Juventus FC in the context of "1995 Intercontinental Cup"

Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (Portuguese pronunciation: [kɾiʃˈtjɐnu ʁɔˈnaldu duʃ ˈsɐ̃tuʃ aˈvej.ɾu] ; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for, and captains, both Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr and the Portugal national team. Nicknamed CR7, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest players in history, and has won numerous individual accolades throughout his career, including five Ballon d'Ors, a record three UEFA Men's Player of the Year Awards, four European Golden Shoes, and was named five times the world's best player by FIFA. He has won 34 trophies in his career, including five UEFA Champions Leagues and the UEFA European Championship. He holds the records for most goals (140) and assists (42) in the Champions League, goals (14) and assists (8) in the European Championship, and most international appearances (226) and international goals (143). He is the only player to have scored 100 goals with four different clubs. He has made over 1,300 professional career appearances, the most by an outfield player, and has scored over 950 official senior career goals for club and country, making him the top goalscorer of all time.

Born in Funchal, Madeira, Ronaldo began his career with Sporting CP before signing with Manchester United in 2003. He became a star player at United, where he won three consecutive Premier League titles, the Champions League, and the FIFA Club World Cup. His 2007–08 season earned him his first Ballon d'Or at age 23. In 2009, Ronaldo became the subject of the then-most expensive transfer in history when he joined Real Madrid in a deal worth €94 million (£80 million). At Madrid, he was at the forefront of the club's resurgence as a dominant European force, helping them win four Champions Leagues between 2014 and 2018, including the long-awaited La Décima. He also won two La Liga titles, including the record-breaking 2011–12 season in which Madrid reached 100 points, and became the club's all-time top goalscorer. He won Ballon d'Ors in 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2017, and was runner-up three times to Lionel Messi, his perceived career rival. Following issues with the club hierarchy, Ronaldo signed for Juventus in 2018 in a transfer worth an initial €100 million, where he was pivotal in winning two Serie A titles. In 2021, he returned to United before joining Al-Nassr in 2023.

Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (Dutch: [ˈaːjɑks]), also known as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam, or commonly Ajax, is a Dutch professional football club based in Amsterdam, that plays in the Eredivisie, the top tier in Dutch football. Historically, Ajax (named after the legendary Greek hero) is the most successful club in the Netherlands, with 36 Eredivisie titles and 20 KNVB Cups. It has continuously played in the Eredivisie since the league's inception in 1956, and along with Feyenoord and PSV Eindhoven, it is one of the country's "big three" clubs.

Ajax was one of the most successful clubs in the world in the 20th century. According to the International Federation of Football History & Statistics, Ajax was the seventh-most successful European club of the 20th century and The World's Club Team of the Year in 1992. According to German magazine Kicker, Ajax was the second-most successful European club of the 20th century. The club is one of five teams that have earned the right to keep the European Cup and to wear a multiple-winner badge. In 1972, they completed the continental treble by winning the Eredivisie, KNVB Cup, and the European Cup. They also won the first (albeit unofficial) European Super Cup against Rangers in January 1973. Ajax's most recent international trophies are the 1995 Intercontinental Cup, 1995 UEFA Super Cup and the 1995 Champions League, where they defeated Milan in the final; they lost the 1996 Champions League final on penalties to Juventus. In 1995, Ajax was crowned as World Team of the Year by World Soccer magazine.

The Grande Torino (Italian for 'Great Torino') was the historic Italian football team of Torino Football Club in the 1940s, five-time champions of Italy, whose players were the backbone of the Italy national team and died on 4 May 1949 in the plane crash known as the Superga air disaster.

With this name, although it is commonly used to identify the team that died in the disaster, it defines the entire sports cycle which lasted eight years and led to the conquest of five consecutive championships, equaling the record previously set by Juventus of the Quinquennio d'oro; Grande Torino also won a Coppa Italia.

Cristiano Ronaldo is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for and captains both Saudi Pro League club Al-Nassr and the Portugal national team. His individual achievements include five Ballon d'Or awards. His exceptional goal-scoring ability, explosive speed, powerful knuckleball shots, and dribbling skills cemented his legacy as one of the greatest and most iconic footballers in history. In recognition of his record-breaking goalscoring success, Ronaldo received special awards for Outstanding Career Achievement by FIFA in 2021 and Champions League All-Time Top Scorer by UEFA in 2024.

Ronaldo joined Sporting CP's youth academy and made the first team in August 2002. A sought after player, Manchester United signed Ronaldo for £12 million in August 2003, an England record for a teenager. After an individually and collectively successful six-year period where Ronaldo evolved into a world class attacker, he transferred to his "dream club" Real Madrid in 2009 for a then world record £80 million. He spent nine seasons in Madrid, enjoying tremendous success and setting numerous records, including becoming the club's record goalscorer with 450 goals and being integral to the club winning four Champions League titles in a five-year span. Tensions with the hierarchy of Real Madrid resulted in Ronaldo joining Juventus in 2018 for €100 million, where he went on to win all the major honours in Italian football. He returned to Manchester United in 2021, before signing with Saudi Arabian club Al-Nassr in January 2023, reportedly receiving the highest football salary in history. Ronaldo's move increased the popularity of the Saudi Pro League, attracting other high-profile players.

