Ancelotti emerges from the shadows of Sacchi and Capello

Following last week's Champions League final against Liverpool, Milan's high-ranking official Adriano Galliani hailed coach Carlo Ancelotti for having started a new era at the club.

Ancelotti compares really well when taking into consideration the number of major trophies won by his illustrious predecessors - Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello. Indeed, no mean feat for a coach who in a two-year stint at Juventus before joining Milan had failed to leave his mark.

One obvious question follows: which Milan team was the best?

Sacchi was a huge gamble taken by president Silvio Ber-lusconi in the late 1980s.

At the time, Sacchi was still a novice in top level management. Before joining Milan, he was in charge of Parma in Serie B. However, Sacchi's tactical acumen somehow convinced Berlusconi that he was the right man for the job.

Sacchi did not let Milan down as in a short span of time, he transformed the team from a mediocre outfit into a winning side that triumphed in Italy and won the European Cup in 1989 and 1990.

Sacchi's conquests were mainly on the international scene. Milan were practically unbeaten in the Champions Cup and lifted the Intercontinental Cup and European Supercup twice as well.

Milan's 5-0 drubbing of Real Madrid at the Meazza stadium and shortly after, a comprehensive 4-0 win over Steaua Bucharest in the 1989 Champions Cup final in Barcelona are two typical matches in which Sacchi's style came to the fore.

The way Milan used to choke opponents with their stifling pressing until they won the ball back and eventually finishing off the game was amazing.

When Sacchi left, Berlusconi took everyone by surprise again with the appointment of the relatively inexperienced Capello. But the latter did not lose time to emulate Sacchi and led the team to three consecutive Serie A titles. It was the time when Milan had to do without Dutch great Marco van Basten.

At the time, Berlusconi was clever enough to realise that the demands of domestic and European football would require a large squad. In this regard, he started investing in reserves of strength. No wonder that with Capello at the helm, Milan went on to reach three successive Champions League finals in 1993, 1994 and 1995, while, at the same time, they retained the Serie A crown.

Capello's Milan were very successful albeit they never produced the same kind of entertaining football of the Sacchi era. Milan's invincibility under Capello was underlined in 1991/92 when they went the whole season without defeat. This also set them up for the longest ever un-beaten run in the Serie A - 58 consecutive undefeated games.

Capello's defensive exploits were highlighted in 1993/94 when they set a Serie A record by conceding only 15 goals over a 34-game season. This was also the year when veteran goalkeeper Sebastiano Rossi went 929 minutes without suffering a goal.

But, above all, that Milan team in 1993/94 became only the second ever Italian club (after Inter in the mid-1960s) to win the scudetto and the Champions Cup in one season.

Apart from their cautious way of play, one may also criticise Capello for having lost too many a final - the two of the Champions League, in 1993 and in 1995, top his list.

Ancelotti should be given due credit for having led Milan to three Champions League finals in the space of five years. The first one, against Juventus in 2003, could have gone either way. Last week, they triumphed after a penalty shoot-out in possibly one of the most boring finals of the past decade.

In 2005 Milan played a perfect first-half before Liverpool came back from 0-3 down to lift the cup after a shoot-out. Last week, Milan were not up to their best as they edged Liverpool by the odd goal in three to avenge their 2005 defeat.

As opposed to Sacchi and Capello, Ancelotti's stint with Milan is still going strong and, it seems, he intends to stay put until 2010. Then, he will apply for the Italian national team job if the vacancy arises.

Until then, Ancelotti can deliver more silverware to Milan.

Serie A statistics

0 wins for Torino at Inter's Giuseppe Meazza stadium since the 1-0 victory of February 14, 1988. In a one-sided match, the champions found little resistance from Torino to chalk up an unprecedented 30th league win in the same season. Inter's 35th victory in 66 home encounters with Torino was never in jeopardy. Roberto Mancini's team finished with the best attack - 80 goals in favour. Torino ended the season just one point above the drop zone and with the worst scoring record in the division... just 27 goals to their credit. On Sunday, Fiorentina, who play in the UEFA Cup next season, beat Sampdoria 5-1 at home to finish in fifth place, level on points with Palermo. After 49 Serie A encounters in Florence, a draw between Fiorentina and Sampdoria has last been recorded on January 4, 1998 (1-1). It is still to be seen who will be Walter Novellino's successor on the Sampdoria bench next season.

