1994 European cup final
Encyclopedia
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 Athens Olympic Stadium in Athens
, Greece
. Milans victory is the largest victory (4-0) ever made in a Champions League Final until date.
Barcelona were favourites to win the their 2nd European title in three years over the 1993 runners up, having just won La Liga
. Milan's preparation before the final was in disarray: legendary striker Marco van Basten and £13 million young sensation Gianluigi Lentini
(then world's most expensive footballer) were missing through injury, sweeper and legendary captain, Franco Baresi
was suspended, as was defender Alessandro Costacurta
; while UEFA
regulations which ordered that a team could only field a maximum of three non-nationals meant that their coach Fabio Capello
was forced to leave out Florin Răducioiu
, Jean-Pierre Papin
and Brian Laudrup
.
Milan played in their all-white away strip, which historically they use in finals of the European Cup
and 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.
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 Savicevic had hit a post and the Barcelona defense had failed to clear, Milan defender
Marcel Desailly
beat the offside trap to make it 4–0, which ended up being the final score. Pundits described Milan's performance against Barcelona in the final as the greatest ever by a team in European Cup/UEFA Champions League history. Desailly became the first player to win the trophy in consecutive years with different clubs after winning with Olympique Marseille in 1993.
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
club Milan
A.C. Milan
Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...
and Spanish
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
club Barcelona
FC Barcelona
Futbol Club Barcelona , also known as Barcelona and familiarly as Barça, is a professional football club, based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain....
, played on 18 May 1994 at the Athens Olympic Stadium in Athens
Athens
Athens , is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, as its recorded history spans around 3,400 years. Classical Athens was a powerful city-state...
, Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
. Milans victory is the largest victory (4-0) ever made in a Champions League Final until date.
Barcelona were favourites to win the their 2nd European title in three years over the 1993 runners up, having just won La Liga
La Liga
The Primera División of the Liga Nacional de Fútbol Profesional , commonly known as La Liga or, for sponsorship reasons, Liga BBVA since 2008, is the top professional association football division of the Spanish football league system...
. Milan's preparation before the final was in disarray: legendary striker Marco van Basten and £13 million young sensation Gianluigi Lentini
Gianluigi Lentini
Gianluigi Lentini is a former Italian winger who was once the world's most expensive footballer, when he moved from Torino to AC Milan for £13 million in 1992....
(then world's most expensive footballer) were missing through injury, sweeper and legendary captain, Franco Baresi
Franco Baresi
Franco Baresi is an Italian football youth team coach and former player. He played as a sweeper and spent his entire career with Serie A club AC Milan, acknowledged as one of the greatest defenders ever to play the game. Baresi was nicknamed "Piscinin", Milanese for "Little one"...
was suspended, as was defender Alessandro Costacurta
Alessandro Costacurta
Alessandro "Billy" Costacurta is an Italian former professional football defender turned manager.Costacurta spent some twenty years at Milan, with a brief period spent in AC Monza on loan. He is best known for his role alongside Franco Baresi, Paolo Maldini and Mauro Tassotti, forming one of the...
; while UEFA
UEFA
The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....
regulations which ordered that a team could only field a maximum of three non-nationals meant that their coach Fabio Capello
Fabio Capello
Fabio Capello is an Italian football manager and former player. He is the manager of the England national football team.Capello has the distinction of winning the domestic league title with every club he has coached throughout his career...
was forced to leave out Florin Răducioiu
Florin Raducioiu
Florin Valeriu Răducioiu is a former Romanian football striker, who played for Dinamo Bucureşti, A.C. Milan, Brescia Calcio, West Ham United, RCD Espanyol, VfB Stuttgart and A.S...
, Jean-Pierre Papin
Jean-Pierre Papin
Jean-Pierre Papin is a former French professional football player who was European Footballer of the Year in 1991.Papin achieved his greatest success while playing for Olympique Marseille between 1986 and 1992...
and Brian Laudrup
Brian Laudrup
Brian Laudrup is a Danish former football player and current football commentator, pundit and analyst on TV3+. Along with former international goalkeeper Lars Høgh, Laudrup manages a football academy for marginalized youth...
.
Milan played in their all-white away strip, which historically they use in finals of the European Cup
UEFA Champions League
The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...
and Champions League, while Barcelona played in their red and blue strip. Milan dominated early and were rewarded when Dejan Savićević
Dejan Savicevic
Dejan Savićević , is a Montenegrin former football player and is the president of the Montenegrin FA....
ran down the right flank and passed to Daniele Massaro
Daniele Massaro
Daniele Massaro is a former Italian football forward. He was a member of the Italian squad that won the FIFA World Cup held in Spain in 1982....
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
Roberto Donadoni
Roberto Donadoni is an Italian football manager and former player, last in charge of Serie A club Cagliari.An attacking midfielder or winger known for pace and technique, he was a pillar of the powerhouse AC Milan teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s and one of the pioneers of Major League...
down the left wing.
