By: IBESLong before Rijkaard’s and Guardiola’s Champions League winning teams, the first fantasy team to capture the Champions League and also Barcelona fans’ hearts were the Cruyff managed “Dream Team”. May 20th, 1992 is the date that FC Barcelona finally won the big cup that had always eluded it. The heart breaks of losing to Benfica and Steaua Bucureşti were finally forgotten when FC Barcelona defeated Sampdoria 1-0 in the famed Wembley Stadium. Ronald Koeman’s free-kick goal with only nine minutes left in extra time clinched the club’s first Champions Cup. 17 years have since passed and the name of the cup is now known as the Champions League cup. We now look at where life took them after their time at the club had come to an end.
The starting eleven from that final were:
GK Andoni Zubizarreta ; Nando; Albert Ferrer ; Ronald Koeman; Juan Carlos; José Mari Bakero; Julio Salinas; Hristo Stoichkov; Michael Laudrup; Josep Guardiola ; Eusebio Sacristán.
Zubizarreta was the starting keeper for the “Dream Team” that won four straight league titles. He kept a clean sheet against Sampdoria that resulted in Barcelona winning the holy grail of European football. However, his last game with the club would be the awful 4-0 loss to Milan in the “Dream Team’s” last appearance in a European Cup final. He would then play four more years with Valencia before retiring as the all-time appearance record holder in Spanish league history with 622 matches. Zubi is also the most capped player for the Spanish National team.
After retiring from playing in 1998, he became a sports commentator for RNE in 1998 and for TVE for the 1999-2000 and 2000-2001 Champions League games. In 2001, Zubi was hired as Sports Director for his first team Athletic Bilbao and would retain that position for three years until his dismissal. He now spends his time as a leadership skills consultant with Make A team, an Inmark Group’s business unit focused on human resources training.
Fernando Muñoz García spent two seasons at Barcelona as their starting defensive center back. He joined the club in 1990 from Sevilla and after this cup final, would end up going to Real Madrid for four years and then the other club rival, Espanyol in 1996, and retire there in 2001. Unfortunately, he is no longer involved with football and is enjoying his retirement in Sevilla.
Albert "Chapi” Ferrer was the right back for this team. He started out as a youth player in the mid 80’s and joined the team in 1990 after a year at CD Tenerife on loan. He would remain on this team for eight years and win 5 league titles, 1 Champions Cup, 1 Cup Winners' Cup, and 3 Copa Del Rey trophies along with other trophies. He would then join Chelsea for five years until his retirement in 2003. He currently is a sports commentator for TV3, La Sexta, and has made some appearances on Sky Sports News and Sky’s Revista De La Liga this past season.
The Dutchman Koeman joined Barcelona in the summer of 1989 from PSV Eindhoven. Koeman was an attacking defender for the “Dream Team” and was known as one of their best free kick and penalty kicks taker and also for his long distance goals such as his goal against Porto. His free kick goal in the final against Sampdoria will always be remembered by fans as the goal that finally won the club that was missing in their museum. Koeman bid farewell to the club in the summer of 1995 when he returned to Holland to play for Feyenoord for two more years until he retired.
After his retirement, Koeman went into coaching where he served as an assistant manager to Guus Hiddink with Holland in the 1998 World Cup and would then get his first managerial position with Dutch Club Vitesse in 2000. He then would leave Vitesse in mid-season to take the Ajax job and went on to win the domestic double. He would win another league title but his four year tenure was full of disappointing results.
He would resign from Ajax and then manage Benfica, who would be eliminated by Barcelona in the 2005-2006 Champions League Quarter-Finals, then replace Hiddink at PSV and win the Dutch league title, and then replace Quique Flores at Valencia early into the 2007-2008 season and endure a crazy disappointing season at Valencia even though he managed to win the Copa Del Rey. He currently was appointed as the new manager of the Dutch club AZ after replacing former Barcelona manager Louis van Gaal.
Juan Carlos Rodríguez Moreno, aka Juan Carlos, joined the “Dream Team” from Atlético Madrid for the 1991-1992 season. He was a fullback who could play on the left or the right. He started in the final against Sampdoria but did not even make it to the bench for the Milan final. Juan Carlos stayed at the club for three years and left after the 93-94 season and spent a year at Valencia and spent four more years at his original club, Real Valladolid, until his retirement after the 98-99 season.
