When AC MIlan Was The GOLDEN Standard

When AC Milan was the golden standard. The late 80s and early 90s. The story of this Milan, this legendary Milan, is legendary in itself. A team that dominated with superstars in every single position for damn near a decade. In a period where Italy was very much on top of world football, Milan were the pick of the bunch. Multiple Ballon d'Or wins in back to back seasons. Arguably the two best defenders to ever grace Italian football. And an owner that more often than not erred on the side of controversy. In this video, we take a look back at perhaps the most revered period in the history of one of the most revered clubs in football. Today, we take a look back at the golden age of Milan. Hello everyone, hope you're all doing well. Welcome back to the channel. Hearing about the best moments of anything doesn't always mean all that much without a bit of context. So that's what we're going to start off with. 1899. The year AC Milan officially came to be. We will be a team of devils. Our colors will be red like fire and black like the fear we will invoke in our opponents. How's that for an intimidation technique? This quote comes from the founding father of AC Milan. Englishman Herbert Kilpin. This is him right here. The original quote is in Italian, but I know better than to butcher the pronunciation for the whole internet to see. It's called self-preservation. AC Milan was founded as Milan Football and Cricket Club, all in English. And because of that, to pay homage to the English founders, the use of Milan instead of Milano, the Italian spelling of the city, is still used in the name to this very day. This video is meant to be a tribute to a successful period in time, but make no mistake, it's not the only successful period in this club's history. In fact, before the 80s, AC Milan already had a Scudetto star, a gold star placed above their badge symbolizing 10 Italian championships. The only other teams that have this are Juventus and Inter. The first win came in 1901, then again in 1906 and 1907. However, they would have to wait about 44 years before they tasted silverware again. This was due to a lot of reasons. One of them almost certainly had to be infighting. In 1908, those within the club seemed to strongly disagree with one another regarding the signings of foreign players. One side believed that they should not welcome the more foreign players to their ranks, while the other side broke off and formed their own club. They rather appropriately named it Internazionale Milan, or just Inter. Or rather, as the natives of the city call it, Internazionale. At the end of the day, I guess there must not have been too much bad blood, because as the history books tell it, by 1946, Milan had moved into the San Siro Stadium, built by their owner at the time, Piero Pirelli, sold it to the city of Milan, and then became joint tenants alongside Inter. Talk about keeping your enemies close. Fast forward to 1950, and Milan were once again the kings of Italian football, thanks in large part to a trio of players hailing from Sweden. As we'll come to see in this team's story, there are no strangers to foreign triads taking them all the way to the top. In the 1950s, Milan housed the Swedish trio Gunnar Gren, Gunnar Nordahl and Nils Lidholm, affectionately remembered as Grenoli. After winning Olympic gold in 1949, Nordahl was convinced to join Milan. One year later, he was joined by his Swedish teammates. Together, the three wreaked havoc on Serie A. All of them attackers, all of them a nuisance. Nordahl in particular was a very dangerous player. 268 games played for Rossoneri, 221 goals scored. To this very day, this man is the highest scorer for the club and holds the record for the most golden boots in the history of the Italian top division. And then came Gianni Rivera in the 60s, a player that joined the club at 15 years of age and stayed with them for 19 years. Milan's very own golden boy with a 1969 Ballon d'Or to match. He was there for Milan through their most successful decade up to that point. Two European cups, two Scudettos, a Coppa Italia and a Cup Winners' Cup between 1962 and 1969. By the 70s, Milan were in the hunt for the Scudetto star I mentioned earlier. Nine wins already and desperately searching for number 10. And for a while, it seemed as though it wasn't going to come. 1971, 72 and 73 were all years they finished in second. In fact, they had to wait until 1979 to get the star. A poetic year for this great club for several reasons. Not just the 10th title, but also the retirement of Gianni Rivera. Adding on to that, in came another. In the same year, Franco Baresi debuted. It really was a good time to be Milan, that's for sure. Until it wasn't. The first half of the 80s was a stark contrast to the previous decade for this club. And one of the main reasons for this, was a problem that was sweeping across all of Italy. Match fixing. A spat of corruption that's come to be known as Tottonero. I went into a lot of detail regarding exactly how this entire debacle went down in this video and how comical it was when everything was unraveled. So, I'm