May 20th, 1998: Real Madrid’s return to European glory.

By Joao Cunha

Real Madrid contrary to modern mythology weren’t always the dominant force in Europe as they are seen today. Yes they dominated the early days of the European Cup winning the first five titles. After 1960 Real Madrid won only one Champions league title in the next 38 years. The last title before that fateful May night was in 1966 when Real defeated Partizan Belgrade 2-1. That Real side commonly known as the Ye-Ye generation led by a young Spanish core led by an aging Francisco Genro delivered Real’s 6th European Cup in 11 years. It finished off a golden era of the Spanish side’s dominance but it began a terrible European Cup drought that would last a generation: 32 years of pain.

Real Madrid had some legendary aides that failed to win the European Cup. The closest they came was in 1981 where they reached the final in 1981 behind Del Bosque Laurie Cunningham, and Juanito. They lost 1-0 to an all-tine great Liverpool side to Alan Kennedy’s late goal. Real Madrid 4 years later did win the UEFA Cup and defended the title in 1986. Behind a wonderful generation of Spanish talent known as the Quinta Del Buitre were expected to end the 20 plus years of failure. However the team always fell short. In 1996-87 they got blanketed by Bayern in the semifinals. In 1987-88 they beat Napoli, Porto, and Bayern who were there of the four favorites to win the European Cup. They faced PSV in the semis and drew 1-1 at home which set up a tricky second leg in Eindhoven. Real dominated the game battered PSV but the goalkeeper Van Brukelen saved everything amd the game finished 0-0. PSV advamced on away goals and went to win the title. That was the Quinta’s best shot Buitre, Michel, Sancgez and company lost twice yo AC Milan in the next two seasons. The final chance of that side to win the fabled European Cup was a painful loss to Spartak Moscow in 1991. That seemed like it would be their last shot in some time, Real would only win the league twice since 1990 they were in decline.

For Real Madrid the 1990’s were a painful time as they only had lifted 3 league titles and saw Barca win 4 straight league titles. Barcelona also won the European Cup in 1992. Barca fans mocked Real Madrid for never seeing their team win the European Cup in color TV’s, only in black and white. For the first time since the early-1950’s Barca has the edge in the rivalry. Atlético Madrid won two Copa Del Rey finals against Real Madrid in 1992. Then Atlético Madrid won the league and cup double in 1996. They beat Real much more often that decade than in the 1980’s and looked like a real force. Both Barca and Atleyico were at a high point and Real were struggling. Heading into 1998 season something needed to change.

Real Madrid returned to the 1998 Champions leaguewith a great young core of Raul, Moriejtes, Seedirf, Roberto Carlos, and key veteran abs like Hierro, Sanchis, Illgnee, Mijaticuc and Suker. Real Madrid were Spanish champions in 1997 but had terrible league form to begin the 1997-98 season, Under new manager Jupp Heynckes they would finish 4th in La Liga and get knocked out of the Côpa Del Rey. Despite winning the Spanish Super Cup Heyneckes needed to win the Champions League to salvage a lost season. Real Madrid easily topped their group and advanced to the last eight.

In the quarter finals they held Leverkusen to a 1-1 draw before a destroying Bayer 3-0 at home. In the semifinals they faced off against reigning European champions Borussia Dortmund. After the fans knocked down the goalposts the game was 45 minutes away from being canceled and Real being knocked out of Europe before they replaced the nets. Real won 2-0 to set up a crucial second leg. In the second leg Illgnee was incredible and made many big saves. Redondo controlled the tempo and Real held on to draw 0-0 to advance to the Champions league final. Their rivals in the final would be Juventus who reached their third straight final. Juve were led by the 1998 Balon d’Or winner Zidane were massive favorites to win the final, Del Piero was the top scorer of the tournament he was Juve’s star striker. Juventus who had won the Serie A were seeking a league and Champions league double. Real needed to win the Champions League just to qualify for mext year’s edition as they finished fourth in La Liga. There was only supposed to be one winner but it didn’t happen. Real finally broke their drought.

