Although Juventus are the runaway leaders in Italy in terms of Serie A titles, Milan are far and away the most successful Italian side in European football.
The Italian giants were the first Italian side to win the European Cup in 1963 but were swiftly overtaken by their inter-city rivals Inter, who won European Cups in 1964 and 1965, losing the final in 1967 to Celtic.
But successful periods in the late 1980s to the mid 1990s and again in the 2000s have seen the club second to only Real Madrid in terms of European Cup and UEFA Champions League titles.
Milan UEFA Champions League finals
Date | Score |
28 May 1958 | Milan 2-3 Real Madrid (a.e.t) |
22 May 1963 | Milan 2-1 Benfica |
28 May 1969 | Milan 4-1 Ajax |
24 May 1989 | Milan 4-0 Steaua Bucharest |
23 May 1990 | Milan 1-0 Benfica |
26 May 1993 | Milan 0-1 Marseille |
18 May 1994 | Milan 4-0 Barcelona |
24 May 1995 | Milan 0-1 Ajax |
28 May 2003 | Milan 0-0 Juventus (3-2p) |
25 May 2005 | Milan 3-3 Liverpool (2-3p) |
23 May 2007 | Milan 2-1 Liverpool |
How many UEFA Champions League titles have Milan won?
Including the European Cup as well as the UEFA Champions League, Milan been crowned champions of Europe seven times.
Milan UEFA Champions League history
In only its third year, the European Cup final was contested by Real Madrid and Milan, two clubs the organisers had in mind when putting the competition together.
Despite leading twice, Real Madrid equalised through Alfredo Di Stefano and Rial with legendary winger Gento scoring the winner in extra time.
Come 1963, the great Benfica side that contested five European Cup finals in the 1960s – now bolstered by Eusebio – were going for a hat-trick of wins, and though Eusebio gave the Portuguese side a first-half lead, Milan hit back through Jose Altafini with two second-half goals to secure a first European Cup.
In 1969, Milan would encounter another footballing great in the shape of Johan Cruyff. Still in his early 20s, Cruyff had already established himself as one of Europe’s finest, and while Ajax would win three successive European Cups in the early 1970s, it would be Milan who triumphed in Madrid. A Pierino Prati hat-trick and an Angelo Sormani goal gave the Italians a 4-1 win and a second European title.
What followed was almost 20 years in the wilderness. Shocking off-field management and a match fixing scandal saw Milan twice relegated to Serie B in the 1980s, but the purchase of the club by Silvio Berlusconi would return the Rossoneri to the top table.
The eyebrow-raising appointment of Arrigo Sacchi combined with academy graduates Alessandro Costaburta and Paolo Maldini joining Franco Baresi at the back, supported by big-money signings further up the pitch created a perfect storm.
Milan would find themselves in a European Cup final again, blowing Steaua Bucharest away with Ruud Gullit and Marco van Basten braces securing a 4-0 win.
Milan were back for more 12 months later, and in a rematch of the 1963 final, Milan would beat Benfica once more with Frank Rijkaard scoring the game’s only goal.
Fabio Capello was in the dugout for Milan’s next European final as his side fell to a shock 1-0 defeat to Marseille. The French side boasted future World Cup winners in Fabien Barthez, Marcel Desailly and Didier Deschamps, and though they were stripped of the Ligue 1 title due to match fixing, their European crown remained intact.
Nevertheless, Milan reached the final the following season for a blockbuster affair with Cruyff’s Barcelona. Milan were without Baresi, Costacurta, Gianluigi Lentini and Van Basten with Jean-Pierre Papin and Brian Laudrup also absent due to UEFA’s squad restrictions on foreign players, yet recorded a stunning 4-0 win over Barcelona.
Scarcely recognisable from their dominant side of the late 80s, Milan made a third straight UEFA Champions League final, but were beaten by Ajax’s young upstarts in 1995, with Patrick Kluivert scoring a late winner.
Milan’s next golden era saw them reach the 2003 UEFA Champions League final, and despite boasting the likes of Andrea Pirlo, Rui Costa, Andriy Shevchenko and Filippo Inzaghi, they were held to a drab 0-0 draw after 120 minutes against rivals Juventus, eventually triumphing on penalties.
Two years later, an even more formidable Milan side took on a comparatively timid Liverpool outfit, with the Italians racing to a 3-0 lead at the break. But in a remarkable collapse, Milan conceded three goals in less than 10 minutes, with the English side eventually triumphing on penalties.
In 2007, however, Milan had the chance to exact their revenge, and while Liverpool looked a more potent outfit with Steven Gerrard finally given the licence to roam ahead of a midfield base of Javier Mascherano and Xabi Alonso, Milan were clinical and won 2-1 to take a seventh European crown.
Check out the bet365 betting hub for all the latest UEFA Champions League betting odds.
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