 Match programme cover | |||||||
| Event | 1993–94 UEFA Champions League | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Date | 18 May 1994 (1994-05-18) | ||||||
| Venue | Olympic Stadium,Athens | ||||||
| Referee | Philip Don (England) | ||||||
| Attendance | 70,000[1] | ||||||
←1993 1995 → | |||||||
The1994 UEFA Champions League final, originally known as the1994 European Cup final, was afootball match between Italian clubMilan and Spanish clubBarcelona, played on 18 May 1994 at theOlympic Stadium inAthens, Greece.
Having wonLa 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 strikerMarco van Basten and their £13 million young sensationGianluigi Lentini (then theworld's most expensive footballer) were both injured, whileFranco Baresi and defenderAlessandro Costacurta were both suspended.UEFA regulations at the time, which limited teams to fielding a maximum of three non-nationals, meant that Milan coachFabio Capello was forced to leave outFlorin Răducioiu,Jean-Pierre Papin andBrian Laudrup. On Barcelona's side, the rule saw coachJohan Cruyff choosing not to pickMichael 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".[2] Laudrup left Barcelona for theirarch-rival,Real Madrid, at the end of the season.
Milan played in their all-white away strip, which historically they use in finals of theEuropean Cup/UEFA Champions League, while Barcelona played in their red and blue strip. Milan dominated early and were rewarded whenDejan Savićević ran down the right flank and passed toDaniele 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 byRoberto Donadoni down the left wing.[3]
In the 47th minute, Savićević capitalised on a defensive error byMiguel Ángel Nadal to lobgoalkeeperAndoni Zubizarreta for the third goal. Eight minutes later, after Savićević had hit a post and the Barcelona defence had failed to clear, Milan midfielderMarcel Desailly beat theoffside trap to make it 4–0, which ended up being the final score.[4] Desailly became the first player to win the trophy in consecutive years with different clubs after winning withMarseille in 1993.[5]The match held the record for the largest margin in a final in the Champions League era until it was surpassed in the2025 UEFA Champions League final, when French sideParis Saint-Germain beatInter Milan 5-0 inMunich.
In the following table, finals until 1992 were in the European Cup era, since 1993 were in the UEFA Champions League era.
| Team | Previous final appearances (bold indicates winners) |
|---|---|
 Milan | 6 (1958,1963,1969,1989,1990,1993) |
 Barcelona | 3 (1961,1986,1992) |
| Milan | Round | Barcelona | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Aarau | 1–0 | 1–0 (A) | 0–0 (H) | First round |  Dynamo Kyiv | 5–4 | 1–3 (A) | 4–1 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Copenhagen | 7–0 | 6–0 (A) | 1–0 (H) | Second round |  Austria Wien | 5–1 | 3–0 (H) | 2–1 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opponent | Result | Group stage | Opponent | Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Anderlecht | 0–0 (A) | Matchday 1 |  Galatasaray | 0–0 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Porto | 3–0 (H) | Matchday 2 |  Monaco | 2–0 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
 Werder Bremen | 2–1 (H) | Matchday 3 |  Spartak Moscow | 2–2 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Werder Bremen | 1–1 (A) | Matchday 4 | Spartak Moscow | 5–1 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Anderlecht | 0–0 (H) | Matchday 5 | Galatasaray | 3–0 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Porto | 0–0 (A) | Matchday 6 | Monaco | 1–0 (A) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Group B winner
Source:UEFA | Final standings | Group A winner
Source:UEFA | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Opponent | Result | Knockout phase | Opponent | Result | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Monaco | 3–0 (H) | Semi-finals | Porto | 3–0 (H) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
         Milan[6] |      Barcelona[6] |
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