League matches on this ground, were not quiescent, but they continued both to waste their opportunities and present others to Ferguson's side. Solskjaer ought to have had the third when put through by Ruud van Nistelrooy, Giggs's replacement, but the Dutchman merely claimed the honour for himself. Igor Tudor chested a Gary Neville cross against the post and the forward capitalised from the rebound after 63 minutes.
Soon after, Neville came close with an attempt to chip the goalkeeper. That typified a night when absolutely anything looked possible for United.
Guardian Service
JUVENTUS: Buffon, Thuram, Ferrara, Montero, Conte (Tudor 46), Davids, Nedved, Camoranesi, Zambrotta (Pessotto 67), Di Vaio (Salas 46), Trezeguet. Subs Not Used: Chimenti, Iuliano, Birindelli, Zalayeta. Booked: Nedved.
MAN UTD: Barthez, Gary Neville, Ferdinand, Keane, O'Shea (Pugh 60), Beckham, Butt, Phil Neville, Veron, Solskjaer, Forlan (Giggs 8), Giggs (van Nistelrooy 48). Subs Not Used: Ricardo, Fletcher, Roche, Richardson. Booked: Phil Neville. Goals: Giggs 15, 41, van Nistelrooy 63.
Referee: M Merk (Germany).
