Real Madrid are seeking to become the first team to retain the Champions League trophy since the tournament was rebranded in 1992. Below are the five sides who came closest to winning the competition in successive seasons between then and now.
Milan 1995
Milan are the last club to have successfully defended the European Cup, with Arrigo Sacchi’s men triumphing in both 1989 and 1990. The Rossoneri were also crowned kings of the continent in the 1993/94 campaign, when Fabio Capello’s watertight unit conceded only two goals in 12 matches on their way to the prize, which was secured with a 4-0 thumping of Barcelona in Athens’ Olympic Stadium.
A team featuring Paolo Maldini, Marcel Desailly, Roberto Donadoni, Zvonimir Boban and Franco Baresi were a little less solid the following season, but they still managed to successfully negotiate their path to the showpiece event in Vienna. It looked for a long while like extra time was beckoning in their clash with Ajax, but frontman Patrick Kluivert struck in the 85th minute to end Milan’s dreams and take the trophy to Amsterdam.
Ajax 1996
Ajax themselves came close to retaining the trophy in 1995/96, but they too were denied in the final. The side which triumphed 12 months previously was jam-packed full of young and exciting talent, including Kluivert, Finidi George, Marc Overmars, Clarence Seedorf, Jari Litmanen, Edgar Davids, Edwin van der Sar and the De Boer twins, but the surprise factor that accompanied them in 1994/95 was not quite as strong the subsequent season.
Still, Louis van Gaal’s team remained one of the best in the competition, as they demonstrated with impressive victories over Real Madrid, Borussia Dortmund and Panathinaikos on their way to the final. Ajax fell behind against Juventus in Rome, but Litmanen found the net shortly before half-time to get the holders back on level terms; the scores remained locked at 1-1 after 120 minutes of action, but it was the Italians who held their nerves in the shoot-out to win the cup on penalties.
Juventus 1997
It was then Juventus’ turn to come close to back-to-back successes. The 2017 finalists have only won Europe’s premier competition twice, with the Bianconeri having fallen at the last remaining hurdle on six occasions – including 20 years ago.
Marcello Lippi’s men won five and drew one of their six group stage encounters to progress to the knockout rounds in style; they then dispatched of Rosenborg in the last eight and again got the better of Ajax in the semis, when Juve ran out convincing 6-2 aggregate winners.
A starting XI which included Didier Deschamps, Zinedine Zidane, Alessandro Del Piero and Christian Vieri was powerless to prevent Borussia Dortmund coming out on top in the final, though, as the Bundesliga outfit emerged victorious by three goals to one.
Manchester United 2009
A penalty shoot-out victory over fellow Premier League side Chelsea brought Manchester United the Champions League in 2008, and they made a good fist of trying to get their hands on the trophy 12 months later too. After topping a group containing Villarreal, Celtic and Aalborg before Christmas, Sir Alex Ferguson’s charges proved too strong for Inter, Porto and Arsenal in the knockout stage.
Unfortunately for the Red Devils, they ran into Pep Guardiola’s Barcelona in the final. The Catalans delivered a masterclass at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, winning 2-0 thanks to goals from Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi either side of half-time.
Barcelona 2010
Unlike the other clubs on this list, holders Barcelona did not make the final two years in a row. The aforementioned triumph over Manchester United was enough for the Blaugrana to win the 2008/09 edition of the Champions League, but it was Inter and Bayern Munich who contested the following year’s final in Madrid.
Nevertheless, things could have turned out very differently but for an ash cloud. The widespread cancellation of flights following the eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland forced Barcelona to travel to Milan by bus ahead of the first leg of their semi-final clash with Inter, who duly took advantage by securing a 3-1 win in front of their own supporters.
Inter’s back-to-the-walls nullification of Barcelona at the Camp Nou – the Italians lost 1-0 but advanced on aggregate – was undoubtedly impressive, but luck was clearly against Guardiola’s team in their semi-final tie. Had they found a way past Mourinho’s men, Barcelona would have been heavy favourites to defeat Bayern Munich and retain the Champions League trophy.
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