Flashback: Champions League Glory

This week saw a shift in European power that has been building for the last couple of years. It is almost certain that there will be an all-German Champions League final for the first time to be played at Wembley on the 25th of May, dethroning the domination of Barcelona, who made it to at least the semi-finals for the past five years. Ironically, AC Milan will be playing Ajax in a glorified friendly in Beijing on May the 25th. But it wasn’t always this way. Let’s look back at the 2002-2003 Champions League final, when two Italian teams faced off for the first time, also in England…

Milan’s Champions League glory may have faded recently, but between 2002-2007, Milan made it to the quarterfinals once, to the semifinals twice, and played three finals, winning two. With seven Champions League titles to our name, only Real Madrid have more, with nine. So although our star seems to have faded a bit since 2007, we are destined to come back into power again soon.

Seeing Germany dominate in Champions League this season should not be a surprise, as they took over one of our Champions League spots a couple of years back. With Serie affected so adversely by Calciopoli and its aftermath, we lost coefficient points, and continue to do so. And thus, it will be up to Milan to fight even harder for that one less spot until Italian teams can regain dominance and earn a spot again.

This season in particular, with our Champions League qualification hanging in the balance, we need to feel the history calling us and step up and win these last five games. Not only for Milan fans, but for all of Serie A. Despite having such incredible turnover and the resulting turmoil, Milan showed this year that Champions League is in our DNA. We showed that even with a new team and less quality, we are still the most prepared to compete in Europe. So with this in mind, let’s fight for our destiny. Champions League glory awaits us once more, it is up to us to go find it.

Forza Milan!

This post inspired by the music of Ella Fitzgerald

Our next match is

Milan vs. Catania

Sunday, April 28 • 20:45 CEST (2:45 EDT)