They were heavy favourites to go back-to-back in 1995, only to be edged out by Louis van Gaals youthful Ajax. Kroos is a metronomic passer, always using the ball intelligently and often giving the impression hes playing in carpet slippers, while Modric is touched by genius and excels when taking possession and conjuring something in tight spaces. Each of those was, of course, against Liverpool, and Milan gained revenge in 2007 after they improbably blew a 3-0 half-time lead in Istanbul two years earlier. The turn of the century brought a move towards packed midfields and few were as stuffed with talent as Carlo Ancelottis Milan. Iniesta-Busquets-Xavi VS Kroos-Casemiro-Modric, Iniesta-Busquets-Xavi VS Kroos-Casemiro-Modric - Confronti tecnici (comments), Iniesta-Busquets-Xavi VS Kroos-Casemiro-Modric - Confronti tecnici.
Ancelotti would be the perfect person to make the comparison and there is something of the Pirlo-Gattuso-Seedorf balance to the trio he inherited from Zinedine Zidane. The beast of the equation was the hard-running, hot-headed and heart-on-sleeve Gennaro Gattuso, while Clarence Seedorf was a Total Football diamond forged at Ajax and polished at Real Madrid. It made for an unlikely but formidable partnership with Demetrio Albertini, Milans sublime central-midfield metronome.
), United were able to more easily transfer their form in England onto the continental stage. Vintage. On May 28 they tangle with Liverpool in the 2022 UEFA Champions League final, seeking to combine once more in midfield to beat the Reds in a title match as they did nearly four years prior to the day. Paul :boom: Scholes :boom:#MUFC | #POTD pic.twitter.com/5jiFDEfUrv.
:football2: 22' Massaro
By the time Luis Enrique led them to glory in 2014-15, Xavi was in his last season at Camp Nou and his replacement in first XI, Ivan Rakitic, opened the scoring in the 3-1 final win over Juventus in Berlin. Their ongoing preeminence has given rise to some concerns over Madrids next generation, with the likes of Federico Valverde and Eduardo Camavinga short on expected game time as a result. Pirlo, Gattuso and Seedorf all stayed on, but subsequent last-16 losses to Arsenal, United and Tottenham showed the magic had faded. Although all three remain masters of their craft, its conceivable that this final could be their last major European assignment in tandem.
Secondo voi quale centrocampo , oppure stato, pi forte? Another veteran of Arrigo Sacchis tenure, the tireless Roberto Donadoni, provided a contrasting threat on the right to Boban on the left. 3 - Luka Modric is the oldest player (35y 209d) to assist in three consecutive Champions League games since Ryan Giggs for Manchester United in April 2011, who did so aged 37. The quartet laid waste to Johan Cruyffs Barcelona Dream Team in the 1994 final, where Desailly was brilliantly on the scoresheet. Gattuso-@Pirlo_official-Seedorf: three-man midfield perfection :top: 10 playing ahead of Ancelottis midfield trident and his Milan truly had lift-off. When entertainment turns into a surreal reflection of your life, you're a lucky man if you can laugh at the joke. No other midfield of this era can match Modric, Kroos and Casemiros achievement of winning three in a row, and the near misses suffered by the incredible combinations detailed elsewhere underlines how formidable their feat is.
His alliance in central midfield with Roy Keane was perfectly grooved, while David Beckhams precision deliveries and Ryan Giggss pace and dribbling abilities meant United were a nightmare from the flanks, too. Xavi's ultimate five-a-side team: Valdes, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi. :football2: 58' Desailly If they pull it off against the odds again, then we might have to reassess.
MORE: How Fenway Sports Group transformed Liverpool into a Champions League power. Lionel Messi's presence made it easy to attribute their success to a one-off phenomenon, but the way this playing style has been transferred elsewhere and thrived marks the midfield collective and their coach out as true pioneers. Large helpings of luck and fleets of parked buses meant Barca never made it back-to-back European titles under Guardiola, with Inter and Chelsea frustrating them in the 2010 and 2012 semi-finals respectively. Oh dear, this is going to cause some Clasico consternation, but theyve missed out on top spot just. Quello del Bara il miglior centrocampo di sempre nella storia del calcio, roba da far impallidire quello attuale del Real che di gran lunga il migliore al mondo da anni. Is Real Madrids midfield the best in Champions League history? Coach Carlos perfect mix: watch more, exclusively on our App :calling:https://t.co/k2zluibzhx
Iniesta e Xavi son di un'altra galassia rispetto agli altri citati e Busquets al suo apice era meglio di Casemiro, su Iniesta e Xavi bastano da soli a giustificare il voto.
