AC Milan 5, Real Madrid 0 (April 1989)

AC MILAN HADN'T WON the European Cup since 1969, but Arrigo Sacchi's arrival changed everything. With a core of legendary Italian players and a trio of talented Dutchmen, Milan became a high-pressing machine.

After beating Vitosha Sofia, Red Star Belgrade, and Werder Bremen, Milan came up against Real Madrid in the semifinals. Madrid were in the midst of a six-year championship run in La Liga and on course for a continental treble during the 1988-89 season. The first leg only ended 1-1 thanks to a late goal by Marco Van Basten. No one could've expected the 5-0 drubbing to follow in the reverse fixture.

The lineups

What the pregame formations looked like.

Sacchi's Milan kick off in a fluid 4-4-2 formation that affords freedom to most of the players in the top six positions. Carlo Ancelotti starts on the left but spends a lot of time in the middle and often switches spots with Frank Rijkaard. Van Basten and Ruud Gullit lead the line. Madrid's 4-4-2 is much more rigid. Hugo Sanchez and Emilio Butragueno, two of Madrid's highest-scoring players of all time, partner each other up front.

The match

Reviewing the most important plays, including thoughts about the teams and players in action. You can watch the game here.

1' Madrid finally kick things off after waiting for a thick plume of smoke to clear up. Flares from the southern end of San Siro forced the delay. It's a proper atmosphere for a European Cup semifinal.

4' Referee Alexis Ponnet stops the game to hold a moment of remembrance for the victims of the Hillsborough disaster, which took place just days before and eventually claimed the lives of 97 Liverpool supporters. The 73,112 in attendance give hearty applause throughout. The players stand still, some with their hands behind their backs, in solemn tribute. The fans begin singing "You'll Never Walk Alone," Liverpool's famous anthem, as the applause continues. It's a beautiful and touching moment that demonstrates the best qualities of the greater football community.

9' Madrid piece together a creditable move up the right side of the field. Bernd Schuster threads a wonderful ball to Martin Vazquez, who lays off to Sanchez in the penalty area. Sanchez plays a first-time pass to Paco Llorente out wide, and the midfielder delivers a tantalizing cross that coaxes a Superman punch out of goalkeeper Giovanni Galli. The follow-up sails high and wide of the net.

14' Milan can't get out of their own end. Maldini has time to make a pass but gives it right back to the opposition. If Madrid defender Manuel Sanchis makes clean contact on the corner kick that follows, Los Blancos would have the lead. It's not only Maldini making errors. Moments before, Franco Baresi concedes a foul on the edge of the area. The players are arguing with each other, unaware of the history they're about to make as a unit.

17' Now it's Milan's turn to hem Madrid in their own end zone. Gullit collects possession near the corner flag and flings a cross into the area. It's cleared, but Maldini presses high and forces a turnover. Give Madrid credit for the way they're defending. They're tight to their man and first to every ball. This is a good game.

18' Goal Milan! Ancelotti skips by two defenders before uncorking an unstoppable shot past Madrid 'keeper Francisco Buyo. This thing flies about 30 yards before bulging the mesh. I love the little touch Ancelotti makes to create space between him and the ball, giving himself just enough time to wind up and let fly. It ends up in the upper netting, and Buyo looks dazed and confused by the pace of the ball. The Rossoneri now have a 2-1 aggregate advantage.

25' Dos a cero! It all starts with an attack down the right flank. Angelo Colombo's cross bounces off a defender for a corner kick. It's Milan's third in about a minute. Roberto Donadoni plays it short to Mauro Tassotti, who curls in a beautiful ball for Rijkaard to head home. Tassotti has enough time to look up and spot where Rijkaard is. The Dutchman also does well to outfox two defenders. Buyo dives to his right but can't reach the header. It's perfectly placed.

30' Galli wags his fingers at Butragueno after the 'keeper appears to trip up the striker in the penalty area. Replays are inconclusive. The camera captures the play from behind and can't confirm whether Galli clips Butragueno when he dives for the ball.

31' Ancelotti dispossesses Schuster in the middle of the park and carries the ball to his left. He stops to look at Gullit, and the Dutch attacker picks up where his teammate left off, dragging the ball inside a defender as he approaches the net, but he fires straight at Buyo. What a lovely sequence and a reminder of Ancelotti's own skill on the ball.

