It seems almost unthinkable that twenty years ago, Real Madrid had gone more than three decades without winning the European Cup. Since winning their sixth title in 1966, they had only reached one final, losing to Liverpool. The man who ended 32 years of hurt was Predrag Mijatovi\u0107. The Yugoslavian striker scored the winning goal in the 1998 Champions League final against Juventus. It almost seems that his achievements at the Bernab\u00e9u are overshadowed by the Los Gal\u00e1cticos era of Zidane, Figo and Beckham.<\/p>\n
Predrag Mijatovi\u0107 was born in 1969 in Titograd, in the former Yugoslavia. He had spells with the youth teams of both major clubs in his hometown, OFK and Budu\u0107nost. Mijatovi\u0107 signed for the latter, and made his debut during the 1987-88 season.<\/p>\n
He was soon selected to represent his country at the 1987 FIFA World Youth Championship in Chile. At the tournament, Yugoslavia showed exactly why they had the potential to become a dominant force in world football. They won all three of their group games before beating the holders Brazil in the quarter-final and East Germany in the semi-final. West Germany awaited them in the final, and following a 1-1 draw, Yugoslavia won the resulting penalty shootout. Mijatovi\u0107 showed his promise by scoring three times throughout the tournament.<\/p>\n
He returned to Budu\u0107nost and became an integral part of the first team squad. Although not a prolific scorer at this point, Mijatovi\u0107 impressed many with his skill and technical ability. It didn\u2019t take long for some of the Yugoslav First League<\/a>\u2019s bigger clubs to start paying attention. Hadjuk Split were close to signing the forward, but Partizan Belgrade stepped in with a bid of around \u00a3400,000. This was enough to see Mijatovi\u0107 make the move to the capital in the winter of 1989.<\/p>\n It was shortly before his move to Belgrade that Predrag Mijatovi\u0107 was called up to the Yugoslav national team<\/a>. He made his debut in September 1989, playing 45 minutes of a friendly match against Greece. Unfortunately for the forward, the side was so strong that it would be almost two years before he won his second cap. With players such as Dejan Savi\u0107evi\u0107<\/a>, future club mate Davor \u0160uker and Darko Pan\u010dev<\/a> ahead of him in the pecking order, Mijatovi\u0107 was not selected for the 1990 World Cup squad.<\/p>\n Despite scoring on his Partizan debut, against his former club Budu\u0107nost, Mijatovi\u0107 took a while to settle in Belgrade. It wasn\u2019t until his second season that the fans began to see the best of their new striker. He began to score regularly, but their bitter rivals Red Star were completely dominant domestically, and went on to win the European Cup<\/a> in 1991. Partian were nowhere near the title, and finished fourth and third in Mijatovi\u0107\u2019s first two seasons.<\/p>\n The 1991-92 season would be the final bow for the old Yugoslav First League, as the several states began to declare independence. While Red Star retained the league title, Partizan beat their city rivals in the Yugoslav Cup final. They won 3-2 on aggregate, with Mijatovi\u0107 scoring one of the goals in the second leg.<\/p>\n The new First League of FR Yugoslavia began in 1992-93, and by now Red Star\u2019s squad had been picked apart by Europe\u2019s big guns. Mijatovi\u0107 now had a new strike partner in the form of Savo Milo\u0161evi\u0107, who would later play for Aston Villa. Partizan swept all before them to win the league title, finishing 14 points ahead of Red Star. It would also be Mijatovi\u0107\u2019s last season with Partizan, as several European clubs had been alerted to his talents. Despite interest from Juventus, it was Valencia who secured his services with a bid of \u00a38.5 million in the summer of 1993.<\/p>\n During his first two seasons at the Mestalla, Valencia recorded 7th<\/sup> and 10th<\/sup> place finishes, respectively. Mijatovic had proved to be an astute buy, but overshadowed by players such as Rom\u00e1rio and Hristo Stoichkov. Johann Cruyff\u2019s Barcelona \u201cdream team\u201d were seen by many as the strongest in Europe.<\/p>\n In 1995, what remained of the old Yugoslavia were readmitted into UEFA competition. By this time it was too late for them to be put in contention for qualification for Euro 96. Mijatovi\u0107 had only made 10 appearances for his country before, but made his debut, once again, in a friendly against Greece.