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Manchester United and Juventus are the most successful domestic teams in their respective countries. These two heavyweights have 54 league titles between them, with the Old Lady clinching the most number of Scudetti (34), which also means that they hold the record for the most number of league titles in Europe's top 5 leagues.
Manchester United, on the other hand, has the most number of league titles in English football with 20. The Red Devils won their 8th League title when Sir Alex Ferguson tasted his first triumph as Manchester United manager in 1993.
Since then, the Scottish manager was thoroughly dominant, taking his team through various eras, and winning a massive 13 Premier League trophies and 2 Champions League in a span of 20 years.
After the retirement of the legendary Scot, they have struggled to compete for the major tournaments despite winning the Europa League, FA Cup, and League Cup in the last five years.
On the other hand, Juventus lifted numerous trophies between 1970 and 2000. But, the Old Lady was caught in an Italian match-fixing scandal in 2006 which forced them to play in the second division football for a year. Former Juventus player Didier Deschamps took over the side and gained promotion to the Italian top flight following Fabio Capello's resignation.
They did not win the League title for the next three years. Fan favourite Antonio Conte was appointed as the new manager of the club in 2010 and lead the team to 4 consecutive league titles.
He was followed by his compatriot Massimiliano Allegri who has not let the League title slip away from Turin in the following three years, but they have always struggled to win the Champions League. It has been 22 years since the Juventus fans have seen their side lift Europe's prestigious competition.
With the clash between the two heavyweights imminent, we take a look at the 6 players who have worn the famous red as well as the Black & White jersey:
#6 Patrice Evra
Patrice Evra has been one of the best left-backs to have graced the Premier League over the last decade. He graduated at Paris Saint-Germain, but he kicked off his senior career at Marsala, Monza, Nice, and Monaco before signing for the English outfit Manchester United in 2006.
Alex Ferguson signed the former Monaco defender to solve the left back problems and handed him his debut against the local rivals Manchester City in a 3-1 defeat on January 14th.
Despite the ominous start, the Frenchman went on to make 379 appearances for the club and won the Premier League on 5 occasions as well as the Champions League in 2008 during his joy-filled career in England. He was also named FIFPro World XI and UEFA Team of the year once when he was with the Red Devils.
Evra was deemed too slow by Louis Van Gaal which paved way for the Frenchman to sign for Juventus in 2014. He stayed there for two and a half years and lifted as many as two league titles.
He appeared 69 times in two seasons but struggled to find his rhythm in the following season which forced him to find a new club move in the January transfer window. Afterwards, he spent some time at Marseille and West Ham United before hanging up his boots.
#5 Edwin Van Der Sar
Edwin Van Der Sar kicked off his senior career at Ajax but spent most of his academic time with Foreholte and Noordwijk. Upon winning the Dutch goalkeeper of the year 4 times between 1994 and 1997 and getting named as the best European Goalkeeper in 1995, Juventus came calling for the Dutch shot-stopper in 1999.
Gianluigi Buffon was bought for a world record fee of £32 million from Parma in 2001. This move meant Van Der Sar had to look elsewhere in search of proper game time. He made a shock move to Premier League newcomers Fulham during that summer and spent four years with the London outfit.
The Red Devils were actively searching for a goalkeeper in the transfer market and decided to move for the former Ajax goalkeeper in 2005. During his stay at Manchester, he won four Premier League titles and a Champions League title. Additionally, he was named in the FIFPro World XI for five consecutive seasons before deciding to quit his playing career in 2011.
#4 Carlos Tevez
Argentine Carlos Tevez started turning the heads of several European clubs when he was with South American clubs Boca Juniors and Corinthians before he made an ambiguous move to English outfit West Ham in 2006.
He did not have a particularly great season, but his goal during the final game of the season against Manchester United at Old Trafford resulted in Hammers victory and guaranteed another year of top-flight football.
This forced Manchester United to make a move for the West Ham striker. He spent two years with Alex Ferguson's side and scored 34 goals from 94 appearances for the Old Trafford side and won the Premier League twice and the Champions League once.
