Thomas Fruits |
Rome (EFE) But also soccer. The imprint that he leaves on the beautiful game, signed with a historic Milan that governed for 31 years, is unparalleled with many other works of football architecture.
That champion Milan will always be Berlusconi’s Milan.
Berlusconi began his career with the ‘rossonero’ team in 1986, 37 years ago. His rise to power at Milan was a strange thing. Two administrative declines, in 1981 and 1983, and a president, Giovanni Nardi, on the run, generated a breeding ground of uncertainty in northern Italy about the direction that the Lombard entity was going to take.
Landing to the big ones
But a 50-year-old Berlusconi appeared, already established in the audiovisual market with his Mediaset, eager for business opportunities, to assume command. And he did it big.
He landed with a helicopter on the day of the presentation of his new team, on July 18, 1986, in the center of an Arena Milano to the sound of Wagner’s ‘Ride of the Valkyries’, making it clear what his style was going to be. The one that, for better or worse, he carried until the end of his days.
Berlusconi’s idea with his new soccer son was clear. He wanted titles and he didn’t have much patience. The fastest solution: capital. More than 700 million euros.
He gave the keys to Arrigo Sacchi in the first stage of glory, to Fabbio Capello in the second and to Carlo Ancelotti in the third; but he was still the main image, the protagonist of a team that rose to the top of Italy and Europe with players like Dida, Gattuso, Ibra, Kaka, Pirlo, Rijkaard, Gullit, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, Sevchenko, Van Basten or Weah , among many others.
Berlusconi’s Milan
It took only three years for the renewed Milan project to bear fruit since the arrival of the tycoon. In 1989 he established himself as an ogre in Italy, winning the ‘Scudetto’ and the Italian Super Cup; and in Europe, raising the first orejona of his record. A year later he won the second European Cup, establishing himself as a great in Europe. Berlusconi fulfilled his objective.
The showcases began to fill with trophies: five Champions Leagues, five European Super Cups, eight ‘Scudetti’, one Mundialito, six Italian Super Cups and one Cup, among others.
Milan was the image of the success of a businessman who combined sports and political life, often without differentiating between them, taking refuge in the football glory of the numerous scandals that accompanied his career.
The decline
After three spells with indisputable success, the end of an era for Milan came in 2007, with what was Berlusconi’s fifth Champions League. The decline of one of the most powerful entities of ‘calcio’ began clearly in 2006, when it was confirmed that it had been involved in what is known as the ‘Calciopoli Case’, despite the fact that it managed to maintain the category.
The management, once an exciting path to success, turned into a slide towards decadence that gave a last blow with Massimiliano Allegri and the last ‘Scudetto’ of Berlusconi, won in 2010.
Seven years later, in 2017, with Milan plunged into a major economic, game and results crisis, Berlusconi stepped aside and put an end to the most important stage in Milan’s history.
The monza, an exciting project
However, far from wanting to get away from the world of football, just a year after leaving Milan, in 2018 and with a quick operation of almost three million euros, the media mogul kept 100%. of a Serie C Monza. Berlusconi’s objective was clear, to reach Serie A as soon as possible.
‘Il Cavaliere’ was back in the ring, and his stridency and outbursts returned to the world of football in 2022, when just four years later, thanks to his tenacity and portfolio, he returned to his natural habitat, Serie A. The return to the spotlight, to feel like the center of attention in the football circus.
The owner of the Fininvest financial group imitated his Milan model, also with the good results he obtained in his day. A sports project on the fast track, based on a checkbook. And 116 million euros later -distributed in transfers, capital increase and new infrastructures for the team-, an exorbitant figure for teams from the third and second division, he achieved it.
In fact, he was able to experience his own derby, the ‘Berlusconi Derby’, in a stadium. The nostalgia of what was with a giant and the illusion of what he could achieve with a modest looked into each other’s eyes. The beautiful memories of a past era full of successes and dreams for the future converged in a clash of eleven against eleven that had a special spectator in the stands.
This Monza, his new Milan, gave him a great first season, finishing eleventh in his historic debut in Serie A. But Berlusconi always wanted more, he maintained his ambition until the end. He said it in the promotion of his second soccer player last season. He pointed to the ‘Scudetto’ and the ‘Champions’.
The last of his outlandish speeches and off-the-cuff comments was at the end of 2022, when he promised the players a “bus full of prostitutes” if they beat one of Italy’s greats in Serie A.
Berlusconi was one of the few figures that remained from that football of before. With him, a part of the golden Milan also leaves. But what remains certain is his name linked to two historical stages, each in his own way, of two groups that knew the glory of his hand.