My Football Facts ⇒ Articles
By Jonathan Lewis | 25th Apr 2023
Back in the 1990s, Italian football was the pinnacle of the sport. The clubs were glamorous – as were the players – and the Champions League was filled with Serie A sides going toe-to-toe with the rest of the best on the continent. The likes of Milan and Inter had success going back to the 1960s and Juventus were becoming a force of their own.
There had been a fallow period for Serie A sides though. But now there are three Italian teams in the quarter-finals of the Champions League – and more representing the country in the other European competitions. The sports betting online sites are not entirely convinced they will overcome the likes of Manchester City and Real Madrid, but it seems like the future is bright for Serie A. Here’s a look back at some of the great teams from the past.
AC Milan 1989, 1990
When Real Madrid retained their Champions League title in 2017, it was the first time any club had won back-to-back finals since 1990. The club they emulated? Milan. The Rossoneri had already won the European Cup twice in the 1960s but had endured a less successful period since then. But by the end of the 80s, they were about to become the kings of Europe again.
This was a time before the group stages were introduced for Europe’s elite club tournament and Arrigo Sacchi had put together a mostly Italian super team, bolstered by a triumvirate of Dutch masters. Frank Rijkaard, Marco van Basten and Ruud Gullit were the focal point of a team that also relied on the defensive talent of Paolo Maldini and Franco Baresi.
The opposition in 1989 was not of the highest quality until Milan beat Real Madrid 6-1 in the semi-final – including a 5-0 thrashing at the San Siro. They then went on to destroy Steaua Bucharest 4-0 in the final. A virtually identical XI went all the way the very next year. Marseille was the biggest hurdle on the way to a final meeting with Benfica.
It wasn’t quite as straightforward this time. But a solitary goal from Frank Rijkaard gave Milan their fourth European Cup triumph. They have won it again three times since then but have only just started becoming a regular contender in recent years.
Inter Milan 2010
Milan are the most successful Italian club in European Cup/Champions League history. But it was their city rivals Inter who became the Serie A standard in the mid-1960s. The Rossoneri actually lifted the trophy first, but the Nerazzurri managed back-to-back triumphs in 1964 and 1965.
Jose Mourinho had already led Inter to Serie A and Coppa Italia success in 2010, meaning that the Nerazzurri were chasing a treble in the final – as were their opponents Bayern Munich. No team from Italy or Germany had ever managed that before.
UEFA had introduced a group stage by this point and Inter were faced with a tricky qualifying campaign against Barcelona, Dynamo Kyiv and relatively unknown Russian side Rubin Kazan. Victory in the Camp Nou was the highlight of the phase and Inter progressed second in the group.
Inter met Barcelona once again in the semi-finals, after beating Chelsea and CSKA Moscow on the way. In the final, Inter fielded no Italian players in their starting XI and used a counter-attacking strategy to beat Bayern Munich thanks to two Diego Milito goals – one in each half.
Juventus had won their first European Cup in 1985 when the game was overshadowed by the horrendous Heysel Stadium disaster. It took them 11 more years but the Old Lady finally made it back to the final in 1996 thanks to a largely homegrown side full of names that would dominate the European game for most of the decade.
Juventus score plenty of goals in the group stage – 15 in all – to finish top above both Borussia Dortmund and Steaua Bucharest. A tough quarter-final tie against Real Madrid was navigated with two wins to nil before what seemed to be an easier task against Nantes. The French side did manage to win 3-2 at home in the second leg but Juve’s 2-0 home win was enough to see them through.
A final against Ajax and a whole host of big Dutch names was next. Fabrizio Ravanelli opened the scoring after less than a quarter of an hour but it took some cool Juventus heads to eventually win the final on penalties. Now three Italian clubs are looking to emulate these three sides this year.