not going to go into too much detail here. But, just to summarize it. In the early 80s, a restaurant owner who often hosted Lazio players in his fine establishment, convinced said players to throw matches for a fee. Those players decided to just take the money and play as normal. Scamming scammers is always the way, I guess. The owners then moved on to other clubs and other players, one of which was AC Milan. Same result. Until eventually, the entire farce was uncovered and dozens were arrested and or suspended. Amongst those that were suspended was one Felice Colombo, the president of AC Milan at the time. His sentence was a lifetime ban from football. Not ideal. His sentencing also reflected Milan's fortunes too, as them, along with Lazio, were sent down to Serie B for their crimes. The next six years were up and down in a literal and metaphorical sense. Relegation after promotion after relegation. Rossoneri, unfortunately, weren't able to find their footing in all of the uncertainty. And when 1986 came, bankruptcy and who knows what else, was staring them straight in the face. Until someone stepped in. Silvio Berlusconi. Rest in peace. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that the heights that Milan have reached over the past few decades are thanks to nobody else than this man. If you were to take a glance at the legacy that he left the world, you'd be met with a portrait of a man whose list of accomplishments was never ending. The founder of Fininvest. A company that essentially owns some of the largest entertainment media companies in Europe and much more. He was one of the most successful people the country has ever seen. And was also a man whose smile was brighter than my future will ever be. If you decided to dig a little deeper, look into the finer details, you might find something, or some things, that are a little more sinister. Sexual harassment. Mass orgies. Disturbing the peace. Corruption. Racism. Homophobia. Tax evasion. Ties to the mafia. Prison sentences. And more. Whatever heinous accusation that an anti-capitalistic person may throw on modern day and olden day billionaires, he was accused of that. And more. Berlusconi's life was one of excess and quite clearly one of hard work early on. Born in 1936 in Milan. Going on to study law at the University of Milan and graduating with honours and then spearheading the development of the Milan Du residential centre in the early 70s. He built up a small television company by the name of Telemilano, a company which just so happened to be the first private Italian television channel. This channel is now known as Canal5 and is going strong. Berlusconi went on to found and invest in more companies and make friends in higher places. Or rather he was the one in higher places and everyone wanted to be friends with him. Whichever way you see it, that's what happened. And eventually over time, he rose high enough to become the Prime Minister of Italy in 1993. To this day, he's the longest serving Prime Minister of the Italian Republic, holding the position for over 9 years in 3 separate stints up until 2011. It's quite a life. It's quite a career. Berlusconi is a polarising figure, but I'm not even going to try to touch upon his political career here because of the whole self-preservation thing I mentioned earlier on. But all we need to know is that he was influential. Very. In any case, for the purposes of this story, we should turn our attention back to the 80s. AC Milan were in a bad place, jumping between divisions, debts mounting by the hour and Juventus stealing all of the headlines. In 1986, Berlusconi charged through the door with a big bag of cash and he used that money to save AC Milan from disaster. His ultimate plan was to drag Milan back to the top and he went about this in a few interesting ways. Firstly, he saw the potential of marketing Milan as a product. Apparel shops and publications were opened up in and around Milan to boost the club's profile and, more importantly, its bottom line. With this line of thinking and more innovative strategies for that period in history, the result was almost instant. A club that needed saving was now looking quite healthy and matches were selling out. In Berlusconi's first full year in charge, Milan finished fifth, qualifying for the UEFA Cup. Caretaker manager Fabio Capello had taken charge of the final few matches of the season and done well. He was part of the plan, but it wasn't his time just yet. Berlusconi's immediate plan involved a bold attacking approach that got the hearts of the San Siro pumping. His plan involved the signing of the greatest nobody in football history. Arrigo Sacchi is a true enigma in the footballing world. The type of figure that seems as though he was born to go against the norm. Unconventional in so many senses of the word. Born in 1946, he was a player in his youth, but not a very successful one. He was never a professional and was never good enough to play for even his local non-league team. Instead, he focused his attention on selling shoes to put food on the table. Not really the sort of like-for-like experience that