The Coppa Italia began in the 1921/22 season. At the time, Italian football was split into two leagues, the star-studded CCI Championship (Italian Football Confederation) and the poor FIGC championship (Italian Football Federation). Having lost all of their big name clubs, the FIGC tried to enhance its diminished season with a new cup. The tournament's first edition was won by F.C. Vado., a tiny club from the city of Vado Ligure, in the Savona province.
Outside of an aborted attempt in 1926/27 that was cancelled at the last 32 stage, the tournament was not held again until 1935/36. It didn’t take long for Juventus to get their hands on the trophy, winning for the first time in 1938.
1938: Juventus 5 - 2 Torino (Aggregate)
Captain - Mario Varglien I, Manager - Virginio Rosetta
Juventus’ first Coppa Italia win came in May 1938, at the height of Mussolini’s reign of terror in Italy, defeating rivals Torino over two legs. At the time, the tournament format mirrored that of the FA Cup.
A different trophy was presented, with the original cup being destroyed by the Fascist regime. The winners were also awarded the honour of wearing the tricolour Scudetto usually reserved for league winners on their strips, with the league champions wearing a Scudetto in the colours of the House of Savoy.
Juventus’ captain at the time was Mario Varglien, also known as Varglien I, on account of his brother Giovanni also playing for the club. A rough midfielder; Varglien played with Juventus for fourteen seasons, part of the formidable early 1930s Juve squad that won five Serie A titles in a row.
Juve’s manager at the time, Virginio Rosetta, was no stranger to the five-in-a row legacy, captaining the side throughout as part of their invincible back line. His eight Italian league titles as a player remains a record, tied with Gianluigi Buffon, Giovanni Ferrari, and Giuseppe Furino.
Rosetta managed the team initially as player/coach from 1925, before hanging up his boots in 1926 to become full time manager.
Unlike today’s one-off finals at a neutral ground, back then Coppa Italia finals were two legged affairs. With both legs held in Turin, the city was abuzz for a Derby della Mole Final between Juve and Torino.
The first leg was at Torino’s ground, the Stadio Filadeflia, on Sunday the 1st of May 1938. Savino Bellini put Juventus ahead after 25 minutes, but Walter D’Odorico equalised for Torino ten minutes before the break. Lodovico Defilippis made it 2-1 Juve on 72 minutes before Bellini grabbed his second five minutes from time, as Juve went into the return leg with a 3-1 advantage.
The Granata came out fighting in the second leg, held on Sunday the 8th of May 1936 at Juve’s then ground, the Stadio Benito Mussolini. Fioravante Baldi put Torino ahead after 19 minutes, as nerves jangled at the prospect of a Torino comeback.
Luckily, Guglielmo Gabetto was on hand to pour cold water on any comeback. His rapid-fire first-half double of goals in the 27th and 39th minute were enough to seal Juventus’ first Coppa Italia win as Juve triumphed 2-1 on the day and 5-2 on aggregate.
1942 - Milan 2-5 Juventus (Aggregate)
Captain - Pietro Rava, Manager - Luis Monti
Juventus reclaimed the trophy four years later against old foes Milan in May 1942. With Italy still under Fascist rule and the effects of the Second World War starting to bite, the competition was streamlined to exclude Serie C clubs.
Juve’s manager at the time was Luis Monti, who had been captain right up until before the 1938 Cup Final, with Varglien lifting the trophy instead that day. Nicknamed “doble ancho” (double wide) due to his ability to cover significant areas of the pitch. Monti is considered one of the greatest center-backs of his day. The only man to play in two World Cup finals for two different countries; Monti played more than 200 games for Juventus, grabbing 20 goals from his mostly defensive position over nine years.
Monti was an interim manager, becoming caretaker after the shock resignation of coach Giovanni Ferrari. A club legend, Ferrari had returned that season as a player/coach but underhanded dealings from the board saw pivotal players Borel II, goalkeeper Alfredo Bodoira and 1938 hero Guglielmo Gabetto sold from under his nose. Ferrari resigned in protest after fourteen games, with Monti replacing him in the dugout.
Juve’s captain for the final was Pietro Rava. Rava was a Juve mainstay for fifteen years. A left back; he replaced veteran Virginio Rosetta, and forged a famous partnership both for Juventus and Italy with Alfredo Foni. Solidly built and a firm tackler, Rava made over 300 league appearances for Juventus, winning a league title and two Coppa Italias in his time.
