from 5:0 at Ciro to 24 offsides at Bernabeu | Relief

An old rivalry with a European Cup flavor. A real one in which only the champions of each league competed. There are currently 22 between the two clubs, including the champions. Real Madrid have 15 points compared to Milan’s 7. No club has won more than them. Obviously, their first encounters are far from the most memorable as time goes on. But direct competition between them dates back to the first European Cup (1955–56), in which they met in the semi-finals, with a Spanish victory marking their place in the final.

Two years later their paths crossed again, this time in the Heysel final with a score of 57–58 at the foot of Atomiko, and the Whites achieved another victory. The match, which was very close, went into extra time after Madrid twice equalized Milan’s lead. Gento scored in extra time. On whom Di Stefano placed all responsibility. “Paco, we are all so tired that only you can win this game with one race of your own. No one can follow you, neither ours nor theirs.” It was Real Madrid’s third in a row, while Milan had to continue waiting to become tournament champions until 1963, when they beat Benfica (2–1). ) in the first final without Spanish teams.

Today, both clubs can not only boast of having won the most European Cups/Champions Cups (15 and seven respectively), but have also played the most finals. White with three losses leaves at 18:00. Rossoneri With four in which they were defeated, they reach 11. Same as Bayern, but the Bavarians have one less win and one more defeat. The 60s left the third confrontation in the quarter-finals, which ended with another victory for the Spaniards.

The emergence of the vintage team

It took 25 years for both teams to meet again in the European Cup. In addition, the qualifying rounds were held consecutively and in the same 1989 calendar year. The first season, 88–89, was held in April, and the second, 89–90, in October–November. Two Italian victories turned the Milan of the Dutch Gullit, Van Basten and Rijkaard, coached by the then unknown Arrigo Sacchi, into the best team of the moment. The author’s team that made the greatest tactical revolution since the Dutch school of the early 70s, represented by Michels and the team. orange

and Ajax player Cruyff. With these two European Cups the club Rossonero He had four titles and was currently only two behind Real Madrid.

These four games, located so close to each other, became a major football attraction. The two best teams at the moment faced each other. Energetic Milan with its tactical innovations and Real from the “fifth vulture”which coincided with the “fifth men’s league” led by Hugo Sánchez and which ruled Spain in five leagues in a row, but was unable to transfer its hegemony to the great continental competition. The Italian club became his real executioner. These two straight wins against a team like Real Madrid helped Sacchi a lot. and his team received universal acclaim and became a vintage team.

The prize for the first head-to-head bet became the final. The first match was played at the Bernabeu. Leo Beenhakker, a Dutchman to be precise, was the coach of Real Madrid. Draw (1-1). Milan paid tribute to Real Madrid but dominated the match at will and earned a draw thanks to goals from Hugo Sanchez and Van Basten. Butragueno was rude after the match with his phrase: “A great team came through the Bernabeu.” And he has yet to see the return. From Italy, pleasantly surprised by the attacking style that Sacchi had imposed since his arrival at Milan in the previous Scudetto-winning season, the first news began to pour in about the tactical innovations of the semi-unknown coach.

Bring the defense forward and press the center of the field until you choke in your zone. This is a team that moves in unison, like a block. Game at a distance of 30 meters. Defenders rehearse their moves without an opponent and without the ball every day with a rope tied around their waist to synchronize their movements and force the opponent to be offside. All attackers attack together with jerseys of different colors, and when the coach shouts with the name of the corresponding color, it is its owner who tries to escape from the trap set by the defenders.

Milanello spies are accredited as journalists

Milanello, the club’s sports city, has become a must-see football shrine. for opponents who wanted to be fashionable and have the opportunity to fight him. Technicians from the most prestigious clubs on the continent, as well as the British Isles, were accredited as journalists so that they could act as spies without fear of detection and be able to discover the true reason for their presence at enemy training sessions. With all the aforementioned tactical considerations stuck in their heads, Beenhakker’s men headed to the San Siro knowing they needed to score to make up for the goal. Rossonero at the Bernabeu.

