14 February 2023
Thursday's match with Nantes marks the return of European football this season.
Juventus have already hosted French clubs in Turin in the Europa League and its predecessor, the UEFA Cup.
Before Nantes, the matches in this competition involved two clubs – Paris Saint Germain and Olympique Lyon – and were played in three stadiums: the Comunale, the Delle Alpi and the Allianz Stadium.
THE FIRST MEETING
Juventus' first encounter with a French club in the UEFA Cup arrived on a historic day. The match against PSG was played on 1 November 1989, the day of the club's 102nd anniversary.
Representing the club with the captain's armband was Stefano Tacconi.
DOUBLE SUCCESS
Juventus hosted PSG in the second leg of the second round.
In Paris, the Bianconeri had won 1-0. In Turin, a goal from Roberto Galia seemed to have ensured qualification, but the French side equalised immediately through Daniel Bravo.
In the second half, the suspense continued until the closing 10 minutes when Luigi De Agostini not only stopped a counter attack from a Juve corner but then unleashed a shot that took a deflection off Jean-Pierre Bosser.
The ball ended up in the net much to the delight, and relief, of the Bianconeri.
SUPER BAGGIO
Juventus and PSG met again four years later.
Juve had moved home, from the Comunale to the Delle Alpi, and the stakes were higher: the match was in fact the first leg of the UEFA Cup semi-finals.
An unforgettable game unfolded, lit up by goals from two future Ballon d'Or winners.
George Weah scored for Les Parisiens,. The reply from the Bianconeri was the work of Roberto Baggio with two masterpieces, the latter a brushstroke of a free-kick that justified his nickname, Raphael, after the Rennaisance artist.
JUST LIKE 1989
Like 1989 but in a different context. Juve also hosted a French club in the Europa League in 2014.
This time the setting was the Allianz Stadium and the opponents were Lyon, but like that distant UEFA Cup clash against PSG the result was identical: 1-0 in France and 2-1 in Italy.
What's more, the pattern over the two legs was also the same. Andrea Pirlo opened the scoring. Jimmy Briand equalised before Samuel Umtiti's own goal from a Claudio Marchisio shot completed the scoring.
In the photo, Gigi Buffon observes the danger from one of Lyon's forwards, Corentin Tolisso.
