In 1987, AC Milan were at an uncertain point in their history. They hadn’t won a trophy
of note in nearly a decade, and after being taken over by Silvio Berlusconi
they had appointed Arrigo Sacchi, a former shoe salesman with little pedigree as a coach.
But Berlusconi also recruited three of the greatest players in the club’s history:
Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Marco van Basten. The three Dutchmen, known collectively as ‘tre
tulipani’, formed the core of a side that would dominate not only Italy, but Europe as well.
Milan’s image changed with Berlusconi’s arrival. After acquiring the debt-riddled club in February
1986, he announced the new era in flamboyant fashion. On a July morning, with Wagner’s Ride of
the Valkyries booming out through loud speakers, three helicopters descended from the skies and
landed at a local stadium in front of 10,000 Milan supporters. Out stepped the club directors,
the coaches, the first-team squad and – of course – the charismatic new owner.
Things were about to be different.
Earlier in the decade, the club had become an unlikely home for British players.
Joe Jordan, Luther Blissett, Ray Wilkins and Mark Hateley had all worn the black and red,
Hateley with some distinction, but – one year after Berlusconi had descended from
the skies – Milan’s identity was due an upgrade.
Van Basten and Gullit arrived together in the summer of 1987.
Gullit cost a world record fee of around £6million from PSV Eindhoven, while Van Basten,
despite a remarkable 128 league goals in 133 games with Ajax, was a relative bargain at £1million.
Gullit was an instant star,
playing in most positions on the pitch, smiling his way through his first season
and even playing in front of 3,000 people with his reggae band ‘Revelation Time’.
Van Basten’s impact was not quite as immediate, only managing 11 games in
an injury-scuppered season. But he did provide one crucial moment, scoring the decisive goal
in the season’s decisive match; the third in a 3-2 win over Diego Maradona’s Napoli,
which would ultimately clinch the 1987-88 Serie A title.
That summer Van Basten and Gullit would immortalise themselves with their national team,
and they returned to Milan with another member of that Euro ’88-winning Dutch side.
Rijkaard was signed from Sporting in Portugal, a sale so unpopular with the Lisbon club’s fans
that they surrounded the hotel where the transfer negotiations were taking place.
Upon his arrival, Rijkaard moved seamlessly into midfield, in front of a central defensive
partnership of Franco Baresi and Alessandro Costacurta. That season would feature perhaps
the two defining games of that era for Milan, in the latter stages of the European Cup: in
the semi-final they would destroy a brilliant Real Madrid side 5-0 in the second-leg, the fourth goal
seeing all three Dutchmen combine in the single moment that summed up their brilliance perfectly.
And then, in the final, Gullit and Van Basten shared the goals
as Milan battered Steaua Bucharest 4-0. Milan were 3-0 up inside 38 minutes,
completed the scoring just after half-time and could easily have won by ten.
They retained the trophy the following season, a Rijkaard goal enough to defeat
Sven Goran Eriksson’s Benfica in the final. With five goals between them in two victorious
European Cup finals, the Dutchmen had already established their legend status at San Siro.
The team was dubbed ‘Gli Immortali’ - ‘The Immortals’. To prove the point,
in both 1988 and 1989, Milan had the top three players in the Ballon d’Or voting:
the three Dutchmen, then Baresi sandwiched by Van Basten and Rijkaard.
In 1991 Sacchi departed for the Italian national team, but under Fabio Capello Milan and the
Dutchmen had probably their greatest ever season. They went unbeaten throughout the campaign,
scoring 74 goals and winning the Scudetto by eight points - and this in a Serie A that only awarded
two points for a win. It’s no coincidence that this was the only season that Gullit,
Rijkaard and Van Basten were all consistently fit - Van Basten, in particular, was untouchable,
scoring 25 goals in 31 games, in a division notorious for its defensive standards.
And it would be the last time all three were together for any significant period.
By the 1992/93 season Milan had spent big on new talent, including Dejan Savicevic, Zvonimir
Boban and Jean-Pierre Papin, and as Serie A still restricted each team to only three foreigners in
any one line-up, it meant that someone had to be left out – and that was most often Gullit.
It would cause him to frequently clash with Capello and, in 1993, having been omitted
from the squad for Champions League final and with long-term concerns about a knee injury,
Gullit was allowed to leave on loan to Sampdoria.
The same year Rijkaard departed for a sentimental return to Ajax,
where he would mentor the great generation of talent that would win the 1995 Champions League.
But for Van Basten, the end of his time at Milan would be more tragic – and would have
its legacy in an ankle injury which dated back to his time at Ajax and which had
worsened because of his determination to play through the resulting pain.
In December 1992, the day after collecting his third Ballon d’Or,
Van Basten ignored Milan’s advice and chose to have surgery.
The result was the worsening of the condition. Van Basten would have a 22-screw frame
fitted around his ankle and, within six months, his career would be over at just 28.
He would officially announce his retirement in 1995,
but his last game was the 1993 Champions League final against Marseille. It was a harrowing sight.
An uncharacteristically sentimental selection from Capello allowed van Basten to limp around,
clearly unfit, in a game that Milan would lose 1-0.
He appeared at San Siro one more time, during a pre-season friendly
when even Capello was in tears. “I felt like I was at my own funeral,” said Van Basten.
Gullit, Rijkaard and Van Basten were together at Milan for five years, and only really consistently
performed together for one full season. But their legacy extends beyond just that.
They will be forever immortal, as the key men in perhaps the greatest club team we’ve ever seen.