The first leg was on Sunday the 21st of June 1942 in Milan. Juventus faced an early setback when Parola suffered a sprained ankle on the 34th minute. With no substitutions on this day, Parola was forced to remain on the field, limping about. Milan ramped the pressure up, trying to capitalise, but Juventus remained resolute.
Juventus started the second half 10-vs-11 as Milan continued to batter them, before Parola mysteriously reappeared, moving to the extreme left hand side. Against the run of play, Juventus took the lead through Savino Bellini on 62 minutes, before Gino Capello equalised for the hosts eight minutes from the end. The game ended 1-1, with the tie firmly poised ahead of the return leg a week later in Turin.
The second leg was an entirely different affair as Juventus ran roughshod in a 4-1 win. Albanian Riza Lushta, who would end the tournament as top scorer with eight goals, grabbed himself an exquisite hat-trick. Vittorio Sentimenti scored the other goal of the game for Juventus, a penalty, while Boffi got a consolation goal for Milan.
1959 - Inter 1 - 5 Juventus
Captain - Giampiero Boniperti, Manager - Carlo Parola
With the collapse of fascism, the Coppa Italia reverted to its current one-legged final format. This was the final year of the old Mussolini trophy; with the modern incarnation introduced the following season. The Bianconeri were the last side to lift the old trophy, demolishing Inter in the final 5-1 at the San Siro.
Managing the side was Carlo Parola. Born in 1920, Parola had dreamed of being a cyclist in his youth, but eventually turned to football. He got a job at the FIAT plant, playing with the factory team, before being plucked out to join Juve in the late 1930s. The increase in his salary was so vast, it almost caused his mother to have a heart attack.
Parola played over 300 games for Juve between 1939 and 1954, winning two Serie A titles and a Coppa Italia in that time, and wore the captain’s armband from 1949 onwards. Parola would have three stints in the Juventus dugout, adding a further three Serie A titles and two Coppa Italias while in charge.
Captaining the side was the incomparable Giampiero Boniperti. Boniperti spent his entire fifteen-season career with Juventus. On signing with the club, Boniperti had agreed with Juventus’s owner, Gianni Agnelli, to receive a cow from the magnate’s own herd as a bonus for every goal he scored. When he went to claim his reward, having scored twice in his first match, Boniperti, who came from farming stock, made sure to pick two animals who were in calf.
It was an early indication of a shrewdness that would see him become Juve director and then chairman post-retirement. Boniperti was economical on the pitch, during his playing days too. With 182 goals in 459 matches, he remained the club’s top scorer and record appearance maker for decades until finally surpassed by Alessandro Del Piero in 2006 and 2010 respectively.
Boniperti’s halcyon era came with the signing of Welshman John Charles and Argentinian Omar Sivori. Boniperti formed a partnership known as “Il Trio Magico”. He had by now dropped back towards midfield, from where he created chances for the clinical Charles or the madman Sivori, whose creativity, pace and agility allowed him to run games all on his own. Il Trio Magico took a struggling Juventus away from the relegation zone and propelled them to the top, winning three Scudetti and two Coppa Italias.
Il Trio Magico would show exactly why they were so highly regarded in the 1959 final, with Juventus destroying Inter as Charles and Sivori got on the scoresheet. Charles opened the scoring on four minutes, before Sergio Cervato added a second on twenty-seven minutes. Inter narrowed the gap nine minutes later through Mauro Bicicli before Sivori made it 3-1 on 63 minutes. Cervato converted a penalty eleven minutes from time to complete the 4-1 rout and give Juve their third Coppa Italia crown.
1960 - Juventus 3 - 2 Fiorentina (AET)
Captain - Giampiero Boniperti, Manager - Carlo Parola
Juve retained their crown the following year against Fiorentina in a nail-biting final which went to extra time, held at the San Siro on the 18th of September 1960.
Both manager Carlo Parola and captain Giampiero Boniperti remained from the previous year’s final as Juve faced off against one of the greatest sides in Fiorentina history. At the time, Fiorentina were consistent title challengers, having won their first Scudetto in 1955/56 by a 12 point margin, before finishing runners-up the next four seasons.
In front of a 70,000-strong crowd, John Charles gave Juve the lead after ten minutes. Fiorentina would peg them back with goals from Miguel Montuori and Dino Da Costa putting them 2-1 up, with half an hour to go. Charles would again be on hand to equalise for Juventus on the seventy-three minute mark. The game went to extra time, with an own goal from Alberto Orzan on ninety-seven minutes ensuring Juve triumphed again.