In his retirement, he represented Castile and León autonomous football team in 2002 and currently is the president of the “Asociación de Veteranos” (Veterans Association) of Real Valladolid, a position he has held since 2005.
Bakero left Real Sociedad and signed with FC Barcelona in 1988 and would remain there until the 1996-1997 season concluded. He was an attacking midfielder that formed the strong attacking part of the “Dream Team.” His career at the club would result in winning the Champions Cup, 2 Cup Winners' Cup, 4 Spanish League titles and 2 Copa Del Rey medals. He would play one further season in Mexico with Veracruz before finally retiring from playing.
After retiring, he rejoined FC Barcelona as an assistant to Llorenç Serra Ferrer (with Barcelona B) and then Louis Van Gaal of the first team. He would return to Mexico in 1999 to manage Puebla with poor results and was sacked after the conclusion of the Mexican winter League.
After a short period in which he was appointed sports adviser for the Generalitat de Cataluña and worked as a sports pundit in the media, he returned to managing with Málaga B after replacing Antonio Tapia in the middle of the 2004-2005 season, and saved the team from relegation by finishing 17th in the league.
In August 2005, he returned to Real Sociedad as the club’s Sports Director but took over as manager in March, 2006 and also saved them from relegation by finishing in 16th place. However, he would be sacked as manager just seven games in the following season because of poor results. He then would join Koeman, in 2007, as his assistant at Valencia but both would get fired during the same season because of bad results.
Currently, he is unemployed but has been mentioned as a candidate for some managerial positions with some Romanian clubs such as Dinamo Bucharest.
Julio Salinas was the “Dream Team’s” tall center forward. He signed with FC Barcelona right before the 1988-1989 season from Atlético Madrid. His career with the club ended after the 1994-1995 season but during that time, he would go on to win the Champions Cup, Cup Winners’ Cup (which he scored in the final), and four league titles among other trophies.
He would late play for Deportivo La Coruña, Sporting Gijón, Yokohama Marinos in Japan and Alavés before retiring in 2000. After retiring from the game, he became involved with sports commentary with TVE by announcing Spain’s National team’s games and Champions League matches. He would also pen a column for El Mundo Deportivo. He currently is announcing games on La Sexta, a position he has held since 2006, and was also recently a competitor on the show,” ¡Mira quién baila!”; Spain’s version of “Dancing With The Stars.”
The Bulgarian International joined FC Barcelona from CSKA Sofia in 1990 and his goals helped lead the “Dream Team” in winning those four consecutive league titles along with the Champion’s Cup. He and Bakero were involved in the setup of Koeman’s free kick goal that won the game for Barcelona against Sampdoria. He was known for his fighting spirit and amazing goals, but was also known for his ill temper as witnessed when he stomped on a referee’s foot and was suspended for two months.
Following the 1994-1995 season, Hristo went to Parma for an uneventful year and then returned to Barcelona where he would help lead the team, managed by Bobby Robson, to win the Copa Del Rey and Cup Winners’ Cup. He would play sparingly under van Gaal and would leave the club forever after the following season. He would go on to play for CSKA Sofia, Al-Nassr, Kashiwa Reysol, and Chicago Fire before retiring after one year with D.C. United in 2003.
Since then, Hristo became involved in management and was back with Barcelona as the striker’s coach under Frank Rijkaard before taking the Bulgarian national team manager position in 2004. He would then step down after three unsuccessful years. His first club manager job was to manage Celta Vigo in 2007 but his two year stint was a disappointing one and would lead to his sacking.
He is currently is the new manager of the South African club, Mamelodi Sundowns FC, after he was hired in June.
One of the greatest players to ever play for FC Barcelona and in Spain and also to break the Barcelona fans’ hearts was the Danish international, Michael Laudrup. In 1989, Juventus sold Laudrup to Barcelona and Laudrup would go on to form the attacking brilliance of the “Dream Team” along with Amor, Bakero and Guardiola. He would play a vital part in the club winning those 4 consecutive league titles and Champions Cup. Sadly, he left Barcelona after a falling out with Johan Cruyff. He was left out the final roster for the 93-94 Cup final against Milan and left the club. Some say that it was allegedly because he was involved with Cruyff’s daughter.
Laudrup’s next destination infuriated Barcelona fans when he joined Real Madrid. He would end up winning his fifth consecutive league title when he helped Madrid break the four year Barcelona run. He would remain for another year before playing stints in Japan with Vissel Kobe and with Ajax Amsterdam. He would then retire from playing football after the 1998 World Cup.
