大象传媒

1996/97 Middlesbrough 3-3 Liverpool

You鈥檝e just won the Champions League Final, a game in which you鈥檝e scored in. You鈥檝e decided to leave your club for pastures new. To join Middlesbrough?! That鈥檚 exactly what Fabrizio Ravanelli did in 1996, swapping Turin for Teeside.

His debut came at a packed Riverside stadium against Liverpool, where he lined up alongside Brazilians Juninho and Emerson as part of an exciting attacking line-up.

Alongside these international superstars were solid British pros, who had not always plied their trade in the top flight. One such player was Robbie Mustoe, who remembers 鈥淭hat first game was absolutely bouncing. I doubt the Riverside has been as thrilled as that particular season鈥�.

In a topsy-turvy encounter, Liverpool took the lead through Stig Inge Bjornbye, but the White Feather took just 26 minutes to open his account from the penalty spot.

The Reds, wearing the only 鈥淓cru鈥� coloured kit in Premier League history, took the lead a further two times that afternoon. Ravanelli answered back every time, scoring the final equaliser in the 83rd minute.

Arriving in the North-East was somewhat of a culture shock for the Italian, who gave the following analogy about the rudimentary training facilities he had to use: 鈥渋t鈥檚 like buying a Ferrari without a garage鈥�.

This particular Ferrari scored 31 goals in all competitions that season, but they were mainly in vain as Boro reached two cup finals, lost both, and were relegated on the last day of the season.

Show less