The resilience from Juventus to come from 2-1 down was typical of Il Trio Magico throughout the season as Juventus completed their first league-cup double this season. Unfortunately this would be Il Trio Magico’s final season together, with Boniperti shockingly announcing his retirement at the end of the season, despite being only 32 years old.
1965 - Inter 0 - 1 Juventus
Captain - Ernesto Castaño, Manager - Herberto Herrera
Juventus’ fifth triumph came five years later, defeating an Inter side on the brink of history 1-0 at a packed Stadio Olimpico in Rome on August 29th 1965.
Following the departure of the Magical Trio, Juventus were usurped at the top of Italian football by La Grande Inter, the mercurial Inter side put together by Argentinian manager Helenio Herrera who dominated calcio at this time.
Helenio had joined in 1960 from Barcelona, alongside his teammate and reigning European Footballer of the Year, Luis Suárez. Herrera turned Inter into one of the leading teams in Europe with their modified 5–3–2 “Verrou” tactic allowing greater flexibility for counterattacks.
With a core team consisting of full backs Tarcisio Burgnich and Giacinto Facchetti, sweeper Armando Picchi, playmaker Suárez, silky Brazilian winger Jair, left midfielder Mario Corso and Sandro Mazzala on the inside-right, Inter won back-to-back Serie A titles and European Cups in 1964 and 1965.
Going into the final, Inter were looking to become the first side in Europe to complete the League-Cup-European Cup treble, but Juve were determined to spoil the party.
In the dugout for Juventus on this day was another Herrera, the Paraguayan-born Heriberto Herrera. Heriberto had taken over that season and sent a culture shock through the side with his new managerial approach. The March 1965 edition of Hurrà Juventus magazine called on some members of the team to give their thought on the gaffer and his puritanical philosophy on how players should conduct themselves off the pitch.
They wrote that "the conception of the group was highly democratic," but "the daily management was dictatorial, with a sense of discipline that led to strict control over everyone's private life. Obviously, the curiosity that aroused the character was wanting to know more precisely of those who lived it every day."
Of significant concern to the players was Herrera’s ban on cigarettes at a time when 60% of the Italian male population smoked. A translation of defender and captain for the final Ernesto Castaño’s thoughts were as such; "But even in that case, Herrera was ready to educate. He has the gift of knowing how to convince you to give up, let's put too many cigarettes, without making it appear like it was dictated, even if it really is so." Key to Herrera’s approach was the long-term benefits, prolonging player’s peaks in terms of pace and fitness for a few more years.
In front of 50,000 people at the Olimpico, Herrera’s nicotine-free Juventus squad were firm underdogs, having finished a disappointing fourth in the league. Juventus had most of the ball early on, particularly in midfield. Juve made the breakthrough on fifteen minutes when Del Sol fires the ball into the box more in hope than expectation. The ball is long and ends up being picked up without incident by Inter keeper Giuliano Sarti.
Unfortunately for Sarti, he then bumps into Inter midfielder Gianfranco Bedin, spilling the ball. A panic ensues as Juve winger Giampaolo Menichelli throws himself to the ball first, casually slotting home to make it 1-0. It was fitting for Menichelli to be the scorer, having started his career at Roma in the Olimpico.
Juventus’ defensive trio of Giancarlo Bercellino, Ernesto Castaño and Sandro Salvadore remained stout and resolute throughout, battling away waves of Nerazzurri attacks for the whole of the game. The game threatened to boil over on 75 minutes. Midfielder Luis Del Sol had been a constant threat to the Inter defence all game, linking up beautifully with Cinesinho. He drew the ire of Inter defender Tarcisio Burgnich, with the two coming to blows. As the punches flew, the referee had no choice but to send both men off.
With both teams down to ten men for the last fifteen minutes, Inter turned up the heat and threw everything at Juventus. Keeper Roberto Anzolin pulled off some exceptional saves to keep his clean sheet in fact. At the death, Anzolin has a bit of luck as he is beaten by Jair De Costa, only for his shot to ricochet off the post ensuring Juventus won the game 1-0.
“The Wizard”’s spell book had failed him as Juventus were crowned Coppa Italia Winners for the fifth time, denying Inter a historic treble.
Look out for our next instalment in the next round, we will look at triumphs six to ten, starting with a memorable win against Palermo in 1979 all the way through to 2015, the beginning of four years of Coppa Italia dominance. Until then, enjoy tonight’s game against Cagliari and FORZA JUVE!