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Zibi Boniek Should Be a Juventus Legend…but He Isn’t
- Updated: October 12, 2016
When Zbigniew Boniek arrived at Juventus in 1982, his new team-mates included six members of the Italy side that had won that summer’s FIFA World Cup, plus the French maestro Michel Platini.
Undaunted and with little expectation placed on his shoulders due to the stellar cast around him, the Poland international was able to quickly settle into Giovanni Trapattoni’s first-choice XI and helped them to win a Serie A title in his first season.
In his second year, they would lift the Coppa Italia, subsequently earning a place in the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, and it was in that competition where he would truly shine in the club’s famous black-and-white shirt.
Juventus’ Zbigniew Boniek and Michel Platini lifting at Villar Perosa training ground, 1983 pic.twitter.com/XppybDHIJD
— The Antique Football (@AntiqueFootball) April 10, 2014
He scored goals in Juve’s first-round clash with Lechia Gdansk and the second-round victory over Paris Saint-Germain. Quarter-final opponents FC Haka of Finland then kept him scoreless, but Boniek was back on the scoresheet in the following round as the Bianconeri eliminated Manchester United to claim a place in the final.
While the Turin giants are now considered one of Europe’s top clubs, they had won just one international trophy at that point—the 1977 UEFA Cup—and were desperate for more. Taking on FC Porto at FC Basel’s St. Jakob Stadium, the Old Lady would start out in a bold 4-3-3 formation.
They took the lead after just 12 minutes when Beniamino Vignola powered past his marker and fired a low shot beyond the goalkeeper. Antonio Sousa equalised shortly after, scoring from the edge of the box with a shot that Stefano Tacconi had no chance of keeping out of the net.
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With the half-time whistle looming, the chemistry Platini and Boniek had established would pay huge dividends, the former launching a brilliant long ball forward that picked out the latter perfectly. Boniek made no mistake and made it 2-1 to Juventus, and the game was over.
That triumph meant the Bianconeri would take part in their first UEFA Super Cup appearance. Playing Liverpool at Turin’s Stadio Comunale on January 16, 1985, that encounter would give Trapattoni’s men a chance to test themselves against one of the continent’s true giants and they did not disappoint.
Once more it would be Boniek who stole the headlines, netting two goals past a helpless Bruce Grobbelaar—both from Massimo Briaschi assists—either side of some excellent Liverpool chances.
#OnThisDay we lifted our first UEFA Super Cup, a trophy assault that began with the ’83 …
