25 Years of Berlusconi

Date: 20th February 2011 at 3:00pm
Written by:

7 Scudetti

5 Champions Leagues

5 Supercoppa Italia

5 UEFA Super Cups

2 Intercontinental cups

1 Coppa Italia

1 FIFA World Club Cup

And a per-erer-ermaaa taaan

Love or loathe Silvio Berlusconi, his money helped win all of the above, plus brought and continues to bring some of the finest talent in the world to Italy. Today AC Milan, or perhaps more Il Cavaliere (The Knight) will celebrate his 25th anniversary at the helm by wearing shirts embossed with his name for the match at Chievo. Reports suggest the shirts will then be auctioned off for charity, though I’m not sure if their value will have increased.

In a quarter of a decade he has brought unprecedented domestic and European success to I Rossoneri while balancing his Mediaset empire, serving 3 terms as Prime Minister of Italy(there could be more), and fending off a litany of allegations and indictments.

It’s difficult to separate his political and entrepreneurial world from AC Milan but for the sake of this blog, I will try to celebrate only football related matters where possible, in a brief-ish history of his time.

On Thursday 20th February, 1986 Berlusconi took over and began to rebuild a club that hadn’t fully recovered from the Totonero scandal of 1980. Milan had been relegated to Serie B for their involvement and despite winning the second division in 1981 they went down again in ’82 only to return in ’83.

The Knight arrived on a white helicopter to a chorus of Wagner’s ‘Ride of the Valykries’; almost too cliched to be true, but it was and Silvio was intent on taking control of Italy’s most loved sport.

He inherited Swedish legend Nils Liedholm as his first manager, but he was replaced for the final 5 games of the 86/87 season by a familiar face to English fans, a young Fabio Capello. Milan finished 5th that year with Diego Maradona’s Napoli winning the Scudetto for the first time in its history.

Spanish giants Real Madrid were beginning a 5 year domestic domination of Spain in 1986 with La Quinta Del Buitre, so Berlusconi apparently sent Capello to Madrid to study their football, and he returned saying, ‘Real win because they are organized, and because they believe in football as a show.’

Capello would have to wait to implement his style of football as Berlusconi appointed relative unknown Arrigo Sacchi after his Parma side beat Milan twice in the Coppa Italia.

This turned out to be a master stroke by Berlusconi. Sacchi armed with the president’s wealth set about constructing one of the finest sides in Europe, buying Ruud Gullit for a then world record of £6 million and fellow Dutchman Marco Van Basten. The following year Frank Rijkaard arrived, slotting in with future legends like Baresi, Maldini, Ancelotti, Costacurta, Donadoni and other rubber-faced Italians who could defeat the ravages of time.

Sacchi created a championship winning side in his first season, that went on to be known as “Gli Immortali”, and the following year Berlusconi got his first European Cup. Milan squeaked past Red Star Belgrade and Werder Bremen, before announcing themselves, thrashing Spanish champions Madrid 5-0 in the second leg of the semi-final.

Romanians Steaua Bucharest was disposed of 4-0 in the final, and with the biggest winning margin in Europe’s showpiece match for 14 years. Milan had arrived, and promptly retained their crown with a 1-0 win over Benfica, Rijkaard getting the only goal. 2 Intercontinental cups in 89 and 90 made Milan masters of the footballing world, and Berlusconi positioned himself at the centre of it all.

Swollen with success in Europe, and with Capello now in charge attention returned to Serie A. Milan strolled to its 12th Scudetti in the 91/92 season, 8 points clear of Juventus and all without losing a game. The 13th and 14th championship followed in successive years and needing a new superlative, this team was coined, ‘Gli Invicibili’. Bombastic, but they were that good. With Van Basten as the spear head, scoring 90 goals in 147 games and Gullit adding 56 in 171, Milan were sensational. Undefeated for 58 games over two seasons; Marco Van Basten was three time European player of the year, world player of the year. You could argue his quality would shine anywhere, as it had at Ajax, but it must have helped playing at Milan.

Continued success on the pitch, all broadcast on Berlusconi’s TV channels, was a valuable tool in the billionaires election campaign. Milan reached the Champions League final 3 years in a row, losing to Marseille in 92/93. After the defeat they added future world cup winner Marcel Desailly to the side and went on to drub Barcelona 4-0 in the 93/94 final, then lost to Ajax the following year. This period of increased prominence, coincided with Berlusconi’s party, ‘Forza Italia’ (a football slogan) coming to power. He was Prime Minister.

I Rossoneri romped to a 15th league crown in 95/96, 8 points clear of Juventus again, then went trophyless for 2 years. Cynics in Milan say that Berlusconi always invests in the team before an election year, perhaps it is true, maybe he was lucky, but seeing Oliver Bierhoff, and particularly George Weah and Andriy Shevchenko in their pomp at Milan was satisfaction enough as Berlusconi returned to government in 2001.

Former midfielder Carlo Ancelotti was appointed manager to help reassert Milan’s position in Italian football after only one trophy in five years. In 2002 he claimed the Coppa Italia for the first time in almost 30 years, and a fourth Champions League, beating rivals Juventus in the final on penalties.

In 2003 a Brazilian, Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, or Kaka, helped Milan to its 17th and final Scudetto and in 2006/7 their 7th European Cup. Kaka bought for €8.5 million, nonchalantly described as “peanuts” by Berlusconi at the time, went on to become world player of the year for 2007, and was eventually sold on for a record €65million to Real Madrid in 2009.

That’s the history finished. Almost. Milan’s aging team are criticized more each season as city rivals Inter have piled up 5 successive championships, but today, 20th February, 2011, 25 years to the day after Berlusconi took power, they are 2 points ahead of Inter with a game in-hand, and top of the league.

Their inept performance against Tottenham mid-week has again got tongues wagging but, with their benevolent leader embroiled in yet another scandal, reports of a spending revolution in the summer aren’t surprising, with Balotelli, Ganso and Ramos the latest bandied around. Looking at Berlusconi’s ability to survive, one more throw of the dice seems inevitable.

If we can forget for a moment his motives, all the corruption, allegations, doddery, chauvinism, and despotic traits, if we can forget all that; Bunga Bunga Berlusconi brought together some of the finest footballers in history, and for that I salute him.

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