If Real Madrid is the undisputed King of Europe then AC Milan must surely be seen as the Queen.
In Italy, Milan are streets ahead of the rest of the league in terms of European silverware – seven European Cups, five European Super Cups and three Intercontinental Cups populate their continental trophy cabinet. Spiritually they also feel like a European team, being early adopters of competitions against their bordering neighbors. They competed outside of Italy as early as 1938 in the Mitropa Cup and first entered the Latin Cup in 1951 (more of this later).
Choosing just five nights from an 85 year history, therefore, is a ridiculous task. In doing so, I’ve attempted to represent the greatest five sides that have donned I Rossoneri shirt. I’ve also been influenced by the quality of opposition, too. The most memorable nights in Europe often come when one’s team has brought icons to their knees and this article recalls the moments when Milan dominated sides which featured Pele, Hugo Sánchez, Pep Guardiola and Cristiano Ronaldo and were coached by such luminaries as Alex Ferguson and Johan Cruyff.
Milan 3 Manchester United 0 (Champions League, 02/05/2007)
This match was the coming together of footballing masterminds. 2007 would be the first league trophy in Alex Ferguson’s third great Manchester United side and the team was also on a roll in Europe, finishing top of their group and dismantling Roma 7-1 in the quarter final second leg.
Carlo Ancelotti’s Milan side, set-up in his fondly remembered ‘Christmas Tree’, 4-3-2-1 formation made easy work of Ferguson’s side in this semi final second leg. The famed midfield trio of Rino Gattuso, Andrea Pirlo and Massimo Ambrosini gave Paul Scholes, Darren Fletcher and new signing Michael Carrick a lesson in how to run a late stage European cup tie, Gattuso also bullying Ronaldo out of the game for good measure. With Clarence Seedorf and best-player-in-the-world Kaka just in front of them and Pippo Inzaghi there to finish, this Milan side was mid-way through a juggernaut-like journey of redemption following the ‘Miracle of Istanbul’ in 2005.
This Milan vintage possessed remarkable footballing intelligence all over the pitch (even without the injured Paolo Maldini) and Seedorf excelled in such an academy. He was particularly imperious in this game – setting up Kaka’s opener and holding off most of the United defence before firing in Milan’s second. A rainy evening created a slick passing surface and Milan’s precision with the ball was encapsulated in their third – an Ambrosini through ball released substitute Alberto Gilardino to end the tie. The more than 70,000 Milan tifosi couldn’t have cared less about the weather and the San Siro was in fine voice – grasping the last opportunity to cheer their team in European competition before the squad headed to Athens to collect European Cup numero sette.
Milan 4 Barcelona 0 (Champions League, 18/05/1994)
Barcelona manager, Cruyff committed one of the most infamous examples of sporting hubris in the build up to the final, describing Fabio Capello’s Milan as “Nothing out of this world. They base their game on defence; we base ours on attack.”
The Dutch legend left the pitch in Athens in May 1994 humbled and humiliated by a complete Milan performance. Capello replaced Arrigo Sacchi in 1991 (himself inspired by the Dutch School of football) and had won three Scudetti in a row between 1991/92 and 1993/94. Whilst not a philosopher like his predecessor or his opponent in this game, Capello was a winner. Yes, his success was built on arguably the greatest back four of all time, but he also had some aces up his sleeve. One of these aces, the enigmatic Montenegrin Number 10, Dejan Savicevic was the chief architect of Barcelona’s demise.
Capello often didn’t see eye-to-eye with his mercurial playmaker but Savicevic, freed up by Marcel Desailly and Dimitri Albertini’s dominance in midfield, tore Barcelona apart. He set up Milan’s first, a devastating counter attack and scored one of the all time great European Cup Final goals for the third: lobbing Barcelona goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta from outside the box.
Barcelona played like a Dutch team but, unfortunately for the Catalans, it was more like the 2010 World Cup side. Far from being Total Football, Barca’s main contribution to the game were a series of appalling fouls – Miguel Ángel Nadal being particularly guilty of some horror tackles. After Desailly burst through to score Milan’s fourth in the 58th minute, Capello’s side generously took their foot off Barcelona’s throat. The final result of 4 – 0 ended up flattering Cruyff’s side.