recruiters are looking for these days, you know? Despite never being good enough to play, he was seemingly good enough to manage from early on. I was 26, my goalkeeper was 39, and my centre forward was 32. I had to win them over. These words were in reference to his first coaching gig in 1973. Sacchi faced an uphill battle the second he stepped into the world of coaching. To this very day, the best coaches on the planet have at least played professionally in their time. They may not have been the best in their time, but that credential alone is usually sufficient to gain acceptance. There are exceptions, but they are exactly that. Exceptions. Now imagine back in the 70s and 80s. These exceptions were virtually non-existent. And then we come to his ideologies. Italian football was indoctrinated in the philosophies of catenaccio by the time he gained prominence. Translated directly as door bolts in English, catenaccio is what many would call anti-football in today's terms. Genuinely, it's the art of a rigid, highly organized backline that prevents the opposition from having a sniff at goal. Something to be praised, but not necessarily something enjoyed by all. Certainly not by Arrigo Sacchi. Sacchi grew up idolizing the famous 1950 teams of Real Madrid. The rapid, total football of the Hungarians in the same time frame. It was love at first sight. And this definitely showed in how he set up his football sides. He was a fan of football where players are comfortable playing in multiple positions and adapting to roles on the fly. Having this philosophy in mind led him to success all the way up the ladder. Even though many did not believe in his ideologies, he himself believed in them. And that was enough. The first major pit stop was Parma in 1985. Struggling for success, they appointed the 36-year-old to bring them back to the glory days. He did just that, taking them from Serie C to Serie B in his first season and then coming within three points of getting into Serie A in his second. This was unbelievably impressive and it caught everybody's attention. However, it wasn't his league achievements that landed him the opportunity of a lifetime, but rather three specific matches that weren't league matches at all. In the 1986-87 Coppa Italia, Parma faced AC Milan on three separate occasions. Once in the group stages and twice in the quarterfinals. They won twice and drew once, sending them through to the semis. Berlusconi had seen enough and made sure he was the Milan manager in the coming year. But I don't think even he completely understood the monster that he had just created. I never realized that in order to become a jockey, you have to have been a horse first. Sacchi's response to those that claimed that he wasn't suitable for a job as big as being the coach of Rossoneri. Fair enough. Before Sacchi's first season at the helm, he had an idea of what he wanted the squad to look like. And lucky for him, he had one of the most influential men in Italy and in all likelihood, the world at his service. He had his checkbook on call too. AC Milan were already rocking the likes of Franco Peresi, who had stayed with Milan through thick and thin, and a young and promising Paolo Maldini. As a massive showing of intent, they added Marco Van Basten, the Eredivisie top scorer of the past four years, and Ruud Gullit, the best and most expensive player on the planet. 6.75 million euros. Further midfield reinforcements arrived from Roma, in the form of the great eyebrow himself, Carlo Ancelotti, Along with an already strong spine of the squad, Milan went into their first season under Sacchi with great prospects. His playing philosophy was one that wouldn't be out of place in the modern day and age. A full team press, fluidity and movement across the pitch, and an attacking mindset from the get-go. This mindset helped with the defensive side of things too. Attack is the best form of defense. I say this because this team conceded 14 in the 1987-88 season. 14. Just 14. Granted, Serie A seasons only consisted of 30 games back then, but still, that's less than half a goal conceded per game. In his first season as Milan coach, Sacchi brought glory back to the San Siro, winning the Scudetto after only one attempt. Strangely enough, it was the only Serie A title that he won, which is a bit surprising given his legacy, and all the trophies that he picked up. In reality, his tactics were better suited to the European stage, In 1988, they grew even stronger. Frank Rijkaard came in, completing the Dutch trio of dreams. And if you need any convincing that this was in fact one of the greatest trios ever, take a look right here. This is the Ballon d'Or ranking in 1988. I know, right? In the three years that followed Sacchi entering the club, between 1987 and 1990, Milan players appeared on the Ballon d'Or podium 7 times, and one of them took home the prize each time. There was simply nobody in their league at the time. This is how the team set up at their peak in his era, similar to the last 4-4-2. The back line was one of the best in the history of club football. Franco Barresi, Paolo Maldini, Alessandro