The 1990-91 campaign was a season of profound disappointment for Juventus as The Old Lady, under manager Luigi Maifredi, slumped to a 7th-place finish in Serie A, missing out on European competition for the first time in three decades. This came despite breaking the world transfer record to sign superstar Roberto Baggio, whose 14 league goals proved his immense value and fired the club to the Semi-finals of the European Cup Winners' Cup. It remains a painful, transitional chapter defined by high expectations, but one that marked the beginning of Baggio's enduring legacy.