During the summer of 2009, he felt that his time with the club was over and his agent offered him to fierce rivals Manchester City. Roberto Mancini signed him for a British record fee of £47 million. Tevez spent three years at the Etihad Stadium.
Juventus signed for the Argentine for a fee of £12 million in 2013 when the Argentine was 29 years of age. He took the field 95 times and found the back of the net on 50 occasions. He played an integral part in the Old Lady's title wins.
After spending two years in Italy, he wished to return to his hometown club and made a move to Boca Juniors on a couple of occasions and featured for Shanghai Shenhua in 2017.
#3 Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Zlatan Ibrahimovic kicked off his professional career at Malmo and played three years of senior football in Sweden. Subsequently, he featured for the Dutch heavyweights Ajax between 2001 and 2004. He was one of the best young prospects in Europe having scored more than 65 goals before turning 24.
Juventus signed him for a fee of 16 million Euros in 2004. The Swedish striker wore the white and black for two years during which the Italian giants were caught in a scandal which saw the club get relegated to Serie B.
The club pleaded with him to stay in Turin, but he decided to look elsewhere and joined fellow Italian side, Inter Milan. Following that, he moved to Barcelona, AC Milan, and Paris Saint-Germain.
Running his contract down with the French Champions, Ibrahimovic announced through social media that his next destination would be Manchester United reuniting him with Jose Mourinho in 2016.
He had a great season at Old Trafford, scoring 28 goals and winning the League Cup and the Europa League before rupturing his knee and leaving Manchester for MLS side LA Galaxy this January.
#2 Paul Pogba
Paul Pogba rose through the ranks of the famous French club Le Havre which has a reputation for bringing through extraordinary talent.
Sir Alex Ferguson spotted Pogba's talent and signed the French man when he was just 16. The 25-year-old was in the UEFA European Under-17 Championship team of the season.
He broke through into the first team, and the former Red Devils manager Alex Ferguson promised him game time. But, Pogba did not get enough time on the field and refused to sign a new contract with the Red Devils. This allowed Juventus to pounce on the talented Frenchman.
The youngster was slowly slotted into the first team and went on to make 178 appearances in just 4 seasons for the Old Lady. He was named in the Serie A team of the year four times in a row, FIFAPro World XI and UEFA Team of the year apiece. He lifted four consecutive league titles with Juventus and made a move to his former club Manchester United for a record fee of 105 million Euros in 2016.
The French midfielder was expected to provide better things during his second stint with the club, but he has been underwhelming with the amount of inconsistency. He is expected to make his 100th appearance for the Red Devils against his old club Juventus upon his move two years before. He lifted the Europa League and the League cup during his debut season with Jose Mourinho.
#1 Cristiano Ronaldo
Arguably one of the best players to have ever graced the game of football, Cristiano Ronaldo is a product of the Portuguese club, Sporting CP. He made his debut at the age of 17 and scored two goals in the Primera Liga against Moreirense in 2002.
The former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson enquired about the possibility of a transfer when the Red Devils played Sporting CP in a pre-season friendly. Ronaldo became the first ever Portuguese footballer to represent Manchester United and was handed over the number 7 jersey which was worn by the likes of Eric Cantona and George Best.
He was slowly eased into the starting lineup and started to play an integral part a season later. He would go on to represent the club 259 times during his six-year spell, scoring 113 and winning various trophies in the process.
The Portuguese international won countless individual awards during his time at Old Trafford including the Ballon d'Or, European golden boot and the Premier League golden boot. He got featured in the FIFPro XI and UEFA Team of the year on several occasions.
A move to Real Madrid was inevitable as he made the switch in 2009. He is the leading scorer of Real Madrid with 450 goals and won many individual and team trophies.
After expressing his wish to move to another club, Juventus decided to splash an astonishing €100 million to land the Portuguese star this Summer. The 33-year-old has made 10 appearances and has found the net on 5 occasions.
He is also the record Champions League holder, having won the trophy five times, and he will be looking to add another one to his tally with Juventus this season.