The technician thought a lot about this approach. “We need to invent something, we need to invent something.” He told me about it a few days before the trip and asked if Sacchi could prepare a surprise for the game. Sent by Marca newspaper, this writer spent ten days in Milan’s Ciudad Deportivo before the match and was able to see almost all of the training sessions. Sacchi did not close the doors, and if he did, it was during the afternoon session. At the time, the Milan team spent the day at Milanello, with breakfast, lunch and snacks included. Deep down, Arrigo was glad that his tactical innovations could reach other countries.

Ancelotti’s only goal in the European Cup – 5:0.

Leo’s goal in that second leg was nothing less than to try to break out of the defensive trap that Milan had set. That’s why he put Paco Llorente in the starting lineup. Formula 1 for the right flank and a 4-3-3 formation, penetrated in the center with the numerical superiority of four Italian midfielders. As White’s coach had feared, Sacchi prepared a variation. The injured Evani, a left midfielder, put the central defender in the eleven, Costacurta, Rijkaard moved up to midfield and Ancelotti went to the left flank to lend a hand to Maldini in the presence of Paco Llorente, who had joined Michel’s team. .

The match lasted exactly as Ancelotti wanted: 19 minutes.. His shot from outside the penalty area hit the center of the goal with incredible force. Buyo did not expect such a strike from 35/40 meters. The ball turned out strange. It was the current white manager’s only goal in the European Cup in 21 matches he played. Milan began to move towards their first major prestigious victory at international level and shared goals like good brothers with Rijkaard, Gullit before the break and Van Basten and Donadoni after it. Sacchi’s work had already been in the first European Cup final, and Steaua at the Camp Nou lasted almost less than Real Madrid did in the second leg of the semi-final at the San Siro.. Then the Super Bowl and Intercontinental will arrive.

One player in particular stood out in that match. With five goals, no one could get into the goal except the goalkeeper. It was Real Madrid’s heaviest defeat in the tournament and Buyo, who was always very emotional, had a tough time at the San Siro and afterwards. Years pass in terms of time and Paco loses his sense of drama. “It was more traumatic for me to lose the semi-final against PSV than the games against Milan. They were better, it was the best Milan in history. It was a super team, and there were five of us. There’s nothing more to say, even if it hurts you to lose. In any case, we can remember that in the first match at the Bernabeu we were better and that they were very lucky with the drawing goal. There we played well until 2:0. We played attacking because we were forced to score a goal and we had a couple of chances, but then we were overtaken, yes. But against PSV we were superior in both games and should have reached the final.”

Llorente’s arm in a sling and the linesmen’s jump

Months later… but next season. Still Milan, and too early. 1/8 finals The Real Madrid bench changed tenants, with Benhacker replaced by John Benjamin Toshack. The one from the Italian team is not. Sakki was already a real character. In Italy and the rest of the continent.

His tactical inventions were already in the order of things and, moreover, were being brought to perfection. This time the first leg was played at the San Siro and after a quarter of an hour Milan had already won by two goals: Rijkaard and Van Basten converted Buyo’s penalty, which was taken outside the area but the referee pointed inside. The comeback for the second leg looked difficult, especially due to injuries to Martin Vazquez and substitute Paco Llorente, who was also injured due to changes made. Hento’s nephew, after being treated off the field, returned to the field with his arm in a sling and thus ended the game.

Butragueno’s goal to extend the first half kept hopes alive… but they were all overshadowed by offside calls caused by the Italian defense and in which the white forwards fell again and again. Having reached the 24th minute, Sanchis’s sending off in the 75th minute also contributed to the weakening of the white spirit. At the end of the match, Real Madrid players accused the match referee Vottro. They said he and his linesmen were at fault for being caught offside on several occasions. “Not even half of those who whistled at us were there. They raised the flag as if it had a spring.”

Sacchi turned the football team into a perfectly harmonized orchestra.. A few months later the second European Cup against Benfica was to take place… but that was also the beginning of the end. At the end of the fourth season he left the team and Capello arrived.

The rivalry between both clubs has continued into this century, but they have met each other six times in different group stages of the Champions League. Never in direct eliminators. Maximum equality. Two wins for each team and two draws, but there are far fewer stories. The last appointment took place during the 2010–11 season. A draw at San Siro (2-2) with a goal from Pedro Leon securing passage to the 1/8 finals, and the previous victory for the Whites at the Bernabeu (2-0). Nothing to do with the great problems of the past.