On April 19th 1989, AC Milan and Real Madrid met for the second leg of their European Cup semi-final. The first leg in Madrid had finished 1-1, with Marco van Basten equalising the opener from Hugo Sanchez. After a relatively poor run in Europe (a series of draws and the odd lucky 1-0 victory), AC Milan chose this game to move into top gear. The Real Madrid side were in the middle of a run of five consecutive titles, and their side boasted Emilio Butragueno, Bernd Schuster, Hugo Sanchez and Martin Vazquez, but the Italian side obliterated them with goals from current coach Carlo Ancelotti, Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit, Marco van Basten and Roberto Donadoni.
Milan would go on to score four without reply in a one-sided final in Barcelona against Steaua Bucharest, in a game they were expected to win easily, but it was this game that really saw Arrigo Saachi’s side give a taste of the Milanese dominance that was to follow.
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