1994 UEFA Champions League final

1994 UEFA Champions League final
Match programme cover
Event1993–94 UEFA Champions League
Date18 May 1994 (1994-05-18)
VenueOlympic Stadium, Athens
RefereePhilip Don (England)
Attendance70,000[1]
1993
1995

The 1994 UEFA Champions League final was a football match between Italian club Milan and Spanish club Barcelona, played on 18 May 1994 at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Greece.

Having won La Liga for the fourth consecutive year, Barcelona were favourites to win a second European Cup/UEFA Champions League title in three years. Milan's preparation before the final was in disarray with injured or suspended talent and other issues: legendary striker Marco van Basten; £13 million young sensation Gianluigi Lentini (then world's most expensive footballer)--sweeper and captain. Suspended were: Franco Baresi and defender Alessandro Costacurta. UEFA regulations at the time limited teams to fielding a maximum of three non-nationals meant that coach Fabio Capello was forced to leave out Florin Răducioiu, Jean-Pierre Papin and Brian Laudrup. On Barcelona's side, the rule saw Johan Cruyff choosing not to pick Michael Laudrup in his squad for the final which caused Capello to state after the game: "Laudrup was the guy I feared but Cruyff left him out, and that was his mistake".[2] Laudrup left Barcelona for their arch-rival, Real Madrid, at the end of the season.

Milan played in their all-white away strip, which historically they use in finals of the European Cup/UEFA Champions League, while Barcelona played in their red and blue strip. Milan dominated early and were rewarded when Dejan Savićević ran down the right flank and passed to Daniele Massaro, who tapped the ball into an empty net. Massaro banged in his second just before half-time to make it 2–0 after a solo run by Roberto Donadoni down the left wing.[3]

In the 47th minute, Savićević capitalised on a defensive error by Miguel Ángel Nadal to lob goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta for the third goal. Eight minutes later, after Savićević had hit a post and the Barcelona defence had failed to clear, Milan midfielder Marcel Desailly beat the offside trap to make it 4–0, which ended up being the final score.[4] Desailly became the first player to win the trophy in consecutive years with different clubs after winning with Marseille in 1993.[5]

Teams

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In the following table, finals until 1992 were in the European Cup era, since 1993 were in the UEFA Champions League era.

Team Previous final appearances (bold indicates winners)
Italy Milan 6 (1958, 1963, 1969, 1989, 1990, 1993)
Spain Barcelona 3 (1961, 1986, 1992)

Route to the final

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Italy Milan Round Spain Barcelona
Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg Opponent Agg. 1st leg 2nd leg
Switzerland Aarau 1–0 1–0 (A) 0–0 (H) First round Ukraine Dynamo Kyiv 5–4 1–3 (A) 4–1 (H)
Denmark Copenhagen 7–0 6–0 (A) 1–0 (H) Second round Austria Austria Wien 5–1 3–0 (H) 2–1 (A)
Opponent Result Group stage Opponent Result
Belgium Anderlecht 0–0 (A) Matchday 1 Turkey Galatasaray 0–0 (A)
Portugal Porto 3–0 (H) Matchday 2 France Monaco 2–0 (H)
Germany Werder Bremen 2–1 (H) Matchday 3 Russia Spartak Moscow 2–2 (A)
Germany Werder Bremen 1–1 (A) Matchday 4 Russia Spartak Moscow 5–1 (H)
Belgium Anderlecht 0–0 (H) Matchday 5 Turkey Galatasaray 3–0 (H)
Portugal Porto 0–0 (A) Matchday 6 France Monaco 1–0 (A)
Group B winner

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Italy Milan 6 8
2 Portugal Porto 6 7
3 Germany Werder Bremen 6 5
4 Belgium Anderlecht 6 4
Source: UEFA
Final standings Group A winner

Pos Team Pld Pts
1 Spain Barcelona 6 10
2 France Monaco 6 7
3 Russia Spartak Moscow 6 5
4 Turkey Galatasaray 6 2
Source: UEFA
Opponent Result Knockout phase Opponent Result
France Monaco 3–0 (H) Semi-finals Portugal Porto 3–0 (H)

Match

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Details

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Milan Italy4–0Spain Barcelona
Report
Attendance: 70,000[1]
Referee: Philip Don (England)
Milan[6]
Barcelona[6]
GK 1 Italy Sebastiano Rossi
RB 2 Italy Mauro Tassotti (c) Yellow card 35'
LB 3 Italy Christian Panucci Yellow card 88'
CM 4 Italy Demetrio Albertini Yellow card 53'
CB 5 Italy Filippo Galli
CB 6 Italy Paolo Maldini downward-facing red arrow 83'
LM 7 Italy Roberto Donadoni
CM 8 France Marcel Desailly
RM 9 Croatia Zvonimir Boban
CF 10 Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Dejan Savićević
CF 11 Italy Daniele Massaro Yellow card 45'
Substitutes:
GK 12 Italy Mario Ielpo
DF 13 Italy Stefano Nava upward-facing green arrow 83'
MF 14 Italy Angelo Carbone
MF 15 Italy Gianluigi Lentini
FW 16 Italy Marco Simone
Manager:
Italy Fabio Capello
GK 1 Spain Andoni Zubizarreta
RB 2 Spain Albert Ferrer Yellow card 58'
DM 3 Spain Pep Guardiola
CB 4 Netherlands Ronald Koeman
CB 5 Spain Miguel Ángel Nadal Yellow card 54'
CM 6 Spain José Mari Bakero (c) Yellow card 48'
LB 7 Spain Sergi Barjuán Yellow card 55' downward-facing red arrow 71'
RF 8 Bulgaria Hristo Stoichkov Yellow card 24'
CM 9 Spain Guillermo Amor
CF 10 Brazil Romário
LF 11 Spain Txiki Begiristain downward-facing red arrow 51'
Substitutes:
DF 12 Spain Juan Carlos
GK 13 Spain Carles Busquets
MF 14 Spain Eusebio Sacristán upward-facing green arrow 51'
MF 15 Spain Jon Andoni Goikoetxea
MF 16 Spain Quique Estebaranz upward-facing green arrow 71'
Manager:
Netherlands Johan Cruyff

Linesmen:
Rob Harris (England)
Roy Pearson (England)
Fourth official:
Martin Bodenham (England)

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "2. Finals" (PDF). UEFA Champions League Statistics Handbook 2016/17. Nyon: Union of European Football Associations. 2017. p. 1. Retrieved 22 April 2017.
  2. ^ ABC(spanish newspaper), 20 May 1994
  3. ^ Leach, Conrad (31 May 2016). "Golden Goal: Daniele Massaro for Milan v Barcelona (1994)". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
  4. ^ Thomas, Russell (13 December 2007). "Milan style - how the Guardian saw the 1994 final". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
  5. ^ Smyth, Rob (13 May 2020). "Milan v Barcelona 1994 Champions League final: as it happened". Guardian. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  6. ^ a b Wilson, Jonathan (2008). Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics. Orion. p. 318. ISBN 978-1-4091-0204-5.
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