Capello on the two moments that made him determined to crush Cruyff | OneFootball

Fabio Capello reveals the two moments that made him determined to beat Johan Cruyff. ‘I saw that and told my Milan players, we won 4-0 with the perfect performance.’

The Rossoneri have won the Champions League seven times, fewer only than Real Madrid, and probably the most unexpected was in 1994.

epa10494184 Former Italian soccer coach Fabio Capello arrives for the The Best FIFA Football Awards 2022 ceremony in Paris, France, 27 February 2023. EPA-EFE/YOAN VALAT

They were up against the iconic Barcelona coached by Cruyff, with players like Romario, Hristo Stoichkov, Ronald Koeman and Pep Guardiola, which many considered to be huge favourites for the victory.

Instead, they were crushed 4-0 in Athens by a Daniele Massaro brace, Dejan Savicevic’s iconic lob, and Marcel Desailly.

Capello history with Cruyff goes back

MADRID, SPAIN – APRIL 20: Fabio Capello attends the Sporting Mixed Zone ahead of Laureus World Sports Awards Madrid 2025 at Palacio De Cibeles on April 20, 2025 in Madrid, Spain. (Photo by Angel Martinez/Getty Images for Laureus)

“I played in a European Cup Final for Juventus and we lost against Ajax,” Capello said in the Festival dello Sport event.

“No complaints there, they were stronger than us, but after the match I saw Cruyff carry the trophy to the team bus and he just flung it in there, as if to say we’ve won three, it’s not that big a deal.

“I didn’t like that, and I was even more unhappy when I saw just before the Milan-Barcelona Final in Athens he lay down on the pitch with the ball behind his head, almost as if he was snubbing us as his opponents.

“I went into the dressing room and told the lads. We won 4-0 and it was the perfect performance.”

ATHENS, GREECE – MAY 18: AC Milan player Dejan Savicevic holds aloft the trophy after the 1994 UEFA European Cup Final victory against Barcelona on May 18th, 1994 in Athens, Greece. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Allsport/Getty Images/Hulton Archive)

It was an even more remarkable victory considering top defenders Franco Baresi and Alessandro Costacurta were both suspended for Milan.

Due to limits on foreign players, they also had to leave out Jean-Pierre Papin, Florin Raducioiu and Brian Laudrup.