The 2014–15 season was Futbol Club Barcelona's 116th in existence and the club's 84th consecutive season in the top flight of Spanish football. This was the first of the three seasons under head coach Luis Enrique.

The season was one of the most successful ones in the club's history, as Barcelona clinched its second continental treble after winning La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the UEFA Champions League. The league title was won in a closely fought title race with Real Madrid, while the Copa victory was achieved with a brilliant 3–1 victory over Athletic Bilbao at Camp Nou in the final. In the Champions League, Barcelona overcame Bayern Munich (3–0 home, 2–3 away) to set up the final against Juventus in Berlin, where Barça triumphed 3–1. Barcelona's success may be in large part attributed to their formidable attacking trio composed of Lionel Messi, Neymar, and summer signing Luis Suárez, who scored a record 122 goals in all competitions to become the trio with most goals in a single season in Spanish football history.

The 2019 Ballon d'Or (French: Ballon d'Or) was the 64th annual ceremony of the Ballon d'Or, presented by France Football, and recognising the best footballers in the world for 2019. Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi won his record-breaking sixth award and broke the tie with Cristiano Ronaldo for most Ballon d'Or awards. Virgil van Dijk came in a very close second after a stellar year with Liverpool and Netherlands national team while Cristiano Ronaldo came in third with Juventus.

Nélson de Jesus Silva (born 7 October 1973), better known simply as Dida (Brazilian Portuguese: [ˈdʒidɐ]), is a Brazilian former football goalkeeper and goalkeeping coach. He started his senior club career in Brazil in the early 1990s with Vitória before moving to Cruzeiro and Corinthians. He is perhaps best remembered for his ten-year stint with AC Milan from 2000 to 2010, where he established himself as one of the world's best goalkeepers and won multiple trophies and individual awards with the club, including one Serie A title (Scudetto) and twice the UEFA Champions League, with the first of those victories coming after he saved three penalties in the 2003 final against Serie A rivals Juventus, and is one of four Milan keepers with 300 career appearances. After a two-year absence from playing, he returned to Brazil in 2012, appearing for three teams—Portuguesa, Grêmio and Internacional—in as many seasons. He returned to Milan to serve as their goalkeeping coach from 2020 to 2022.

At international level, Dida earned 91 caps in eleven years with the Brazil national team, winning the FIFA World Cup and an Olympic medal, while he is the most successful player in the history of the FIFA Confederations Cup.

Michel François Platini (French pronunciation: [miʃɛl fʁɑ̃swa platini]; born 21 June 1955) is a French football administrator and former player and manager. Regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time, Platini won the Ballon d'Or three times in a row, in 1983, 1984 and 1985, and came seventh in the FIFA Player of the Century vote. In recognition of his achievements, he was named a Knight of the Legion of Honour in 1985 and became an Officer in 1998. As the president of UEFA in 2015 he was banned from involvement in football under FIFA's organisation, over ethics violations. The ban lasted until 2023.

During his career, Platini played for the clubs Nancy, Saint-Étienne, and Juventus. Nicknamed Le Roi (The King) for his ability and leadership, he was a prolific goalscorer; he won the Serie A capocannoniere award three consecutive times between 1983 and 1985, and was the top scorer of Juventus's victorious 1984–85 European Cup campaign. Platini was a key player of the France national team that won the 1984 European Championship, a tournament in which he was the top scorer and best player, and reached the semi-finals of the 1982 and 1986 World Cups. Together with midfielders Alain Giresse, Luis Fernández and Jean Tigana, he formed the carré magique (magic square) of the French team in the 1980s. Platini was his country's record goalscorer until 2007, and held the record for most goals scored (9) in the European Championship until being surpassed by Cristiano Ronaldo in 2021, despite only appearing in the 1984 tournament.

Mario Mandžukić (Croatian pronunciation: [mâːrio mǎndʒukitɕ]; born 21 May 1986) is a Croatian football coach and a former player who was most recently an assistant coach for the Croatia national team. As a player, he played as a forward and became known for his aggressiveness, defensive contribution, and aerial prowess.

Starting his career in 2004 at hometown club Marsonia, Mandžukić then moved to two Zagreb-based clubs: NK Zagreb in 2005 and Dinamo Zagreb in 2007. He was Croatian First League top goalscorer in the 2008–09 season. After joining VfL Wolfsburg in 2010, Mandžukić moved to fellow-Bundesliga side Bayern Munich in 2012. He helped Bayern win their first continental treble (Bundesliga, DFB-Pokal, Champions League) in his first season, and became the first Croatian to score in a Champions League final. After winning a domestic double the following season, he left Bayern for La Liga club Atlético Madrid in 2014, and a season later was signed by Juventus in the Serie A. Mandžukić won four league titles and three Coppa Italia titles with Juventus, and reached the 2017 Champions League final. He left Juventus in December 2019 for Qatari side Al-Duhail and returned Italy in January 2021, signing with AC Milan. He retired in September of the same year.