Two years after retiring, he returned to football as an assistant manager to the Danish national team before taking over his former Danish club, Brøndby, after the 2002 World Cup. From 2002 to 2006, Laudrup managed Brøndby to two league title and 2 domestic cup titles. He then left Brøndby and returned to Spain as Getafe’s manager for the 2007-2008 season which saw his club lose in the final of Copa Del Rey to Valencia, managed by former Barcelona teammate Ronald Koeman, and lose to Bayern Munich in the Quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup in extra time.
He would then resign as Getafe’s manager after that one season and join Spartak Moscow where he has been their current manager for the past two seasons.
What more can be said of “Dream Team” member Josep Guardiola. After his great career with FC Barcelona, he would go to play in Italy for Roma and Brescia, Qatar’s Al-Ahli, and end his playing career in Mexico with Dorados de Sinaloa in 2006.
He then took a year off from football before returning to FC Barcelona to be the Barcelona B manager. His first year with Barcelona B would be successful as the club clinched promotion to Segunda División B. He then would be offered the dream job of managing FC Barcelona after Frank Rijkaard was sacked following the conclusion of the 2007-2008 season. In his first year on the job, Guardiola became the first manager in Spanish football history to win the treble after FC Barcelona won the league, Copa Del Rey and Champions League title during the 2008-2009 season. He became just one of the few to have won the Champions League trophy for the same club as a player and manager.
Eusebio joined FC Barcelona from Atlético Madrid before the 1988-1989 season started and would go on to be part of the midfield of the “Dream Team.” During his time with the club, he would win 4 consecutive league titles, a Cup Winners’ Cup and the European Champions Cup. Following the 1994-1995 season, he would go on to play for Celta Vigo and Real Valladolid before retiring from football in 2002.
He would return to the club as Frank Rijkaard’s assistant in which he and Ten Cate helped Rijkaard manage the club and win two consecutive league titles and also a Champions League title. He would end up leaving the club when Rijkaard was dismissed. Currently, he is managing Celta Vigo after he was hired back in March.
The players on the bench were:
GK Carles Busquets; José Ramón Alexanko; Txiki Begiristain; Miguel Ángel Nadal; and Ion Andoni Goikoetxea.
Carles Busquets, more famously known as Sergio Busquets’s father, was the long time backup keeper Zubizarreta. Just like his son, he was promoted from Barcelona B and remained a part of the first team from 1988 to 1999. Unfortunately, his tenure at the club is remembered mostly for some of his blunders in net. He would then play for UE Lleida and retire from the game after the 2002-2003 season. He is currently now one of the keepers coaches with the Barcelona academy.
Alexanko is a center back who signed with FC Barcelona back in 1980 and captained the “Dream Team” until his retirement following the 1992-1993 season. During that span, he played in over 200 games for the club and was the first one who lifted the Champions Cup to make amends for the 1986 cup Final in which his penalty shot saved in the shootout. After retiring, he then got involved in management with stints at FC Universitatea Craiova and FC Naţional Bucureşti in the late 90’s and then served as Carles Rexach’s assistant when Rexach was managing FC Barcelona in the 2001-2002 season.
He is currently the man in charge of FC Barcelona youth system; a position he has held since 2005.
Txiki is also a name well known for Barcelona fans as a player and as the football club’s technical director. He joined FC Barcelona in 1988 from Real Sociedad and left the club in 1995. During his tenure, he also won four consecutive league titles, a Cup Winners’ Cup and the Champions Cup. He would go on to play for Deportivo La Coruña and Urawa Red Diamonds before retiring from the game in 1999.
After he retired, he got into sports commentary with TV3 while being involved with Lluís Bassat’s run for club presidency in 1999, which Joan Laporta was also involved in. In 2003, new elections were in store for FC Barcelona and Lluís Bassat had Joan Laporta as his opponent this time and Txiki backing Laporta. After Laporta won the election, Txiki was appointed as the technical director of the football club which he still currently holds and will step down from that position after the 2009-2010 season.
Nadal joined FC Barcelona from Mallorca in 1991 as one of their defenders. His tenure at the club resulted in five league titles, one Cup Winners’ Cup and the Champions Cup. He featured in over 300 club matches but left the club in 1999 because of van Gaal not selecting him. He would return to Mallorca where he would continue to shine for both club and country until his retirement in 2005.
