The only exception is the end of the 80s. In general, this period was far from the best for English football. The Eisel tragedy was followed by a European disqualification, a side effect of which was the financial crisis. Nevertheless, the Liverpool coach Kenny Dalglish miraculously and in such difficult conditions managed to create an unusually bright team. In the summer of 1987, at the three million pounds received from Juventus for the transfer of Ian Rush, he bought Peter Beardsley and John Barnes, who, together with John Aldridge, purchased six months earlier, made up one of the most powerful attacking lines in the history of English football. Although anyone in the team could actually score, even goalkeeper Bruce Grobbelaar, bored in the frame, from time to time tried to go on the attack. Here's a clip of the highlights from the Nottingham Forest match in the spring of 1988:
(in the end - the words of Tom Finney; the highlights of the same match with the comments of Hansen and Barnes can be seen here ).
"Forest" of that season can not be attributed to weaklings. They went in second place in the championship, albeit with a huge lag behind Liverpool, and eventually finished third. In addition, two defenders of the guests - Stuart Pearce and Des Walker - in a couple of years will reach, together with Barnes, Beardsley and other players of the English national team, the semi-finals of the World Cup, where they will only lose by penalty. But against the backdrop of Liverpool, Nottingham looked just pathetic. “This is the best team in the history of football,” said the words of the legendary English post-war football player Sir Tom Finney. “I have never seen such a one-touch play at such a high pace,” is Michel Platini, a man who is hard to suspect of sympathy for English football in general and Liverpool in particular.
Sport does not know the subjunctive mood, and one can only guess how this generation of “Reds” would appear in Europe if it had such an opportunity. Moreover, compared to Liverpool in the first half of the 80s, the team really was, in fact, a new one. Of the squad that won the 1984 Roma Champions Cup final, only Bruce Grobbelaar, Alan Hansen and Steve Nicol played with Nottingham, the last one in Rome replaced. In the tragic finale with Juventus from those who smashed Forest, the aforementioned trinity and Gary Gillespie participated. And that’s all. But although neither the “donut eater” Ian Melby, nor the hero of the Irish people Ray Houghton (he is the author of the victorious goals against England at Euro 88 and Italy at the World Championships in America), neither the “hardman” Steve McMahan, nor Barnes with Beardsley and Aldridge they did not win European cups, they will always remember about them in Liverpool. Another tragedy that occurred at the Hillsborough Stadium in Sheffield on April 15, 1989, made this team especially close to ordinary people. Then 96 fans of the “red”, who came to see the game of their favorites in the semifinals of the FA Cup against the same “Forest”, died in a terrible crush. After that, both the coaching staff and the players temporarily turned into social workers. They attended all the funerals, went to each affected family.
And of course, the victory in the final over Everton the team to which Rush returned from Italy, dedicated to the memory of the victims.
And in Europe, meanwhile, Silvio Berlusconi's project to turn Milan into a super club on a planetary scale was rapidly gaining momentum. Managing the largest budget in European football, coach Arrigo Sacchi gathered a truly stellar ensemble. When they talk about "Milan" in the late 80s, they primarily recall the starry trio of the Dutch Marco van Basten - Rud Gullit - Frank Rikard. They really set the tone; without them, Sakki’s total football would not have been possible. But the players of the Italian national team “played along” all of them. Goalkeeper Giovanni Galli, the legendary four defenders of Maldini - Barezi - Costacurta - Tassotti, Carlo Ancelotti, Roberto Donadoni. The only not too well-known player of “Milan” of that time, steadily leaving in the starting lineup, was midfielder Angelo Colombo. But 82-year-old world champion Daniele Massaro, for example, for the most part was sitting on the bench.
Perhaps, Sacchi played his brightest match in Milan in the semifinal of the 1989 Champions Cup with Real Madrid. In Spain, “Real” then had no equal, but against the “Milan” Madrid looked like whipping boys. Van Basten, Ancelotti, Ricard, Gullit and Donadoni scored five unanswered goals, one more beautiful than the other.
Interestingly, since the British disqualification did not extend to friendly games, “Milan” and “Liverpool” could well meet in 1989 in one of the pre-season tournaments. Moreover, Berlusconi, already then dreaming of the Euroleague, was not against words in words. But the club leaders did not agree on a specific date. Maybe the current second final in three years is a kind of compensation for unplayed matches then?
Anton KNYAZEV
PS For those who have not seen enough of a vintage video - a clip about the glorious Liverpool of the 80s to music from the homeland of Gary Kewell, as well as the best of Frank Rikard and Marco van Basten .