While I see a lot of optimism, I also see a lot of frustration. It's obviously understandable, but I would like to provide some perspective. I don't know how old you all are, but in terms of sheer frustration for losing in the final, this year isn't even a blip on my radar compared to '97 and '98, two finals which we should have absolutely crushed, and to 2003, which we would have won if not for Nedved sitting it out.
I can confidently say that this year, on the whole, is a success rather than a failure. Who here can say the same of '96-'97? Of course this may just be my, by now, faulty memory, but I remember feeling very discontent with the way we had destroyed United, Ajax, and other good teams on the way to the final, going in as overwhelming favorites to do the unheard of back-to-back wins, and then losing to Dortmund of all teams with that inexplicable 3-1. And then the next season was a lot more bumpy, we lost to teams we shouldn't have lost to in the CL, there was a general trepidation, a feeling that we had been cursed after that final loss to Dortmund: We were not as dominant as before, but in spite of all that we reached the final and I was ready to celebrate so hard that all the prophecies of doom would be coming out false, only to have that offside goal shatter everything. And after that all the doom prophecies came true, Del Piero injured, sacking Lippi, lost in Turin to United in the semifinal...
Compared to all that... This year is a huge success, especially since we continue to improve. I've seen my share of bad years, and this one isn't a bad year. We are on the rise, on the ascendancy, we haven't yet reached our peak. Things will get better. This is just the beginning. Believe it. All of you, believe it. We are back, and there will be more finals and more wins to come. A defeat is only bad if you let it defeat you, and as far as I can tell, Juve has no intention of doing that, and its fans should do the same.