In the 1977-78 season Juventus competed in Serie A, Coppa Italia and UEFA Cup.
Summary
After winning last season's league title with a record-breaking tally of 51 points, the club did not make substantial changes in their first line-up and brought young promises such as Pietro Paolo Virdis,[1]Pierino Fanna and Vinicio Verza to their debut at top level.
The team was defeated in Rome 0-3 by Lazio, which was their only loss in the first half of the season.[2] Liedholm and his Milan were Juventus' biggest challengers of the season and finished the first half of the league season at the top.[3] However, with a draw at Bergamo, they were reached in first place by Juventus; the next week the Bianconeri took the leadership, grabbing the 'Winter title' with 2 points ahead of local rivals Torino.[4]
The second half of the tournament for Juventus was calm with the Bianconeri not losing a single game for the rest of the tournament. Juventus secured the championship after drawing away to Roma with game to spare.
In Coppa Italia, the team suffered a shocking elimination in Second round. In European Cup, the squad reached the Semi-finals, being surprisingly eliminated by Belgian Club Brugge its coach over the two legs.[5]
After the team clinched the title, Italian national team manager Enzo Bearzot called up eight players as regulars starters from this Juventus squad — Zoff, Gentile, Scirea, Benetti, Tardelli, Bettega, Cabrini and Causio — during the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina (also Cuccureddu was called), where they reached a decent 4th place.[6] This group of players was known as Blocco-Juve (Juve Block), or Blocco Juventus[7]
Squad
[8]
Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.