In the 47th minute Savićević capitalised on a defensive error by Miguel Ángel Nadal
Miguel Ángel Nadal
Miguel Ángel Nadal Homar is a retired Spanish footballer and current coach.Nicknamed The Beast, Nadal based his game in a tremendous physical display, also being adaptable to various defender and midfielder positions....
to lob goalkeeper Andoni Zubizarreta
Andoni Zubizarreta
Andoni Zubizarreta Urreta is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a goalkeeper.The all-time most capped player for the Spanish national team for several years, he played with individual and team success for Athletic Bilbao and FC Barcelona , appearing in more than 950...
for the third goal. Eight minutes later, after Savicevic had hit a post and the Barcelona defense had failed to clear, Milan defender
Defender (association football)
Within the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to prevent the opposition from attacking....
Marcel Desailly
Marcel Desailly
Marcel Desailly is a retired Ghanaian born French footballer and star of the France national football team squad, with whom he won the 1998 World Cup and Euro 2000...
beat the offside trap to make it 4–0, which ended up being the final score. Pundits described Milan's performance against Barcelona in the final as the greatest ever by a team in European Cup/UEFA Champions League history. Desailly became the first player to win the trophy in consecutive years with different clubs after winning with Olympique Marseille in 1993.
Match details
EWLINE
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style="font-size: 90%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align=center> | BARCELONA: | ||
| GK | 1 |  Andoni ZubizarretaAndoni Zubizarreta Andoni Zubizarreta Urreta is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a goalkeeper.The all-time most capped player for the Spanish national team for several years, he played with individual and team success for Athletic Bilbao and FC Barcelona , appearing in more than 950... |
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| RB | 2 | Albert Ferrer |
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| CM | 3 | Josep Guardiola Josep Guardiola Josep "Pep" Guardiola i Sala , is a Spanish football manager and former player. Guardiola played as a defensive midfielder and spent the majority of his playing career with FC Barcelona, whom he currently manages. He was part of Johan Cruyff's dream team that won Barcelona's first European Cup.... |
||
| CB | 4 |  Ronald KoemanRonald Koeman Ronald Koeman is a former Dutch footballer, and the current manager of Feyenoord. He is the younger brother of former Feyenoord coach Erwin Koeman and the son of former Dutch international Martin Koeman... |
||
| CB | 5 | Miguel Ángel Nadal Miguel Ángel Nadal Miguel Ángel Nadal Homar is a retired Spanish footballer and current coach.Nicknamed The Beast, Nadal based his game in a tremendous physical display, also being adaptable to various defender and midfielder positions.... |
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| CM | 6 | José Mari Bakero José Mari Bakero José María Bakero Escudero is a retired Spanish footballer, and the current coach of Lech Poznań in Poland.Having played mainly for Real Sociedad and FC Barcelona, he began his career as a forward but was converted into an attacking midfielder, who possessed passing and netting ability José María... (c) |
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| LB | 7 | Sergi |
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| RW | 8 |  Hristo StoichkovHristo Stoichkov Hristo Stoichkov Stoichkov , sometimes Stoitchkov; born 8 February 1966 in Plovdiv) is a retired Bulgarian footballer. He is regarded as one of the best footballers of his generation and the greatest Bulgarian footballer of all time. Nicknamed The Dagger , The Dog , The Modern Left... |
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| CM | 9 | Guillermo Amor Guillermo Amor Guillermo Amor Martínez is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a versatile midfielder.After playing most of his professional career with FC Barcelona, winning several accolades in 10 seasons, he ended it in Scotland, with Livingston... |
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| CF | 10 |  RomárioRomário Romário de Souza Faria , better known simply as Romário , is a former footballer who played striker,manager and current politician where is currently running for a mayor like position in his hometown... |
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| LW | 11 | Txiki Begiristain |
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| Substitutes: | ||||
| DF | 12 | Juan Carlos Juan Carlos Rodríguez Juan Carlos Rodríguez Moreno, known as Juan Carlos , is a retired Spanish footballer who played mostly as a right back, although equally at ease on the left.-Club career:... |
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| GK | 13 | Carles Busquets Carles Busquets Carles Busquets Barroso is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a goalkeeper, mostly for FC Barcelona.-Football career:... |
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| MF | 14 | Eusebio Sacristán |
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| MF | 15 | Ion Andoni Goikoetxea |
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| MF | 16 | Quique Estebaranz Quique Estebaranz Juan Enrique 'Quique' Estebaranz López is a retired Spanish footballer who played as a forward.He made almost 300 professional appearances during his professional career, during which he represented eight clubs - notably including a La Liga spell with Tenerife.-Club career:Born in Madrid,... |
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| Manager: | ||||
| Johan Cruyff Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff OON , known as Johan Cruyff, is a retired Dutch footballer and is currently the manager of the Catalan national team as well as a member of the AFC Ajax board of directors. He won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974, which is a record jointly held with... |
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