In a question-and-answer interview, the French football genius Messi recounted his best performance in his career.
A football Maestro recognizes another maestro. In recent days, Adidas brought together two of its most iconic representatives in the world of football: Zinedine Zidane and Lionel Messi. The two spoke at length, sharing anecdotes and curiosities. During the interview, the Frenchman also revealed what had been his best performance of his entire career: it was the Champions League match against Ajax when he wore the ‘bianconeri’ jersey.
ZIDANE’S BEST PERFORMANCE WITH JUVENTUS
It’s 1997, and the Bianconeri are gearing up for the home-and-away semifinals of the Champions League against Ajax. A double encounter where Zidane managed to showcase all of his class, proving decisive for reaching the final with two performances destined to go down in history.
The first match took place on April 9th in the Netherlands. The game was balanced, but Juventus often posed a threat, with the most dangerous actions always triggered by the number 21 himself. The Bianconeri, then coached by the great Marcello Lippi, took the lead in the 14th minute with Nicola Amoruso. Zidane came close to doubling the lead, but Edwin Van der Sar made a spectacular save.
However, the 0-2 was only postponed and materialized at the end of the first half when Christian Vieri finished Didier Deschamps’ assist. Despite Juventus dominating, the game ended 1-2, with the home team narrowing the gap in the second half with Litmanen, setting the stage for the return leg. A match in which Zidane would unleash his skills…”
ZIDANE ON ANOTHER LEVEL
The Frenchman, already excellent in the first leg, will give his best performance ever (according to him) in the return match. In Turin, Juventus wastes no time and immediately hits at Ajax. In the 34th minute, Amoruso puts his team ahead: after a surgical corner from Zizou. Exactly 2 minutes later, the second goal arrives: again, it’s Zidane initiating the action on the left flank, concluding with Lombardo’s low cross to Vieri, who doesn’t miss.
The game seemed firmly in control, but fifteen minutes from the end, Melchiot gives hope to the Ajax side. Any shred of confidence in turning the qualification around is thrown away by Zidane: in the 79th minute, after a fantastic solo effort from the Frenchman, who entered in the box and provided the ball to Amoruso to simply push into the goal. Another 2 minutes pass, and this time, number 21 takes matters into his own hands: Deschamps sees his run, Zidane then with with a body feint, bypasses the goalkeeper and defender (colliding with each other) and slots the ball into the empty net. Two assists, one goal, and Lippi substitutes him to give him a well-deserved standing ovation.
A historic evening, evidently memorable for the French maestro: despite many magical nights also experienced at Real Madrid (including a Champions League final decided by his splendid goal), the most indelible match of his career was lived wearing the Juventus
