On 18 May 1994, at the Olympic Stadium in Athens, Fabio Capello's Milan and Johan Cruyff's Barcelona met in the Champions League final. On 18 May 2027 it will be 33 years since the night OAKA saw one of the biggest upsets in the history of the final. The favourites, the "Dream Team", went home to Barcelona after a heavy 4-0 defeat.

Two champions in Athens

Barcelona had just won a fourth straight Spanish title and were seen as favourites. In Europe they overturned a 3-1 deficit against Dynamo Kyiv, got past Austria Wien, won their group ahead of Monaco, Spartak Moscow and Galatasaray and beat Porto 3-0 in the semi-final.

Barça collected 10 points in their group, Milan only 8.

Milan knocked out Switzerland's Aarau and thrashed Copenhagen 6-0 in Denmark. They won their group ahead of Porto, Werder Bremen and Anderlecht and beat Monaco 3-0 in the semi-final.

That season the semi-finals were single matches at the ground of each group winner. So both finalists arrived in Athens after 3-0 wins in front of their own fans.

A Milan full of absences

Capello had plenty of problems. Van Basten and Lentini were injured, while Baresi and Costacurta, his two centre-backs, were suspended.

On top of that, UEFA's three-foreigner rule forced him to leave out Papin, Răducioiu and Brian Laudrup. In front of Sebastiano Rossi played captain Tassotti, Panucci, Filippo Galli and Maldini. The midfield was Donadoni, Desailly, Albertini and Boban, with Savićević and Massaro in attack.

Cruyff, for his part, left Michael Laudrup out of his starting XI. Barça started with Zubizarreta, Ferrer, Koeman, Nadal, Guardiola, Bakero, Amor, Begiristain, Sergi Barjuán and the Romário – Stoichkov pairing up front.

A Greek night at OAKA

It was the second final of the competition in Athens, after 1983, when Hamburg beat Juventus. Some 70,000 spectators filled the stadium and the referee was England's Philip Don.

OAKA would host the final again in 2007, once more with Milan as winners. The photo is from 2008, after the renovation for the 2004 Olympic Games.

White against blaugrana

Milan again wore their all-white final kit, an updated version of the 1963 white they had also worn in 1989. It was made specially for Europe and was not the season's regular change shirt.

Barcelona played in blaugrana, in Kappa's special European shirt for the 1993-94 season. With no colour clash, the two teams stood out clearly on television.

Savićević takes the stage

In the 22nd minute after a run and pass from Dejan Savićević, Daniele Massaro pushed the ball into an empty net. In first-half stoppage time Donadoni made a long run down the left and Massaro made it 2-0.

In the 47th minute Savićević pounced on a mistake by Nadal and lobbed Zubizarreta beautifully for 3-0. A few minutes later his own shot hit the post, Barça failed to clear and Marcel Desailly beat the offside trap for 4-0.

The final was a rough one too, with Don showing nine yellow cards, four to Milan and five to Barça. Cruyff sent on Sacristán and Estebaranz, but his team could not find a single goal.

Why it went down in history

Desailly became the first player to win the trophy in consecutive years with different clubs, after Marseille in 1993. The 4-0 was the biggest margin in a Champions League-era final until Paris Saint-Germain's 5-0 over Inter in 2025.

Capello said after the game that the player he feared was Michael Laudrup and that Cruyff had made a mistake in leaving him out. The Dane moved to Real Madrid that summer, while Milan's white shirt added another night to its legend, here in Athens.

See our Champions League club jerseys at sportarena.gr.

Photo: the Athens Olympic Stadium during a Champions League match (2008) – Sportingn, Wikimedia Commons, public domain.