Casemiro gets through a remarkable amount of dirty work, laying the platform for his esteemed colleagues to thrive.
#UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/XeIgctJQUk. It was a similar story in a more emphatic 3-1 triumph when the sides met at Wembley two years later, with Iniesta, Xavi and Sergio Busquets combining to plonk United on what Ferguson had previously termed the passing carousel. Aided by the abolition of the previously mentioned three overseas rule (no need to bench Peter Schmeichel for a hammering at Camp Nou anymore!
:football2: 45+3' Massaro But Casemiro, Kroos and Modric together remain Los Blancos best chance of glory this year. But where the likes of Jose Mourinhos Porto and Chelsea sides had a hard, pragmatic edge, the inimitable Andrea Pirlo brought beauty to the Serie A sides play. The Rossoneri were hardly short of quality central defensive options, which meant Desailly found himself deployed as a roving, powerhouse midfielder. This combination still couldn't salvage one of the dullest Champions League finals in living memory when Milan played out a 0-0 draw with Juventus before winning on penalties in 2003. Fabio Capellos Milan were the defining team of the years immediately after the European Cup became the Champions League, although they lost the first final of the new era 1-0 to Marseille in 1993. I diamanti preziosi nel centrocampo di Mister Ancelotti, in esclusiva sulla nostra App :calling:@emirates #SempreMilan pic.twitter.com/3v9H3DTTez. A lacklustre semi-final loss to eventual winners Borussia Dortmund in 1997 helped to bring about a key change, with Paul Scholes graduating from promising youngster to regular starter. Come qualit totale meglio il centrocampo Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets, ci mancherebbe altro, ma io ho scelto invece quello Modric-Kroos-Casemiro perch stato pi continuo negli anni, permettendo al Real Madrid di arrivare a una serie di successi invidiabile. Ask anyone to name the finest midfield of the early years of the Premier League and this one trips off the tongue. Keanes performance in the 1999 win at Juventus to book a place in the final stands as arguably the finest individual European display in the clubs illustrious history. Nevertheless, it will always be Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets that define this Barcelona: the team that defined an era. pic.twitter.com/0fr7RDrR1E.
That perfect triangle was at the heart of Madrids incredible run of three successive Champions League triumphs between 2016 and 2018, with Casemiro on target in the 4-1 victory over Juventus in 2017 and Modric scooping the 2018 Ballon dOr to end a decade of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi dominance. Copyright 2022 Sporting News Holdings Limited. United started well, but Iniesta slipped a pass through for Samuel Etoo to open the scoring and from that point, the Premier League giants barely laid a glove on Barca as they eased to a 2-0 win. :red_circle::black_circle: #OnThisDay in 1994, AC Milan produced one of the great #UCLfinal performances before lifting the #UCL :trophy: pic.twitter.com/Yl6aZCCDXf. Two notable features from that match were mercurial Croatian playmaker Zvonimir Boban missing out due to UEFAs rule restricting teams to three foreign players in their matchday squads, while young defender Marcel Desailly played for the Ligue 1 side. Ranking Modric, Kroos and Casemiro among competitions greatest, How Fenway Sports Group transformed Liverpool into a Champions League power. Barca were fortunate to squeak past Chelsea in the semi-finals thanks to Andres Iniestas injury-time screamer at Stamford Bridge and many made a Manchester United side looking for back-to-back titles and boasting Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez in attack the favourites for the 2009 final in Rome. :football2: 47' Savievi They might have a combined age of 98, but Real Madrid are as reliant now as they ever were on their supreme midfield trio of Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Casemiro. With that in mind, it feels like a good time to have a look at where we think they rank among the best five midfields of the Champions League era (so, since 1992). The success of Pirlo and Seedorf showed the early and mid-2000s were about more than just brute physicality, but Pep Guardiolas decision to lean fully into the fruits of La Masia when he took over at Barcelona in 2008 still felt questionable. Verons move to United might not have been a success on its own terms, but Ferguson rightly detected the winds of change.
It meant Fergusons most famous quartet would never feature together in the showpiece, with subsequent semi-final losses to Real Madrid and Bayern persuading the Old Trafford boss to splash out on Juan Sebastian Veron in 2001 and move away from 4-4-2 in Europe. After that, Kaka replaced cult hero Rui Costa as the No. Boban would not be left out in the cold for significant games again as Marco van Bastens career-ending injury woes bumped Boban up the foreigners pecking order, while Milan plucked Desailly from the match-fixing scandal that engulfed the freshly minted European champions. Alex Fergusons United had already won a couple of domestic doubles in the mid-1990s but it was his team at the end of the decade that took their achievements global. There were a pair of memorable wins over United en route to the 2005 and 2007 finals. Avrei votato quello del Barcellona se non ci fosse stato Busquets. However, Scholes and Keane sat out the final through suspension as a patched-up midfield featuring Jesper Blomqvist found a way past Bayern Munich in unforgettably dramatic fashion.
