++ [ originally posted by Shadowfax ] ++
ok... this is part of another article that is sorta what i was getting at...
On Saturday evening Juventus were due to face Fiorentina; a meeting between clubs who dislike each other with an intensity that would not be obvious to an outsider - think Manchester United and Leeds. For a quarter of a century, since a disallowed Fiorentina goal on the last day of the season handed the 1982 title to Turin, there has been a deep-seated loathing of Juventus.
Their arrival had been anticipated with a deep longing for retribution from both sides. On Saturday morning there were fights between the Turin police and Juventus fans trying to board trains for Florence. Other trains carrying Juve supporters were halted outside the city while one Juventus fan shattered the back window of the Fiorentina coach outside the team hotel. At 2pm, to the probable relief of the Florence police, the match was called off.
With Juventus due to meet Liverpool competitively tomorrow for the first time since the Heysel disaster, it did not bode well. Some, anticipating the Champions League quarter-final, thought stories of Juventus ultras seeking revenge on the streets of Merseyside far fetched.
There is an acceptance in Italy that the disaster that killed 39 was more the responsibility of Liverpool supporters than it was the crumbling state of the Heysel Stadium. However, in Turin there is resentment that the tragedy was never embraced by Juventus in the way Hillsborough was by Liverpool. Juventus were accused of sweeping the events aside lest it detract from winning the 1985 European Cup. Their then home stadium, the Communale, has long since been abandoned for the Delle Alpi, which carries no monument to the dead.