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". Laudrup left Barcelona for their arch-rival, Real Madrid, at the end of the season.
Teams In the following table, finals until 1992 were in the European Cup era, since 1993 were in the UEFA Champions League era. TeamPrevious final appearances (bold indicates winners) Milan6 (1958, 1963, 1969, 1989, 1990, 1993) Barcelona3 (1961, 1986, 1992)
Route to the final
MilanRound BarcelonaOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd legOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd leg Aarau1–01–0 (A)0–0 (H)First round Dynamo Kyiv5–41–3 (A)4–1 (H) Copenhagen7–06–0 (A)1–0 (H)Second round Austria Wien5–13–0 (H)2–1 (A)OpponentResultGroup stageOpponentResult Anderlecht0–0 (A)Matchday 1 Galatasaray0–0 (A) Porto3–0 (H)Matchday 2 Monaco2–0 (H) Werder Bremen2–1 (H)Matchday 3 Spartak Moscow2–2 (A) Werder Bremen1–1 (A)Matchday 4 Spartak Moscow5–1 (H) Anderlecht0–0 (H)Matchday 5 Galatasaray3–0 (H) Porto0–0 (A)Matchday 6 Monaco1–0 (A)Group B winnerFinal standingsGroup A winnerOpponentResultKnockout phaseOpponentResult Monaco3–0 (H)Semi-finals Porto3–0 (H)
Match Summary 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.
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. Desailly became the first player to win the trophy in consecutive years with different clubs after winning with Marseille in 1993. 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.
Details
GK 1 Sebastiano RossiRB 2 Mauro Tassotti (c) CB 5 Filippo GalliCB 6 Paolo Maldini LB 3 Christian Panucci RM 9 Zvonimir BobanCM 4 Demetrio Albertini CM 8 Marcel DesaillyLM 7 Roberto DonadoniRF 10 Dejan SavićevićLF 11 Daniele Massaro Substitutes:GK 12 Mario IelpoCB 13 Stefano Nava RM 14 Angelo CarboneRM 15 Gianluigi LentiniLF 16 Marco SimoneManager: Fabio Capello GK 1 Andoni ZubizarretaRB 2 Albert Ferrer DM 3 Pep GuardiolaCB 4 Ronald KoemanCB 5 Miguel Ángel Nadal CM 6 José Mari Bakero (c) LB 7 Sergi Barjuán RF 8 Hristo Stoichkov CM 9 Guillermo AmorCF 10 RomárioLF 11 Txiki Begiristain Substitutes:DF 12 Juan CarlosGK 13 Carles BusquetsMF 14 Eusebio Sacristán MF 15 Jon Andoni GoikoetxeaMF 16 Quique Estebaranz Manager: Johan Cruyff
Linesmen: Rob Harris (England) Roy Pearson (England) Fourth official: Martin Bodenham (England)
See also 1989 European Super Cup – contested between same teams 1994 European Cup Winners' Cup final 1994 European Super Cup 1994 UEFA Cup final 1993–94 AC Milan season 1993–94 FC Barcelona season AC Milan in international football FC Barcelona in international football
References
External links European Cup results at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation 1993–94 season at UEFA website