Ancelotti would be the perfect person to make the comparison and there is something of the Pirlo-Gattuso-Seedorf balance to the trio he inherited from Zinedine Zidane. The beast of the equation was the hard-running, hot-headed and heart-on-sleeve Gennaro Gattuso, while Clarence Seedorf was a Total Football diamond forged at Ajax and polished at Real Madrid. It made for an unlikely but formidable partnership with Demetrio Albertini, Milans sublime central-midfield metronome.
), United were able to more easily transfer their form in England onto the continental stage. Vintage. On May 28 they tangle with Liverpool in the 2022 UEFA Champions League final, seeking to combine once more in midfield to beat the Reds in a title match as they did nearly four years prior to the day. Paul :boom: Scholes :boom:#MUFC | #POTD pic.twitter.com/5jiFDEfUrv.
:football2: 22' Massaro
By the time Luis Enrique led them to glory in 2014-15, Xavi was in his last season at Camp Nou and his replacement in first XI, Ivan Rakitic, opened the scoring in the 3-1 final win over Juventus in Berlin. Their ongoing preeminence has given rise to some concerns over Madrids next generation, with the likes of Federico Valverde and Eduardo Camavinga short on expected game time as a result. Pirlo, Gattuso and Seedorf all stayed on, but subsequent last-16 losses to Arsenal, United and Tottenham showed the magic had faded. Although all three remain masters of their craft, its conceivable that this final could be their last major European assignment in tandem.
Secondo voi quale centrocampo , oppure stato, pi forte? Another veteran of Arrigo Sacchis tenure, the tireless Roberto Donadoni, provided a contrasting threat on the right to Boban on the left. 3 - Luka Modric is the oldest player (35y 209d) to assist in three consecutive Champions League games since Ryan Giggs for Manchester United in April 2011, who did so aged 37. The quartet laid waste to Johan Cruyffs Barcelona Dream Team in the 1994 final, where Desailly was brilliantly on the scoresheet. Gattuso-@Pirlo_official-Seedorf: three-man midfield perfection :top: 10 playing ahead of Ancelottis midfield trident and his Milan truly had lift-off. When entertainment turns into a surreal reflection of your life, you're a lucky man if you can laugh at the joke. No other midfield of this era can match Modric, Kroos and Casemiros achievement of winning three in a row, and the near misses suffered by the incredible combinations detailed elsewhere underlines how formidable their feat is.
His alliance in central midfield with Roy Keane was perfectly grooved, while David Beckhams precision deliveries and Ryan Giggss pace and dribbling abilities meant United were a nightmare from the flanks, too. Xavi's ultimate five-a-side team: Valdes, Busquets, Xavi, Iniesta, Messi. :football2: 58' Desailly If they pull it off against the odds again, then we might have to reassess.
MORE: How Fenway Sports Group transformed Liverpool into a Champions League power. Lionel Messi's presence made it easy to attribute their success to a one-off phenomenon, but the way this playing style has been transferred elsewhere and thrived marks the midfield collective and their coach out as true pioneers. Large helpings of luck and fleets of parked buses meant Barca never made it back-to-back European titles under Guardiola, with Inter and Chelsea frustrating them in the 2010 and 2012 semi-finals respectively. Oh dear, this is going to cause some Clasico consternation, but theyve missed out on top spot just. Quello del Bara il miglior centrocampo di sempre nella storia del calcio, roba da far impallidire quello attuale del Real che di gran lunga il migliore al mondo da anni. Is Real Madrids midfield the best in Champions League history? Coach Carlos perfect mix: watch more, exclusively on our App :calling:https://t.co/k2zluibzhx
Iniesta e Xavi son di un'altra galassia rispetto agli altri citati e Busquets al suo apice era meglio di Casemiro, su Iniesta e Xavi bastano da soli a giustificare il voto.
Casemiro gets through a remarkable amount of dirty work, laying the platform for his esteemed colleagues to thrive.
#UCLfinal pic.twitter.com/XeIgctJQUk. It was a similar story in a more emphatic 3-1 triumph when the sides met at Wembley two years later, with Iniesta, Xavi and Sergio Busquets combining to plonk United on what Ferguson had previously termed the passing carousel. Aided by the abolition of the previously mentioned three overseas rule (no need to bench Peter Schmeichel for a hammering at Camp Nou anymore!
