1994 UEFA Champions League Final
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.
Match details
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European Cup era, 1955–1992
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| Finals |
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Champions League era, 1992–present
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| Seasons |
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| Finals |
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| Knockout phase |
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| Second group stage |
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| Group stage |
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| Qualifying rounds |
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| Asia |
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| Africa |
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| Europe |
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North,
Central America
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See also International club women's football.
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