3. Red Star Belgrade (1991)
One of my major grievances with modern football is that the top tier of European clubs seems to be ever shrinking. The best clubs are the only teams considered for the top players and they seem to be winning the Champions League on a more regular basis. Real Madrid, Barcelona, Manchester United and maybe Chelsea and Bayern Munich would be regarded among the best, but thats it. The three main Serie A teams; Juventus, AC Milan and Inter, are not among the top teams anymore, while the heavy-spenders Manchester City and PSG have yet to reach the top. Arsenal cant attract the very best due to wage restrictions and Liverpool have not been in the Champions League since 2009-10. It leads to some very predictable football. Remember the days when PSV and Ajax had a chance at winning the Champions League? When Steaua Bucuresti and Red Star Belgrade could upset the odds? From the ten Champions League winners in the 90s, seven different national leagues were represented. In the last ten years that has dropped to four and with the dominance of the Premier League and the two Spanish giants the next ten years could see it drop to two. The major football nations are mostly from the west, but in 1991 an eastern European team from Yugoslavia defied the odds to win the greatest prize in club football. It was East Vs West and money against nationality. Marseille were under the control of Bernard Tapie; a controversial figure to say the least. The club won four French league championships in a row and secured a Champions League trophy in 93 courtesy of the heavy spending supported by Tapie. He was eventually investigated in 94 and was found to have bribed opposition teams and although they were stripped of their French title, they kept the European Cup. Marseille boasted stars like Chris Waddle, Jean-Pierre Papin, Abedi Pele, Jean Tigana and even the former Red Star player Dragan Stojkovic. Red Star on the other hand had invested in attracting the best Yugoslavian players to Belgrade. For the final all but one of the entire 16-man squad were from the country. Red Star had been planning to win the Champions League since 86 so they arrived in Italy six days before the final. After 120 minutes the teams were still level and penalties beckoned. The legendary Robert Prosinecki scored the first penalty and Red Star took the lead when Manuel Amoros failed to score his spot-kick. By the fifth round of penalties the score was 4-3 and if Darko Pancev scored Red Star would be champions. Pancev thumped the ball straight down the middle and into the net. It was one of the last times Yugoslavia would celebrate as one.