Milan 5 Real Madrid 0 (European Cup, 18/04/1989)
This European Cup semi final second leg is a strong contender for the greatest team performance of all time. It was the magical culmination of Sacchi’s managerial genius and the world class Dutch trio of Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rijkaard. This was an excellent Real Madrid side, made up of homegrown talents known as La ‘Quinta del Buitre’ who had the prolific Mexican striker Sánchez to compliment them. They were no match for Sacchi’s pressing side whose intricate team moves had been worked out in precise detail in the now legendary coaching sessions.
All five goals showcased different elements of this great Milan team. Ironically, they opened the scoring with a goal that required no tactical thinking: Ancelotti thundering the ball in with a 30 yard screamer. Their second was a typically powerful header from Rijkaard and his fellow Dutchman, Gullit also headed in the third which featured a typically Sacchi-like triangular passing move in the build up.
Words can scarcely do credit to the beauty of Milan’s fourth goal: the ball was brought out from the back, passed around most of the team before Rijkaard carried the ball forward and launched a long range pass to Gullit. The ball was headed down for Van Basten to slam the ball home with a finish almost as wonderful as his famed 1988 strike for Holland. Roberto Donadoni scored Milan’s fifth from a smartly worked short corner and Sacchi had ended an era in Madrid whilst announcing Milan as a European powerhouse once more. Ever modest about his footballing achievements, Sacchi described this performance in his memoir as ‘art’ – it’s very hard to disagree.
Milan 4 Santos 2 (Intercontinental Cup, 16/10/1963)
The 1963 edition of the Intercontinental Cup offered a tantalising opportunity to see Pele’s Santos against one of Milan’s finest ever sides. Although this European Cup winning Milan team had been built by Nereo Rocco, by October his replacement Luis Carniglia was at the helm and his starting lineup boasted Italian great Gianni Rivera and two World Cup winning Brazilians: Jose Altafini (by now a naturalised Italian) and Amarildo who had recently lifted the trophy in Sweden.
The match was billed as a battle of two great Number 10’s and the Rivera – Pele showdown did not disappoint. Milan ended the first half 2 – 0 up their opener came from a Giovanni Trappatoni screamer and Pele’s replacement at the 1962 World Cup Amarildo scoring the second in a strong showing. The second half began with a Pele masterclass, combining well with Santos legend Zito to accelerate past Milan’s defence and lashing in a goal to the bottom left hand corner. Rivera responded by beating a man with his first touch and laying on a glorious twenty yard assist for Amarildo to make it 3-1.
The quality of play from both sides was eye-wateringly good but Rivera was not finished. The twenty year old burst forward from the halfway line to notch another pitch-perfect long range assist. Pele got the last laugh with a penalty scored in spite of Amarildo’s best attempts to put him off. A controversial return leg and then play-off in Brazil left Santos to lift the trophy but the first leg at the San Siro was one of the most glittering matches in Milan’s history.
Milan 5 Lille 0 (Latin Cup, 24/06/1951)
The Latin Cup was a precursor to the UEFA competitions and it pitted the champions of France, Spain, Portugal and Italy against each other. The third incarnation of the tournament was hosted in Milan in 1951 and Italy were represented by Lajos Czeizler’s Milan team, who had just ended a 44 year wait for a league title.
Contained with this side were the legendary Gre-No-Li Swedish trio: Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Liedholm. Gren and Nordahl played up front and Liedholm’s versatility and all-round prowess makes it hard to define his exact position but he controlled the game from midfield. Gren was to be the star on this European Night, bagging a hattrick and Italy’s taste for European football seemed to begin. Daily football paper, La Gazzetta dello Sport devoted much of its front page to Milan’s victory. A photo of Gren moving past French defender, Jacques van Cappelen dominated the front page which announced Milan’s victory as happening in superbo stile (in superb style).
Whilst UEFA does not officially recognise this nascent continental competition, Milan’s two victories in 1951 and 1956 could be seen as a vital stepping stone towards their seven European Cups between 1963 and 2007.
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