:football2: 45+3' Massaro But Casemiro, Kroos and Modric together remain Los Blancos best chance of glory this year. But where the likes of Jose Mourinhos Porto and Chelsea sides had a hard, pragmatic edge, the inimitable Andrea Pirlo brought beauty to the Serie A sides play. The Rossoneri were hardly short of quality central defensive options, which meant Desailly found himself deployed as a roving, powerhouse midfielder. This combination still couldn't salvage one of the dullest Champions League finals in living memory when Milan played out a 0-0 draw with Juventus before winning on penalties in 2003. Fabio Capellos Milan were the defining team of the years immediately after the European Cup became the Champions League, although they lost the first final of the new era 1-0 to Marseille in 1993. I diamanti preziosi nel centrocampo di Mister Ancelotti, in esclusiva sulla nostra App :calling:@emirates #SempreMilan pic.twitter.com/3v9H3DTTez. A lacklustre semi-final loss to eventual winners Borussia Dortmund in 1997 helped to bring about a key change, with Paul Scholes graduating from promising youngster to regular starter. Come qualit totale meglio il centrocampo Xavi-Iniesta-Busquets, ci mancherebbe altro, ma io ho scelto invece quello Modric-Kroos-Casemiro perch stato pi continuo negli anni, permettendo al Real Madrid di arrivare a una serie di successi invidiabile. Ask anyone to name the finest midfield of the early years of the Premier League and this one trips off the tongue. Keanes performance in the 1999 win at Juventus to book a place in the final stands as arguably the finest individual European display in the clubs illustrious history. Nevertheless, it will always be Xavi, Iniesta and Busquets that define this Barcelona: the team that defined an era. pic.twitter.com/0fr7RDrR1E.
That perfect triangle was at the heart of Madrids incredible run of three successive Champions League triumphs between 2016 and 2018, with Casemiro on target in the 4-1 victory over Juventus in 2017 and Modric scooping the 2018 Ballon dOr to end a decade of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi dominance. Copyright 2022 Sporting News Holdings Limited. United started well, but Iniesta slipped a pass through for Samuel Etoo to open the scoring and from that point, the Premier League giants barely laid a glove on Barca as they eased to a 2-0 win. :red_circle::black_circle: #OnThisDay in 1994, AC Milan produced one of the great #UCLfinal performances before lifting the #UCL :trophy: pic.twitter.com/Yl6aZCCDXf. Two notable features from that match were mercurial Croatian playmaker Zvonimir Boban missing out due to UEFAs rule restricting teams to three foreign players in their matchday squads, while young defender Marcel Desailly played for the Ligue 1 side. Ranking Modric, Kroos and Casemiro among competitions greatest, How Fenway Sports Group transformed Liverpool into a Champions League power. Barca were fortunate to squeak past Chelsea in the semi-finals thanks to Andres Iniestas injury-time screamer at Stamford Bridge and many made a Manchester United side looking for back-to-back titles and boasting Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and Carlos Tevez in attack the favourites for the 2009 final in Rome. :football2: 47' Savievi They might have a combined age of 98, but Real Madrid are as reliant now as they ever were on their supreme midfield trio of Luka Modric, Toni Kroos and Casemiro. With that in mind, it feels like a good time to have a look at where we think they rank among the best five midfields of the Champions League era (so, since 1992). The success of Pirlo and Seedorf showed the early and mid-2000s were about more than just brute physicality, but Pep Guardiolas decision to lean fully into the fruits of La Masia when he took over at Barcelona in 2008 still felt questionable. Verons move to United might not have been a success on its own terms, but Ferguson rightly detected the winds of change.
It meant Fergusons most famous quartet would never feature together in the showpiece, with subsequent semi-final losses to Real Madrid and Bayern persuading the Old Trafford boss to splash out on Juan Sebastian Veron in 2001 and move away from 4-4-2 in Europe. After that, Kaka replaced cult hero Rui Costa as the No. Boban would not be left out in the cold for significant games again as Marco van Bastens career-ending injury woes bumped Boban up the foreigners pecking order, while Milan plucked Desailly from the match-fixing scandal that engulfed the freshly minted European champions. Alex Fergusons United had already won a couple of domestic doubles in the mid-1990s but it was his team at the end of the decade that took their achievements global. There were a pair of memorable wins over United en route to the 2005 and 2007 finals. Avrei votato quello del Barcellona se non ci fosse stato Busquets. However, Scholes and Keane sat out the final through suspension as a patched-up midfield featuring Jesper Blomqvist found a way past Bayern Munich in unforgettably dramatic fashion.