AC Milan - SL Benfica: A Historical Look With tonight’s Champions League fixture pitting current champions AC Milan against SL Benfica, Goal.com rewinds seventeen to give readers a chance to revisit the last two times these two European greats vied for European Cup silverware…
There are a glittering total of nine pieces of prime European silverware shared between AC Milan and SL Benfica (two of which were decided in the head-to-head Finals we revisit here): the two European greats who will meet in the group stage of the Champions League 2007-8 for the first time at the San Siro stadium in Milan.
The last time they met in Champions League action – and, in fact the only time; the other two clashes being under the European Cup format – was back in 1995 in the quarter final stage with a 2-0 win for the Rossoneri in Milan and a 0-0 stalemate at Lisbon’s da Luz, although AC Milan went down against Ajax in the eventual Final.
There’ll therefore be a slight frisson of déjà vu at San Siro as the current holders meet SL Benfica head on, although instead of the final game being played by the reigning champions it’ll be a curtain-raiser to yet another Rossoneri defence of the most prestigious piece of club silverware in the world.
Back in 1990 the win over Benfica brought the fourth trophy back to Milan; on Tuesday the Rossoneri will start aiming for their eighth. Although AC Milan are ranked first and SL Benfica are only seventeenth on the list in 2008, back in 1990 the roles were reversed with – surprisingly enough – AC Milan ranked twenty-third and SL Benfica ranked fourth according to the UEFA stats of the day.
1963 Wembley: AC Milan 2-1 SL BenficaThe old pre-World Cup Wembley Stadium was the scene for the first showdown between the Italians and the Portuguese and – at that time – there was one clear favourite: SL Benfica. The stats reflected the yawning chasm between the two sides clearly: Benfica rated third and AC Milan way down in twenty-ninth place.
The Ãguias (Eagles) were two-time winners of the European Cup having done a Spanish double-tap by downing Barcelona and Real Madrid in 1961 and 1962. Eusébio was the established star striker but underdogs AC Milan had Gianni Rivera, and in London he proved to be decisive under the command of a Rossoneri legend: Cesare Maldini.
Paolo’s father blazed the trail which his son has followed so successfully, creating a wall in conjunction with Giovanni Trapattoni that held the brunt of the Benfica blows that were expected to rip the Italians to shreds. Aided and abetted by Mario David they parried most thrusts, but still they couldn’t hold the Black Panther and Eusébio (19 min) put Benfica ahead.
It was time for the Golden Boy to shine as Rivera set Italo-Brazilian striker Altafini (58 min) up for the equaliser, then did it again and Altafini (68 min) beat Pereira on his second attempt to net his fourteenth goal – a European Cup record then and the start of a long legacy of warm Brazilian links with AC Milan – and send the jug-eared trophy back to Italy for the very first time in history.
AC MILAN (2): Giorgio Ghezzi, Mario David, Cesare Maldini, Benitez, Mario Trebbi, Dino Sani, Trapattoni, Gino Pivatelli, José Altafini, Gianni Rivera, Bruno Mora
Coach: Nereo Rocco
SL BENFICA (1): Costa Pereira, Domiciano Cávem, Raúl Machado, Fernando Cruz, Humberto Fernandes, Mário Coluna, José Augusto, Joaquim Santana, José Torres, Eusébio, António Simões
Coach: Fernando Riera
1990 Vienna: AC Milan 2-1 SL BenficaThe most recent decisive European date was May the 23rd, 1990 and the venue was the Ernst Happel Stadium, then known as the Praterstadion, Austria’s largest football stadium and no stranger to Italian and Portuguese teams. In fact all four of the European Cup Finals to have been hosted at the Happel have had Italian or Portuguese Finalists – or both.
Back in 1964 AC Milan’s Nerazzurri nemesis Inter Milan beat Real Madrid 3-1 in Vienna a year after AC Milan won their first European Cup against the odds at Wembley, then over two decades later the 1987 European Cup final witnessed FC Porto down Bayern München 2-1; the Dragões claiming their first Cup in Austria.
Three years after that the 1990 European Cup final was won by AC Milan with a slim 1-0 victory over Benfica, although the Rossoneri experienced the flip five years later as Van Gaal’s Ajax beat AC Milan by the same margin – ironically enough after the aforementioned quarter-final clash between the Italians and Portuguese.
1990 can be considered a vintage year for Italian football. The World Cup was hosted – although West Germany won, the Azzurri did manage a reasonable third place – and European club competition was dominated by Italian clubs. The UEFA Cup was hoisted by Juventus, the Cup Winners' Cup headed by Sampdoria, while AC Milan kept the European Cup they had won in 1989 with a 4-0 trouncing of Red Star Bucharest.
AC Milan has experienced a rocky ride to the Final with two nail-biting classifications being won in extra time and with away goals giving a helping hand and Ruud Gullit had only just come back from a long injury lay-off, and started off the Final with a far different approach than the year before when they had laid waste to Red Star Bucharest.
With their double Dutch strike force – Marco van Basten and Gullit – failing to break through it was left to a supporting actor to break through with a ripping run upfield that slit Benfica in half. Costacurta slapped the ball up to Van Basten, who provided a masterful touch that put the racing Rijkaard (68 min) through to beat Silvino Louro with his right outstep.
AC MILAN (1): G. Galii, Tassotti, Baresi, Costacurta, Paolo Maldini, Colombo (F.Galii), Franklin Rijkaard, Evani, Carlo Ancelotti (Massaro), Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten
Coach: Arrigo Sacchi
SL BENFICA (0): Silvino Louro, José Carlos, Ricardo Gomes, Aldair, Samuel Quina, Vitor Paneira (Vata Garcia), Hernâni Neves, Jonas Thern, Jaime Pacheco (Cesar Brito), Valdo, Mats Magnusson
Coach: Sven-Göran Eriksson
Berlusconi: I Want Real Or Barca In The Final Milan President Silvio Berlusconi has revealed that he is looking forward to another successful Champions League campaign and hopes to meet Real Madrid or Barcelona in Moscow next May.
The Rossoneri begin the defence of their European crown tonight as Portuguese giants Benfica travel to San Siro. Milan’s other opponents in Group D are Scottish champions Celtic and Ukrainian outfit Shakhtar Donetsk.
“I hope tonight will be the first step towards another final. Milan always aim to be victorious in every competition. A dream final would be against a great team like Barcelona or Real Madrid,†said Berlusconi.
“It would even be great to face Inter. I offer my best wishes to Massimo Moratti that we may arrive with them in the final, as I know he has poured so much love and dedication into the club.â€
Berlusconi also offered his support to under-fire striker Alberto Gilardino. So much was expected of Gila when he arrived for £18m in 2005, however the ex-Parma man has been largely disappointing and has scored just twice in two Champions League campaigns.
“I have already called Gilardino to tell him that we are all behind him. He has been unlucky lately but he has great quality and is an important part of the future of Milan,†Berlusconi concluded.
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