Since I’m in Milan tonight, I thought of writing a post on one of the top 3 clubs in the history of football, namely the A.C. Milan. They were playing tonight in the legendary San Siro stadium againt Olympique Marseille in the first round of the Champions League but I got into the city too late to have enough time to go and see the game (final score 1-1 with Milan being extremely lucky to draw).
Amongst the Italian clubs, AC Milan is my favourite. For some unknwown reason, I often side with clubs that are or have been backed up by the working class. This is the case of the AC Milan although with Berlusconi buying the club in 1986, there has been a move to a more middle-class right-wing fan base. In contrast, Arch-rival Inter Milan hs always been the club of the Milanese bourgeoisie. Amongst the many world-class players that have played for the rossoneri (the nickname of the team due to its striped red and black shirt), Milanese fans would surely name Juan Alberto Schiaffino who I already wrote about in the first post of this blog, the Uruguayan midfielder who won the World Cup with Uruguay in 1950 and who later on became an Italian citizen. On the list would also be the famous Swedish trio Gre-No-Li who made wonders for the club in the 1950s as well as another trio, Dutch this time, composed of Van Basten, Gullit and Rijkaard, which brought the AC Milan to new heights in the 1980s with several national championships and European club champion titles. Obviously, I can’t omit on this list players like Altafini, Rivera, Baresi, Shevchenko, and Paolo Maldini the legendary defender holding the record number of 902 matches played with AC Milan. The club even decided to never again have any other player use Maldini’s n°3 shirt unless one of his sons makes it to the team!
Contrarily to its utmost rival, Inter Milan, AC Milan have often been known for playing an attacking game with a lot of class and style. I vividly remember the European Club Champion final of 1994 against Barcelona where the rossoneri won 4-0 and gave a football lesson for the world to see. It was football at its best and it was no wonder that AC Milan was part of it.
Here is a video which very nicely conveys the spirit of the most titled club in football history. Enjoy!
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