It was Arrigo Sacchi's second season with the Rossoneri following a debut campaign, which culminated in AC Milan winning the Scudetto at Como's Stadio Sinigaglia. The aim for 1988/89, as a result, was European Cup glory. The famous Dutch trio came together for the season, with Frank Rijkaard joining Gullit and van Basten at the Club, though the latter had been injured in his first campaign with the Rossoneri. In the league, with 18 teams for the first time in 21 years, the Rossoneri lost ground early on to Trapattoni's Inter, who won the league by a large margin ahead of Napoli and AC Milan. In June the Rossoneri beat Sampdoria 3-1 winning their first Supercoppa Italiana; Rijkaard, Mannari and van Basten got the goals.
Our European Cup run, however, was tough but exciting. AC Milan knocked out Vitosha Sofia in the first round before triumphing over Crvena Zvezda on penalties in the fog in Belgrade. We beat Werder Bremen in the quarters before an unforgettable two-legged semi-final against Real Madrid. A 1-1 at the Bernabéu gave was to a 5-0 win at San Siro as the Rossoneri booked their ticket to the final in Barcelona. On 24 May 1989 at Camp Nou, it was all AC Milan. Over 90,000 spectators packed into the stands to watch our 4-0 win over Steaua Bucharest as we lifted the European Cup for the third time in our history, 20 years on from winning it in 1969.
