Top 3 greatest team performances in a UCL final ever in my opinion!
1-Milan 4-0 Barcelona in 1994: Still the greatest trashing in a UCL final in history and unlikely to be topped anytime soon. Milan was truly awesome! Milan had slightly less ball possession, but whenever they had the ball they were precise, fast, creative and much, much better technically than Barcelona. Milan outplayed Barcelona in midfield, Romário and Stoichkov could barely get the ball, and everywhere in the pitch really. Without the ball, Milan was also very solid while the slow Koeman was a liability in Barcelona's defense. It was a perfect performance, everyone in Milan's team was extremely inspired while Barcelona was dreadful. This humiliation is even more impressing when you consider that Barcelona were the big favorites in the final. Milan had won Serie A that season with 36 goals in 34 games, a very pragmatic team, while Barcelona's Dream Team enchanted football lovers in Europe. Milan was without Baresi for the final, he was suspended. Cruyff would constantly underrate and trash talk against Milan saying that Barcelona would win because Barça played beautiful offensive football while Milan was ugly, pragmatic and defensive. All of this was used as fuel by Fabio Capello to get under the skin of his players and it worked! A fantastic offensive performance that made people recall the best days of Sacchi's Milan. And that Savicević goal is INSANE! One of the best UCL goals ever!
2-Milan 4-0 Steaua Bucareste in 1989: The score is actually very underwhelming. I don't think that there has ever been a UCL final with such a big gulf in quality between both teams. It was Milan attacking a totally impotent Steaua during the 90 minutes. Steaua did not have a single good goal chance due to Milan's great pressing and defense. Milan was irresistible, playing awesome, fast, thunderous, suffocating and relentless attacking football from the first minute, pure delight! Milan's performance was out of this world, they were hailed right after the game as a team of extra-terrestrials! This game alongside the 5-0 against Real cemented Sacchi's Milan as the best team in the world and one of the best ever! Gullit was man of the match, truly awesome, certainly one of the greatest performances in a UCL final ever at least! And it needs to be said that Steaua Bucareste was a good team. Milan was the big favorite, but Steaua was expected by many to put a decent fight. Instead, Steaua was made to look worse than amateurs. Even saying that it was men vs. boys feels underwhelming.
3-Barcelona 3-1 United in 2011: So far, the greatest performance in a UCL final this century. United pressed Barcelona very intensely and were sucessful in unsettling Barcelona in the first 10 minutes, but Barcelona quickly overcame their erratic start in the game and absolutely destroyed United. United was not a great team, but they were still a top-level team, a good team, like Steaua. But United was made to look like Stoke City. Barcelona was awesome. In special, the amount of chances that Barcelona created in the first 25 minutes of the second half was ridiculous, absurd. And there was plenty football of very, very high level technically in the whole game. Messi was man of the match. The goal that he scored shows why Messi in his best days can be unplayable: United crowded the box and kept a good distance from Messi, not really closing him down, probably afraid of only being dribbled by him if they did so, afraid of Messi potentially being 1v1 with the goalkeeper, and Messi was a dribbling beast in this match. But Messi shoots from outside the box and scores anyway. After Messi, Xavi was Barcelona's best player in the day. Iniesta was good, though more erratic than usual in his passes throughout the matches. Busquets was great. On United's side, Rooney was the best player. Overall, this is the game that cemented Guardiola's Barcelona as one of the best teams ever, like the 4-0 against Steaua did to Sacchi's Milan.
1-Milan 4-0 Barcelona in 1994: Still the greatest trashing in a UCL final in history and unlikely to be topped anytime soon. Milan was truly awesome! Milan had slightly less ball possession, but whenever they had the ball they were precise, fast, creative and much, much better technically than Barcelona. Milan outplayed Barcelona in midfield, Romário and Stoichkov could barely get the ball, and everywhere in the pitch really. Without the ball, Milan was also very solid while the slow Koeman was a liability in Barcelona's defense. It was a perfect performance, everyone in Milan's team was extremely inspired while Barcelona was dreadful. This humiliation is even more impressing when you consider that Barcelona were the big favorites in the final. Milan had won Serie A that season with 36 goals in 34 games, a very pragmatic team, while Barcelona's Dream Team enchanted football lovers in Europe. Milan was without Baresi for the final, he was suspended. Cruyff would constantly underrate and trash talk against Milan saying that Barcelona would win because Barça played beautiful offensive football while Milan was ugly, pragmatic and defensive. All of this was used as fuel by Fabio Capello to get under the skin of his players and it worked! A fantastic offensive performance that made people recall the best days of Sacchi's Milan. And that Savicević goal is INSANE! One of the best UCL goals ever!
2-Milan 4-0 Steaua Bucareste in 1989: The score is actually very underwhelming. I don't think that there has ever been a UCL final with such a big gulf in quality between both teams. It was Milan attacking a totally impotent Steaua during the 90 minutes. Steaua did not have a single good goal chance due to Milan's great pressing and defense. Milan was irresistible, playing awesome, fast, thunderous, suffocating and relentless attacking football from the first minute, pure delight! Milan's performance was out of this world, they were hailed right after the game as a team of extra-terrestrials! This game alongside the 5-0 against Real cemented Sacchi's Milan as the best team in the world and one of the best ever! Gullit was man of the match, truly awesome, certainly one of the greatest performances in a UCL final ever at least! And it needs to be said that Steaua Bucareste was a good team. Milan was the big favorite, but Steaua was expected by many to put a decent fight. Instead, Steaua was made to look worse than amateurs. Even saying that it was men vs. boys feels underwhelming.
3-Barcelona 3-1 United in 2011: So far, the greatest performance in a UCL final this century. United pressed Barcelona very intensely and were sucessful in unsettling Barcelona in the first 10 minutes, but Barcelona quickly overcame their erratic start in the game and absolutely destroyed United. United was not a great team, but they were still a top-level team, a good team, like Steaua. But United was made to look like Stoke City. Barcelona was awesome. In special, the amount of chances that Barcelona created in the first 25 minutes of the second half was ridiculous, absurd. And there was plenty football of very, very high level technically in the whole game. Messi was man of the match. The goal that he scored shows why Messi in his best days can be unplayable: United crowded the box and kept a good distance from Messi, not really closing him down, probably afraid of only being dribbled by him if they did so, afraid of Messi potentially being 1v1 with the goalkeeper, and Messi was a dribbling beast in this match. But Messi shoots from outside the box and scores anyway. After Messi, Xavi was Barcelona's best player in the day. Iniesta was good, though more erratic than usual in his passes throughout the matches. Busquets was great. On United's side, Rooney was the best player. Overall, this is the game that cemented Guardiola's Barcelona as one of the best teams ever, like the 4-0 against Steaua did to Sacchi's Milan.
That Barca-United 2011 is just pure embarrassing, it stings/hurts watching that match.