Costacorta, and Mauro Tasotti. Carlo Angelotti and Frank Rijkaard occupied the central areas, Van Basten and Hullert were the front two, and the wide areas had Angelo Colombo and Roberto Donadoni. Thanks to this combination, Milan won the European Cup, back to back. The first saw them batter Sto Bucharesti 4 goals to nil in the final after beating Real Madrid 6-1 in the semis, and the second saw them dispatch Benfica by a goal. Sacchi had turned Milan into a machine. He brought domestic and continental joy back to the San Siro, and his exploits had gained widespread acclaim. After 4 years with the club, his time was up, and he moved on to bigger things, the national team job. From shoe salesman to Azuri manager, has to be one of the craziest come ups of all time. Hats off to him. Now in his place stepped a man of a slightly different profile, a young and hungry Fabio Capello. Once the caretaker when Sacchi was on his way to Milan, now the main man as Sacchi made his departure. But before we go on to talk about him, some words on Berlusconi. Milan were absolutely flying by the early 90s. It was unbelievable what they were able to achieve in such a short time span, after being on the brink of ruin. And just in case you thought Berlusconi was satisfied with what he built, you're dead wrong. As a matter of fact, according to many sources, Berlusconi was one of the pioneers of this little thing that we now know as the Champions League. 1992 was one of the most prominent years in the history of football. Not just because it was the year that football actually began, but also because it was the year that the modern Champions League was formed. Before the 90s, the Champions League was a straight up knockout tournament. Winners of the domestic leagues were drawn against one another and straight from game one, if it was your time to go, you were gone. A good example of this was in 1987. Champions of Spain, Real Madrid, and champions of Italy, Napoli, were drawn against each other and Napoli was knocked out. Meaning that the footballing world were left with one less juggernaut after match day one. Berlusconi saw this as a massive problem for several reasons. Firstly, he was a TV magnate. If the biggest teams were knocked up that early, the viewership on his networks would take an obvious hit. And secondly, he was the owner of a club that had aspirations to win the European Cup every year. Sporting wise, not only did this format put his team at risk of early elimination, but it also meant he was unable to rake in the prize money that comes with progressing past stages. And so, along with a group of advisors, he put into motion a proposal that would see a new breakaway league be formed. This league would include heavy hitters in the footballing world and they would earn entry based on merit, history, and market share. It was basically a league for the elites. And yes, I know what you're thinking. The reason I know is because it's what I was thinking when I learned about this. The European Cup has become a historical anachronism. It is economic nonsense that a club such as Milan might be eliminated in the first round. It's not modern thinking. This was the Super League and much like the 2021 iteration, this version was also rejected. But don't be fooled. It made a big impact. An impact large enough to shape how the game is structured today. In 1991, UEFA announced that a group stage would be included. And in 1992, the reformed Champions League was introduced to the world. As we can all see, history is nothing but a circle. This section was put into this video purely because I find Silvio Berlusconi to be a fascinating man. Controversial, oh no doubt. But fascinating. The appointment of Fabio Capello wasn't widely accepted. Many believed that he was too much of a conventional yes-man to Berlusconi. Fans and onlookers had come to appreciate the unorthodox, outside-the-box perspectives that Arrigo Sacchi brought to the table. This was a different figure altogether. But make no mistake, Capello isn't known as a passive man. When Capello gets angry, hardly anyone dares to look him in the eye. And if he gives you an opportunity and you don't take it, you might as well be selling hot dogs outside the stadium. You don't go to Capello with your problems. Capello is not your mate. Zlatan Ibrahimovic once said this of Fabio Capello. Granted, Zlatan was coached by Capello some 14 or 15 years after his first ever managerial role. But I think this quote counts for something. Capello is different to Sacchi for a lot of reasons. Firstly, he was a very successful player. A highly intelligent holding midfielder that played for Roma, Juventus and Milan and won big for all three. Milan was his final club and that's where he remained after he retired in 1980. After that, he spent much of the early 80s coaching Milan youth squads and the likes of Paolo Maldini before he went on to the first team. Nils Lidholm, the Lee in Grenoli, was the manager in 1987 before being replaced by Capello as an intermediary. While he was always only going to be the caretaker at that point, Berlusconi took a very noticeable liking to