Arrigo Sacchi's Milan side of the late 1980s and early 1990s revolutionised Italian football with their attack-minded, pressing game.

Sacchi was making a name for himself with Parma in the mid-1980s when he was hired by Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi. At the time, Italian league rules allowed three foreigners in each team. Englishmen Ray Wilkins and Mark Hateley were shown the door and in their place Milan hired Dutchmen Ruud Gullit and Marco Van Basten. They were joined a year later by compatriot Frank Rijkaard.

The trio provided the flair, the Italian players provided the steel, Sacchi provided the tactical discipline. Together they changed the face of Italian and also European football.

A tight defence, marshalled by Franco Baresi and featuring youngsters Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta, provided a platform for a midfield that included Carlo Ancelotti and Roberto Donadoni alongside Rijkaard. They in turn provided the bullets for Gullit and Van Basten, who each scored twice as Milan destroyed Steaua Bucharest in the 1989 European Cup final, having beaten Real Madrid 6-1 on aggregate in the semi-final.

Sacchi's men retained the trophy in 1990 – the last team to do so – with a narrow victory over Sven Goran Eriksson's Benfica. They also enjoyed back-to-back World Club Cup success, against Atletico National of Colombia and Olimpia of Paraguay.