He is also known for being the uncle of one of the best tennis players in the world at the moment, Rafael Nadal. Currently, Nadal is a member of the FC Barcelona veterans indoor team which just won the league title.
Goikoetxea joined the club from Osasuna in 1988 but was sent to a two year loan at Real Sociedad. He returned to the club in time for the 1991-1992 season. He was one of the few players of the club who could play in all positions except goal keeping. He would win Don Balon’s player of the year in that first season and would go on to win four league titles and the European Champions Cup among other cups.
He left the club after the 1993-1994 season and would go on to play for Athletic Bilbao, Yokohama Marinos, and Osasuna before retiring from football in 1999. He then retired and coached in Osasuna’s youth teams and as Osasuna’s assistant manager, with one game as the head coach of Osasuna against Barcelona in 2008, since the manager Cuco Ziganda was watching from the stands while he carried out a suspension.
Currently, he is not coaching anywhere but he is also a member of the FC Barcelona veterans indoor team that just won the league cup.
Four other players were not called up to the final roster either due to suspensions, foreign player limit rules and substitution limits were Amor, Cristóbal Parralo, Ricardo Serna and Richard Witschge.
Amor is another member of the “Dream Team” who came from the youth academy. He was an attacking midfielder who represented the club for over 10 years. Amor made his debut in 1988 and went on to win 17 trophies with 3 Copa del Rey titles, 5 league titles, 2 Cup Winners’ Cup titles and the 1992 Champions Cup. Just like Abidal, he unfortunately was suspended for the Final due to bookings thus could not play in the final.
He left the club in 1998 and went on to play for Fiorentina, Villarreal CF, and Livingston FC before retiring from the game in 2003. He would end up being the manager of Barcelona B in 2003 and remain there till 2007. His contract was not renewed and he left the club and the position was then given to Guardiola.
Amor would then become a sports commentator for Telecinco. Unfortunately, Amor would suffer a horrible car accident, after commentating on a game, on December 17th, 2007 which lead Amor to be operated for an abdominal trauma and eventually recovered. His son is currently in Barcelona’s youth academy. He is currently is still a sports commentator for Telecinco and is another member of the FC Barcelona veterans indoor squad.
Cristóbal was a youth player who was promoted to the first team for the 1987-1988 season. He would then leave the club and play for Real Oviedo and Logroñés before returning to the club for the 1991-1992 season. He only featured in a few games and would leave the club after that season.
He would go on to play for Real Oviedo, Espanyol and finish his career with Paris SG, retiring after the 2002-2003 season. After retiring from playing, he also got into coaching with assistant manager jobs at Espanyol and Benfica. He then got his first managerial job with PD Santa Eulalia in Segunda B back in February. He is currently the new manager of Girona FC in the Segunda División.
Serna came to FC Barcelona in 1988 after six years with Sevilla. He was a defender for the “Dream Team” and featured in over 100 games for the club. His time at the club would result in him winning two league titles, one Cup Winners’ Cup and the Champions Cup. Serna did not make it to the bench in the final against Sampdoria and would leave the club after that final. He would go on to play for Deportivo La Coruña, Real Mallorca, Granada CF, before retiring with AD Ceuta after the 1996-1997 season.
After retiring from playing, he also went into management. He spent some time managing the Andalusia autonomous football team (Selección de fútbol de Andalucía) before going to Morocco’s IRT Tanger before returning to Spain to manage Manchego CF in the Tercera División. In June, 2008, he was hired to be Club Deportivo Don Benito’s new manager in the Tercera División but was fired in November 2008 and currently has not found a new club to manage.
Witschge is the Dutch midfielder bought by Cruyff from Ajax Amsterdam for the 1991-1992 season. His stay would be a short one, 2 seasons, but he played in nine Champions Cup games in his first season along with 23 league appearances.
After the 1992-1993 season, Witschge would leave the team and have stints with FC Bordeaux, Blackburn Rovers, Ajax, Alavés before finishing his playing career with Oita Trinita in Japan after the 2003-2004 season. He is currently Aron Winter’s assistant manager over at Ajax Amsterdam’s Reserve Team, Jong Ajax.
These were the players that helped pave the way for FC Barcelona to capture their first ever Champions League title. I would like to thank my friends Sonia and Xavi (no, not that Xavi) for their help in this research. If you know of any updates or mistakes, please feel free to let me know.
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