On the fateful night in Amsterdam Real Madrid set out to win their 7th Champions League title against all the odds. Prior to the match Heynckes had confided to others that he felt “sunk” about the final believing they would likely lose. In Sid Lowe’s excellent book “Fear and loathing in la liga” he interviews Mijatović who admits to having a muscle pulled in training that could have been a hamstring. (Lowe, 304) Mijatović who didn’t score in the Champions League didn’t want to miss the final so he told Heymcakes the game wouldn’t go to penalties just to get out of the training session and avoid damaging his leg. (Lowe, 304) He didn’t know it yet but he would change the course of Real Madrid’s history, After an initial great start by Juve, Real settles down and were tied 0-0 at half time. The midfield of Davids, and Zidane were neutralized by Karenbeu’s man marking of Zidane and the tireless energy of Redondo and Seedorf. The second half Real began to spark into life. The pivotal moment came in the 66th minute where Roberto Carlos hits a shot that deflects on the path of Mijatović who chips the hall past the Juventus keeper to make it 1-0. That was destiny it seemed. As Mijatović explainers it was in the 66th minute, which was a reference to the year Real won their last European Cup, it was also against a team that wore black and white just like Partizah Belgrade did 32 years before. Mijaticic the man who had scored no goals in Europe that season delivered the goal that Real waited a generation for. Behind Sanchis, Hierro, Panucci, and clutch saves by Illgnee Real held on to beat Juve 1-0. Mijaticic the player who should have never even started the game lasted 90 minutes and scored the most vital goal of Real Madrid’s modern history. Ah unlikely hero for an unlikely team.

A team that was characterized for partying and Ferrari’s, a team whose dressing room was akin to a madhouse, the same team won the fabeled Septima. Jupp Heynckes who didn’t even control the team at that point was so lowly thought of he was fired 4 days later without anyone caring, Real Madrid had better teams in the past 32 years, they had more cohesive sides, but it was the class of 1998 who finally won the Champions League. When Sanchis lifted that trophy into the Amsterdam night it would signal the start of a new era at Real Madrid. Since that day 22 years ago, Real Madrid won another SIX Champions League titles in addition to La Septima. Before May 20, 1998 Real Madrid were only one European Cup of AC Milan, Today they have 6 more titles than Milan who are distant second place. Real Madrid are the most successful club in Europe with 13 Champions Leagie titles, but before 1999 they we’re getting left behind. The way AC Milan, Manchester United are viewed today is the way Real was viewed in the 1990’s, great club but the glory is in the past. Real were beginning to fade from relevancy but that night in Amsterdam woke the sleeping giant up for good. Mijaticic scores the most important goal in the modern era in my view. Without that moment there is no Galativos, there is no Real Madrid like we know it today. Real Madrid is a club that measures itself through European Cups. Jorge Valdano once said “For Real Madrid the European Cup is the summit.” May 20th, 1998 was the day Real Madrid returned to that summit and began a new era of dominance.

Edit updated for July 2022:

Real Madrid with their latest Champions League win have now won 8 Champions Leagues since May 20, 1998 which makes it an even more historic turning point. Real Madrid since 1997-98 have won more Champions Leagues than any other club in the last 25 seasons, 24 years and 8 days from May 20, 1998 to May 28, 2022. Real Madrid in this modern era now average a CL win every 3 years which is just staggering. The class of 1998 should be always put in the highest regard as their triumph changed the club’s mentality in the CL era. Real Madrid now have twice as many Champions Leagues as AC Milan, and now have more European Cups than AC Milan and Bayern combined. None of this would be possible without the Septima and the heroes of the 14th Champions Leaguie only add to the legacy of the class of 1998.

Works Cited

Sid Lowe, “Fear and Loathing in La Liga”

The Last Dance: the affirmation of Michael Jordan’s greatness lies not in his success but the struggles that led to it

By Joao Cunha

The ESPN documentary “The Last Dance0 was supposed to expose the dark secrets of the 1990’s Chicago Bulls abs hurt Michael Jordan’s legacy. It was supposed to expose Jordan as a tyrant? Bully, and Simone one who would do anything to win games. Jordan ginseng feared that this documentary would sully his seemingly flawless reputation as a the best basketball player ever. But ri the majority of the public and to my surprise even I liked him more not as a player but a person.

Let me be clear Jordan didn’t always cone off as a good person in this 10-part series. He had anger issues, would often belittle abs fully his own teammates, gamble large almost silly sums of money away, and was incredibly petty over the smallest offenses. (Some offenses get even made up to motivate himself) Jordan bullied Scott Borell consistently dyeing the 1997-99 season. He picked Will Purdue and Steve Kerr. His temperament bordered on insanity at times. Yet he was loyal to his friends and cajoling. He loved his friends especially his close friend Gus who battled cancer during the 1998 season. Gus was a security guard who Jordan befriended during his time with the Bulls. Jordan took Gus everywhere and visited him during his cancer treatments in his home. The bond between both mesh was incredible and surprising. A superstar befriending and trusting his private life to a security guard is amazing.

