1994 UEFA Champions League final
Match programme cover | |||||||
| Event | 1993–94 UEFA Champions League | ||||||
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| Date | 18 May 1994 | ||||||
| Venue | Olympic Stadium, Athens | ||||||
| Referee | Philip Don (England) | ||||||
| Attendance | 70,000[1] | ||||||
The 1994 UEFA Champions League final, originally known as the 1994 European Cup 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. Milan's legendary striker Marco van Basten and their £13 million young sensation Gianluigi Lentini (then the world's most expensive footballer) were both injured, while Franco Baresi and defender Alessandro Costacurta were both suspended. UEFA regulations at the time, which limited teams to fielding a maximum of three non-nationals, meant that Milan coach Fabio Capello was forced to leave out Florin Răducioiu, Jean-Pierre Papin and Brian Laudrup. On Barcelona's side, the rule saw coach 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] The match held the record for the largest margin in a final in the Champions League era until it was surpassed in the 2025 UEFA Champions League final, when French side Paris Saint-Germain beat Inter Milan 5-0 in Munich.
Teams
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) |
|---|---|
| Milan | 6 (1958, 1963, 1969, 1989, 1990, 1993) |
| Barcelona | 3 (1961, 1986, 1992) |
Route to the final
| Milan | Round | Barcelona | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Aarau | 1–0 | 1–0 (A) | 0–0 (H) | First round | Dynamo Kyiv | 5–4 | 1–3 (A) | 4–1 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copenhagen | 7–0 | 6–0 (A) | 1–0 (H) | Second round | Austria Wien | 5–1 | 3–0 (H) | 2–1 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opponent | Result | Group stage | Opponent | Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Anderlecht | 0–0 (A) | Matchday 1 | Galatasaray | 0–0 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Porto | 3–0 (H) | Matchday 2 | Monaco | 2–0 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Werder Bremen | 2–1 (H) | Matchday 3 | Spartak Moscow | 2–2 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Werder Bremen | 1–1 (A) | Matchday 4 | Spartak Moscow | 5–1 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Anderlecht | 0–0 (H) | Matchday 5 | Galatasaray | 3–0 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Porto | 0–0 (A) | Matchday 6 | Monaco | 1–0 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Group B winner
Source: UEFA
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Final standings | Group A winner
Source: UEFA
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| Opponent | Result | Knockout phase | Opponent | Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monaco | 3–0 (H) | Semi-finals | Porto | 3–0 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Match
Details
Milan[6]
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Barcelona[6]
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Linesmen:
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See also
- 1989 European Super Cup – contested between same teams
- AC Milan in European football
- FC Barcelona in international football
References
- ^ 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.
- ^ Ortego, Enrique (20 May 1994). "La lección táctica de Fabio Capello, cura de humildad para Johan Cruyff" [Fabio Capello's tactical lesson, humbling for Johan Cruyff]. ABC (in Spanish). Seville. p. 92. Archived from the original on 8 January 2025. Retrieved 8 January 2025.
- ^ Leach, Conrad (31 May 2016). "Golden Goal: Daniele Massaro for Milan v Barcelona (1994)". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 May 2020.
- ^ Thomas, Russell (13 December 2007). "Milan style - how the Guardian saw the 1994 final". The Guardian. Retrieved 1 May 2020.
- ^ Smyth, Rob (13 May 2020). "Milan v Barcelona 1994 Champions League final: as it happened". Guardian. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
- ^ a b Wilson, Jonathan (2008). Inverting the Pyramid: The History of Football Tactics. Orion. p. 318. ISBN 978-1-4091-0204-5.