Capello. So much so that he sent him to partake in various business courses and kept him close, knowing his time would come. Many recognised that Berlusconi was in favour of Capello and I guess that's where the doubts came from. Regardless, when June of 1991 came, he was more than ready. Stylistically, Capello didn't do much in terms of changing the system. You can't fix something that isn't broken after all. However, he made some tweaks. The traditional Italian in him put a bit more of an emphasis on defensive football as a means for building up an effective attack. With the squad that was put together under Sacchi and the mind of Capello, Milan took flight immediately. At this point, it's worth pointing out more differences between Capello and Sacchi. While Sacchi's general play was more suited to European and knockout football as opposed to league football, Capello's was certainly more balanced. As evidenced by Milan's four titles between 1992 and 1996 and their three Champions League final appearances in that time frame too. Sacchi built the foundations. Capello made it a real home. Personnel-wise, players had come and gone. But the team remained resolute and kept pushing on all fronts. Marco van Basten's ankles simply stopped working, so Jean-Pierre Papin came in for a stint. Carlo Ancelotti's knees turned to jelly, so Dimitri Albertini took his place. Brian Laudrup and Marcel Desailly were brought in too, keeping them perpetually strong. All of Milan's seasons under Capello were special for one reason or another, but there is probably no better season than 1993-94. In fact, not just for Capello, but in the history of the entire club, a Scudetto and a Champions League. And this season was special for so many reasons. One of the main ones, in my eyes at least, is that it was a masterclass in efficiency for them and I have no clue how they did it. In the league, they only conceded 15 goals in 34 games, but at the same time, they only scored 36 goals over the entire campaign. To put this into context, only one team in the top 10 of that season scored less, Roma, in seventh place. Just to further prove how efficient they were, they had the league wrapped up by match day 28 out of 34, which I guess is why they took their foot off the pedal and went winless for their remaining six matches. Defense wins you championships, after all. And then came the Champions League. After making it to the final in the previous season and losing narrowly to Marseille, Milan were keen to make amends. They were equally as efficient in the UCL too, only two wins in the group stages, yet that was enough to top their group. After that, they really got to work. 3-0 in the semifinals against Monaco. The first goal saw Marcel Desailly hang in the air for what seemed like years. Albertini hit a thunderbolt for the second and Massaro wrapped it up in style. For the finals, they were faced with Johan Cruyff's dream team. Four-time La Liga champions themselves and the favorites to win at the time, honestly. This wasn't lost on Johan Cruyff too. He wasn't shy about letting the world know how confident he was in his team. Barca are the favorites. We're more complete, competitive and experienced than them. Milan are nothing out of this world. Barcelona proceeded to go down by four goals by the 58th minute and that's how the game ended. 94-95 was the only down year in this period for Capello, but it was completely understandable. His team needed some freshening up as he had no real frontman to bury the right chances. A fourth place finish was rather unbecoming of a team that had the season they had prior. So he did the only thing that made sense the next year. He signed both Roberto Baggio and George Weah. Take a guess at what the result was. Correct. They won the league by eight points and George Weah won the Ballon d'Or. This was Capello's final season with Milan. And just like Sacchi, his success led to another big job. Real Madrid, in his case. This period between 1987 and 1996 for AC Milan was one of the most magical in the history of any club. Sure, Milan has been successful before this and after and sure, they will continue to be successful in the future. But these nine years were truly something remarkable. A team that signed the very best players when the Ballon d'Or was being won by different people annually. In those nine years, five Ballon d'Or winners played for them and the only one to win more than one, Van Basten, played for Milan while doing so. Three times before retiring at 28 is insane. They had some of the most mythical players in history in their lineup. They had two of the most mythical coaches lead them to glory and they had maybe the most controversial owner of a football club pulling the strings in the background. This period, this unbelievable period in my eyes has to be the golden age of Milan. And there we have it. A deep dive on a period of history that I wish I was around to watch live. Let me know what you all think about AC Milan, past, future and present. That's all for me today. Hope you guys enjoyed. Hope you're having a great day. Cheers and I will catch you in the next one.