<\/p>\n In 1995-96, Mijatovi\u0107 scored 28 league goals, which was exactly how many he had managed in his first two years at the club. This made him the second highest goalscorer in La Liga, behind Juan Antonio Pizzi of Tenerife. It was enough, however, to see him win the Don Bal\u00f3n Award for the best foreign player in Spain. Such form also saw Valencia narrowly miss out on the title, finishing in second place. Poor seasons by Barcelona (3rd<\/sup> place) and Real Madrid (6th<\/sup>), who amazingly didn\u2019t even qualify for the UEFA Cup, saw Atl\u00e9tico win La Liga, four points ahead of Valencia.<\/p>\n When someone outside of the El Cl\u00e1sico clubs has a good season, they quite often end up moving to one of them. In this case, Pizzi moved to Barcelona and Mijatovi\u0107 joined Real Madrid for approximately \u00a312 million in the summer of 1996.<\/p>\n There was a buzz of expectancy around the Bernab\u00e9u prior to the 1996-97 season. Real Madrid had flexed their financial muscle, and brought a host of new signings to the club. Roberto Carlos and Clarence Seedorf were among them, but what really excited the fans was the strength they now had up front. Davor \u0160uker had been one of the best players on show at Euro 96, and he would partner Predrag Mijatovi\u0107 in attack, with Ra\u00fal playing just behind them. A poor season had cost manager Jorge Valdano his job, and he was replaced by future Engand boss Fabio Capello.<\/p>\n It promised to be an exciting title race as Barcelona had also strengthened their attacking options. Brazilian wonderkid Ronaldo had been brought in to partner Hristo Stoichkov, who had just returned from a season with Parma. They had also changed their manager, with the late Bobby Robson replacing Cruyff in the dugout.<\/p>\n Mijatovi\u0107 and \u0160uker made a fantastic partnership, and Ra\u00fal was equally effective as Madrid took charge in the race for La Liga. Going into the winter break they remained unbeaten, and had recorded a 2-0 win over Barcelona at the Bernab\u00e9u. This was a particularly emotional night for Mijatovi\u0107, who scored one of the goals that night. As he was substituted late in the game, the Madrid fans chanted \u201cAndreja\u201d, the name of his son who was critically ill (he unfortunately passed away in 2009 at the age of 15).<\/p>\n Madrid finished the season as champions, two points ahead of their bitter rivals. Mijatovi\u0107 had scored 14 goals, but his unselfish style of play had provided many assists for \u0160uker and Ra\u00fal. As a result he finished second in the voting for the 1997 Ballon d\u2019Or, just behind Ronaldo and ahead of Zidane. Despite winning La Liga, Capello was replaced by Tenerife manager Juup Heynckes.<\/p>\n Given that Real Madrid have won the Champions League five times over the last two decades, it seems strange to think that they went more than thirty years without being crowned champions of Europe. But that is exactly how it was going into the 1997-98 season.<\/p>\n The season started brightly enough, as Real Madrid lifted the Supercopa de Espa\u00f1a beating Barcelona. Mijatovi\u0107 scored one of the goals in second leg, to help seal a 5-3 aggregate victory, but it would be a largely frustrating season for him. Madrid\u2019s league form was in the doldrums, while Barcelona, now led by Louis van Gaal were showing the form that would see them finish as champions. The European campaign saved Real Madrid\u2019s season, as they finished 4th<\/sup> in La Liga.<\/p>\n Having won a group that included Rosenborg, Olympiakos and Porto, Real Madrid proceeded to the knockout phase. \u00a0They saw off the challenge of Bayer Leverkusen and holders Borussia Dortmund to proceed to face Juventus. Despite having lost to Dortmund in the previous years\u2019 final, the Italians were seen by many as the best team in Europe at the time.<\/p>\n It had been a frustrating season for Mijatovi\u0107, who had struggled for game time. This was partly due to the form of new signing Fernando Morientes, who had worked his way into the team. In the final, however, it was Davor \u0160uker who found himself on the bench, while Mijatovi\u0107 partnered Morientes up front.