2 wins from as many matches played by Palermo since the return of coach Francesco Guidolin. Last weekend, the Sicilians edged Udinese by the odd goal in three to triumph in Udine for the first time since December 3, 1961 (1-0). Next season, both Udinese and Palermo are expected to change coaches once again with Stefano Colantuono, currently in charge of Atalanta, widely touted as Guidolin's replacement. On Sunday, Atalanta were no match to Livorno as the hosts triumphed in possibly the last match for the team of key players Cristiano Lucarelli and Marco Amelia. For the record, Atalanta's only win in nine Serie A visits to Livorno dates back to June 5, 1949 (2-0).

6 consecutive seasons of Serie A football came to an abrupt end for Chievo. Luigi Del Neri was the man who had conducted the Verona outfit to the top flight in 2001 and the same coach was also in charge of Chievo on Sunday as they lost their status after going down to Catania 2-0. Chievo could even afford a draw from Sunday's make-or-break encounter at the neutral venue of Bologna but it was Catania's day as they scored goals in crucial moments of the game. Chievo, Ascoli and Messina are the three relegated teams to the Serie B. Up to five minutes from time, Siena were drawing their match with Lazio 1-1 and sinking fast. But, Paolo Negro salvaged Siena's season with an important goal five minutes from time. That of Sunday was Siena's third win in four home encounters with Lazio.

7 goal thriller at the Olympic Stadium as Coppa Italia winners Roma overcame a spirited Messina thanks to an Aleandro Rosi's last-gasp goal. It was definitely the game of the weekend as lowly Messina proved to be no pushovers. The victory was Roma's fourth in five home encounters with the Sicilians. On their count, Messina's only win in the capital dates back to April 25, 1965 (1-0). Reggina, who started the season on -11, chalked a vital home win over Milan to complete an incredible comeback and avoid the drop. For Reggina, this was their first home win over Milan after two straight defeats. Claudio Ranieri completed Parma's comeback bid as they beat Empoli to make sure of safety. In so doing, Parma maintained their 100 per cent winning home record over Empoli.

8 penalties were awarded by referees last weekend. Marco Materazzi and Luis Figo scored one apiece as Inter beat Torino 3-0. Veteran Cristiano Lucarelli converted his last penalty in favour of Livorno before he seeks pastures new. Earlier in the same game, Riccardo Zampagna had seen his effort from the spot saved by Livorno custodian Marco Amelia. Francesco Totti missed his seventh penalty of the term as his 63rd-minute effort was blocked by Messina veteran Alessandro Cesaretti, who, was making his first Serie A appearance. Similarly, Simone Pepe could not find the back of the net as Ascoli keeper Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos saved his penalty. Elsewhere, Tommaso Rocchi (Lazio) and Massimo Maccarone (Siena) were both prolific in their penalty executions. Meanwhile, the only two red-carded players were Jose Semedo (Cagliari) and Stefano Lombardi (Ascoli).

39 goals were scored on the last day of the season. Foreigners contributed with 11 goals and there were 17 first-half goals. Total number of goals scored in the outgoing season amounted to 969. Neither hat-tricks nor own goals were registered. Four players - Cristiano Lucarelli (Livorno), Francesco Totti (Roma), Christian Rigano (Messina) and Ferreira Reginaldo (Fiorentina) - grabbed a brace each. Meanwhile, there were no fewer than nine players, namely, Reginaldo, Rossini, Minelli (both Catania), Bombardini (Atalanta), Paulinho (Livorno), Cordova (Messina), Gasbarroni (Parma), Rosi (Roma) and Amerini (Reggina), who came on as substitutes and scored. Thanks to Sunday's double, Totti not only made sure of topping the scorers' list with 26 goals (five from penalties), but he is also on the brink of winning the 2007 Golden Boot as best scorer in Europe. Only Ruud van Nistelrooy can equal Totti's tally this season if he scores three goals in Real Madrid's last two games in the Primera Liga.