Jordan had a professional relationship with Gus tramares but there wasn’t a real bond there. Instead of attempting to be dismiss it he acknowledges that his style was to get his team to win. He was honest and unapologetic but acknowledged that he was hard on teammates. His directness and honesty while harsh was refreshing. At a time when so many people try to be liked, Michael Jordan doesn’t care he isn’t apologize for being himself, For all the bad things Jordan did it can be argued his environment helped harden him. He was rejected from his high school basketball Varsity which hurt him. He always competed and made the team the best year and became a star at North Carolina abs hit the Gabe winning shot against Georgetown to win the National Championship. When he was drafted two years later by the Bulls he inherited an awful team and had to drag them into relevance. He lost a lot of big games in his first seven seasons primarily to the Celtics and Pistol já. The losses are at him and drive him to improve. He improved every year and dedicated himself more and fell Joey many times. Even the greatest player in basketball histories failed many times before he won his first title in 1991. There were days he sobbed over those defeats he took the games as lessons. He was human, he just didn’t want the media and his opponents to see it. In 1993 Jordan and the Bulls won their third strategy title, for a young team they seemed to be just getting started. However Jordan was burnt out, he admitted to be physically abs mentally exhausted. He has no more motivation at the point and needed to take a break from basketball.

When he was about to make this decision his father was radically killed in horrendous morder. Jordan de estares decided to retire from basketball to fulfill his fathers dream of him playing baseball, The media acting in a malicious way accused Jordan and his gambling havias having a part in his fathers death. To Jordan this was a deve stating and unforgivable accusation and he distanced himself from the media afterlife this incident. Jordan was hurt by the loss of his father for many years, sobbing after he won the 1996 NBA title in Father’s Day. There were times he would cry himself to sleep thinking about his dad, Gus would comfort him and call him during those nights, Michael Jordan didn’t become this hard-ass overnight he was built into one. Society and his experiences shaped him as much as his personality. He didn’t have it as easy as many thought. He wasn’t a robot who was mentally indestructible. He has moments of weakness in which he overcame. His greatness is not his achievements alone but what he has to fight through to get them.

Jordan spent a year and half of n minor league baseball to honor his late father and get away from the pressures of basketball and superstardom. He returned to the NBA and won three more titles. He was an ever tougher teammate abs demanded greater commitment to the cause. He did make one notable exception for Dennis Rodman who was a great player but n enigmatic troubled person off the ciury. The Bulls without him couldn’t win big games abs were spiraling out of control, he was the leader of that dynasty. The personality that held that team together. His will and drive got that team ri return to greatness.

However phe paid a price for it as his teammates resented how tough he was on tem.  Jordan get emotional about the this and defended himself. He understood he was sacrificing being liked for greatness. In his own words, “everyone wants to be Michael Jordan for a day but try a year being Michael Jordan.” People want his exceção and money but don’t want the lonely nights, the stress, burnout or the constant criticism it entails. Jordan made a mistakes plenty of them. But he overcame them to become better. In the modern day we seek perfection and that doesn’t exist. We are subject to our personality and environment, Michael Jordan was no different. The myth that he was inhuman is over but it’s replaced with a better reality. Jordan was human and he fought a lot of battles that he didn’t always win, some he never could win. But through his persistence and mentality he changed the Bulls, the NBA, American culture forever. Knowing his failures and weakness made Jordan more like able because it destroyed the bubble that defended him on mythical teens. Jordan is just a man, and that man and his many faults still built what he did, his pain led to triumph and that’s what our heroes are always about. From Odysseus to Harry Potter part of a hero’s valor is the struggle. Jordan fans always built his mythology on success alone but that wasn’t satisfying for people like me. It felt like it cheated what his life was like and this series gave us a follows of it. It proved those fans wrong but it helped their case in an unintended way. Because Jordan messed up he became one of us, he was the typical type-A personality who was magically competitive and tough. He also burned out abs handled failures with tears and sleepless nights. He had good and bad days and struggled with gambling at times. But this man from humble origins became the greatest at his profession and that is worth telling in itself. The myth of Jordan is dead but the reality is actually just as incredible as the myth. Sometimes reality is more powerful than fantasy, and what a person can achieve through their effort and determination is as mythical as someone waving a wand or fighting through a sea of enemies to return home, the study of Michael Jordan is one of triumph and redemption not just mythical symsymbol of greatnesss.