<\/p>\n Juventus\u2019 line-up included players such as Zinedine Zidane, Edgar Davids and Alessandro Del Piero among their stars. With just over an hour played, Roberto Carlos took a shot into a crowded Juventus penalty area. The resulting deflection landed at the feet of Mijatovi\u0107, who rounded Angelo Peruzzi and chipped the ball into an empty net<\/a>. Despite a late onslaught from the Italians, and several misses from Filippo Inzaghi, Madrid held out. Their 32 year wait for the European Cup was over. In spite of this, Heynckes was replaced by Guus Hiddink a week later.<\/p>\n Mijatovi\u0107 represented his country at the World Cup in France that summer, and much was expected. Although Yugoslavia had qualified via the play-offs, they had thumped Hungary 12-1 on aggregate. Over those two games, Mijatovi\u0107 scored seven goals and he was expected to be one of the stars of France 98. They had no trouble qualifying from the group stage, and Mijatovi\u0107 scored the opening goal of a 2-2 draw with Germany. Unfortunately they were eliminated in the first knockout round by Holland, thanks to a last minute winner by Edgar Davids.<\/p>\n Mijatovi\u0107 returned to Madrid for what would be his final season at the Bernab\u00e9u. Despite scoring the winning goal in the Champions League final, it was clear that Morientes and Ra\u00fal were now first choice strikers. Hiddink only lasted until February as manager, replaced by John Toshack for the rest of the season. They finished second in La Liga, and were replaced as European campions by Manchester United. After just five goals in the 1998-99 season after often being deployed out wide, he was sold to Italian side Fiorentina.<\/p>\n Fiorentina had been in contention for the Serie A title for much of the previous season. Although their challenge had eventually petered out, they finished third to qualify for the Champions League. Mijatovi\u0107 was seen as an ideal attacking option to partner the magnificent Gabriel Batistuta. Unfortunately they were unable to repeat the heroics of the previous season, and finished a disappointing 7th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n During his time in Florence, Mijatovi\u0107 had to compete against several other strikers for a place in the team. Even when Batistuta joined Roma in 2000, the likes of Enrico Chiesa, Abel Balbo and Nuno Gomes<\/a> were still around. As a result, Mijatovi\u0107 was often deployed in midfield, as had also happened in Yugoslavia\u2019s disappointing Euro 2000 campaign. By now, injuries began to take their toll and over a three year spell in Italy he made just 42 league appearances, scoring four goals. When Fiorentina won the Coppa Italia in 2001, Mijatovi\u0107 was an unused substitute for both legs of the final against Parma.<\/p>\n When Fiorentina were placed into administration in the summer of 2002, all of their players were given free transfers. Mijatovi\u0107 returned to Spain, joining Levante but further niggling injuries saw him make just 21 appearances in the final two years of his career. He retired in the summer of 2004.<\/p>\n Since hanging up his boots, Mijatovi\u0107 has remained involved in football. He became a player agent before a three year spell as director of football at Real Madrid.<\/p>\n Predrag Mijatovi\u0107 was a supremely talented player, whose later career was beset by several small injuries. It\u2019s also fair to say he became a victim of his own versatility, which would often lead to him being played on the wings or in midfield, rather than in his favoured role up front.<\/p>\n Before Mijatovi\u0107 struck in Amsterdam, Real Madrid had waited 32 years to be crowned champions of Europe. Despite this, his name is never mentioned in the same breath as the \u201cGal\u00e1cticos\u201d. But that one goal etched his name into Madrid folklore forever, and nobody can ever take that away from him.<\/p>\n For previous instalments in the series, click the links below.<\/p>\n Part 1: Dejan Savi\u0107evi\u0107<\/a> Part 2: Stefan Effenberg<\/a> Part 3: Guiseppe Signori<\/a><\/p>\n Part 4: Miguel \u00c1ngel Nadal<\/a> Part 5: Darko Pan\u010dev<\/a> Part 6: Oliver Bierhoff<\/a><\/p>\n Part 7: Nuno Gomes<\/a> Part 8: Mark Hateley<\/a> Part 9: Andrei Kanchelskis<\/a><\/p>\n Part 10: Jari Litmanen<\/a> Part 11: Gianluca Pagliuca<\/a><\/p>\n Main Photo<\/p>\nInternational Recognition<\/h4>\n
Valencia<\/h4>\n
Real Madrid<\/h4>\n
The Holy Grail at Last<\/h4>\n
Adi\u00f3s Madrid<\/h4>\n
Serie A and Later Career<\/h4>\n
Final Thought<\/h4>\n