36' Madrid are still showing signs of life. Sanchis sends a spectacular ball through the heart of Milan's midfield and into the Rafael Gordillo's path. The left-back comes off the touchline to deliver another tempting pass into the penalty area, but Michel's right-footed volley travels wide of the far post. The replays show it's much farther off than it looked on first sight.

43' Ancelotti is all over the place. He's taking on defenders, shooting from distance, and winning duels. He forces a corner kick here with a first-time hit off a clever move from right to left. Donadoni and Tassotti work a short corner, and Tassotti, as he's done all game, arrows a lovely cross for Gullit, who corks his neck to put enough grease on the ball to direct it goalwards. It's just not enough to beat the 'keeper.

45' Ricardo Gallego slides right into Gullit as he dances in the area, and the Dutchman immediately appeals for a penalty. But the referee rules the play offside. There's no definitive angle that proves whether Gullit is indeed off, but the foul is clear and it probably should've been awarded.

45+1' It's 3-0 Milan! Donadoni is forced to chase the second ball of a clever 1-2, but the mistake works out as it allows him to reset and fire a cross for Gullit to head home. Gordillo is supposed to be marking Gullit but lets the Dutchman run across him. All Gordillo can do is flail his arms to make it look like he's trying to keep up.

49' We're barely four minutes into the second half, and just as people settle back into their seats, Van Basten gives Milan an unassailable 4-0 lead. The sequence goes from innocent to deadly in a few short seconds as the ball passes from Donadoni to Alessandro Costacurta and Rijkaard. The Dutch midfielder looks up and sees Gullit running into the area and floats a perfect overhead pass for his teammate to head over to Van Basten. All he needs is a couple of steps to find the top corner with a powerful left-footed shot. This is a smackdown.

51' San Siro chants "Ole!" every time Milan complete a pass. This is a European Cup semifinal against the six-time European champions, and it's turning into a party with less than an hour played. Milan seem to enjoy as it they pass to one another without a hint of pressure in their back end.

53' Now the game as a contest is truly over. The crowd is doing the wave. The camera pans the crowd as the wave goes from left to right at San Siro. Milan try to piece an attacking move together but it falls apart as soon as they enter the final third. Nothing seems to matter anymore. The Rossoneri have completely killed the game with clinical finishing and incisive passing. Every pass up until this point has mattered. Sacchi's side is programmed to play this kind of high-tempo football.

56' Gullit's knee injury is the only thing that sours the mood. The camera doesn't even capture the incident live. The replay shows Gullit falling straight to the ground after crossing into the area. Luckily, the injury isn't bad enough to keep him from playing in the European Cup final that May.

59' That's five! It's a massacre. Ancelotti's shot from outside the box takes a wild deflection and goes out for a corner. No one's in any particular hurry to take it. The 'keeper finally rolls the ball to the corner flag and Donadoni runs across the pitch. Then he goes short, as he's done most of the game. After a quick 1-2 with Tassotti, Donadoni lets it rip from a wide angle and beats Buyo by his near post. Madrid are looking at their worst-ever defeat in their short but already storied European Cup history.

68' Milan could easily rest on their laurels and pass the ball back and forth for the next half hour, but that's not in their DNA. They push up whenever they can and continue to put pressure on Madrid's back four. Costacurta even slides into a competitive challenge to try and dispossess Gordillo in the middle of the field. It leaves a mark on the Spanish defender and results in a foul. It's probably worth a yellow card, too.

76' Following a bit of pinball action in their area, Van Basten collects the ball and boots it long for substitute Pietro Paolo Virdis, who knocks it down for Ancelotti to wreak havoc in the area. He ends up waiting for Rijkaard to enter the frame, but the resulting shot goes well over the crossbar. Milan have no problem running up the score here.

85' Madrid can't sustain any kind of pressure in Milan's half and almost always have to cover for the counter. Costacurta switches to Ancelotti here, and he enters the area from the left flank. Donadoni and Virdis exchange passes like they're kicking the ball around in Parco Sempione. Madrid defenders gallop back to break it up. Even as they lose this game by a historic margin, they have to work their assess off to keep it from getting any worse. It soon ends 6-1 on aggregate.