During 30 years of reign at San Siro and with 29 titles won, the Cavaliere was able to place the Rossoneri on the map of world football despite a delicate end.
By Adrian Mathieu
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QWhen we summarize the eventful life of Silvio Berlusconi, who died on Monday June 12 at the age of 86, it is difficult not to dwell on his links with football. From AC Milan to Monza via the Squadra Azzura, the sulphurous leader has punctuated Calcio for several decades.
Businessman who interferes in all sectors of entertainment, he quickly understood the scope that this sport could have with the public and its potential voters.
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Galliani, Sacchi, Ancelotti: his elite companions
In the Italy of the 1970s and 1980s, the football was truly the opium of the people and the opportunity to buy AC Milan, then riddled with debts, presented itself in 1986. A native of the Lombard capital, the Cavaliere fail to jump at the chance while the Rossoneri are in the trough. Caught up at the beginning of the decade by a case of rigged bets and with leaders regularly booed at San Siro, AC Milan welcomes Silvio Berlusconi in a very hostile context.
Then aged 50, he did not hesitate to get his hands dirty to revive the Milanese machine. Well advised by his faithful lieutenant Adriano Galliani, several of his decisions at the start will bear fruit, starting with that of keeping the young Paolo Maldini, whom Juventus would have liked to steal from his rival. “If I have to talk about the Berlusconi presidency or Galliani, I can only make compliments, because they built a club that was envied by all”, explained to SoFoot the historic central defender of Milan, man of one club. The Dutch colony is also established in the image of Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Marco Van Basten.
To start the 1987-1988 season, Berlusconi opted for an avant-garde coach who was to revolutionize Italian football and even more widely: Arrigo Sacchi. With his 4-4-2 and his all-terrain pressing, the bespectacled tactician will succeed in winning Milan titles again, including the 1989 and 1990 Champions League. “Berlusconi wanted not only to win, but also to convince and entertain” , Sacchi explained. This virtuous cycle will also be reproduced under Fabio Capello and Carlo Ancelotti: the immortals, the invincibles and finally the marvelous, nicknames jostle to describe these teams with a unique flavor.
Transfers in line with his political ambitions
In all, the Berlusconi version of Milan will have won thirteen international trophies including five Champions Leagues, sixteen national titles including eight Serie A and seven Ballons d’Or: a river of awards. The founder of Forza Italia is on the rise and feels that AC Milan can also serve as a springboard for his electoral ambitions. At each election or high point in Italian politics, he does not hesitate to draw on the transfer market to gain credibility: Weah and Baggio in 1995, Rui Costa and Pippo Inzaghi in 2001, but also Ronaldinho and Beckham in 2008.
Silvio Berlusconi is talkative, sometimes too much. And when Italy mourns the lost final of Euro 2000 against France after David Trezeguet’s golden goal, the Milanese president directly attacks Dino Zoff, the resigning coach. “I am upset and even indignant. We could and we had to win, absolutely. Even an amateur would have realized this and won, blocking Zidane. A professional trainer cannot fail to see certain things. It was an unworthy thing. “One of his mythical lyrical flights, of which he alone has the secret.
Monza, the last shot
But after the 2011 title in Serie A, the last won of the Berlusconi era, AC Milan began to lose its luster. Casting errors on the field and on the bench multiply and the team plummets in the standings, not even managing to qualify for C1. This loss of momentum is also confirmed from a financial point of view, with a debt that has grown over the years and a payroll that never ceases to plague the club. Long a visionary and caught up in parallel with numerous legal cases that have tarnished his image, the Cavaliere made up his mind in 2016 and sold the club to Chinese investors Li Yonghong and Haixia Capital.
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But as the phoenix rises from its ashes, Berlusconi does not intend to abandon football on this bad note. In 2018, with his lifelong comrade Adriano Galliani, he bought AC Monza, which was then languishing in the Italian third division. Without necessarily changing the method and with recruitments still starred like Mario Balotelli, the manager, who was then over 80 years old, will succeed in raising the club in Serie A, a first in its history. The art of rebounding for a president well apart in the imagination of Italian football. Berlusconi leaves behind him an undeniable legacy: that of having brought this sport into an obvious modernity, with tumult, rhinestones and glitter.