Past greats inspire new glories

By Berend Scholten and Paolo Menicucci

AC Milan legend Franco Baresi's attachment to the club where he was twice a European champion is telling. In 2002 he briefly left the San Siro, lured by the challenge of becoming sporting director at Fulham FC in England. But he soon returned, the 44-year-old admitting: "It was hard to be so far from the club. The umbilical cord is too short even if you try and distance yourself from your attachment to the club and the colours."

Secret of success
Such devotion down the generations is part of the secret of the Rossoneri's success. It is a quality PSV share, and as the teams prepare to meet again on Wednesday, such links with the past could play a crucial role in shaping the present.

Happy memories
PSV's terrific run to the semi-finals is reviving happy memories around the Philips Stadion. It is 17 years since PSV's European Champion Clubs' Cup triumph, but a host of familiar faces have ensured the taste of glory remains tantalisingly real to the players hoping to emulate that achievement.

Hiddink pride
Most familiar of all is coach Guus Hiddink. "Just like now, [in 1988] we weren't favourites at all," said Hiddink, now 58 but at the start of his coaching career when PSV were continental kings. "We were an unknown team with a lot of young guns. The atmosphere then was also excellent. Everyone fought for each other, that led to the European Cup victory."

Linskens winner
Alongside Hiddink as he spoke those words at a press conference was Adick Koot, now a translator for PSV, then a central defender who scored an important goal in a first-round win against Galatasaray SK. Other players from 1988 still at the club include midfielder turned reserve-team coach Gerald Vanenburg, and Edward Linskens, then a young holding midfielder, who runs the PSV club shop. What price a picture of his mis-hit shot at the Santiago Bernabéu that decided the semi-final against Real Madrid CF?

Glory days
Full-back Berry van Aerle is PSV's fans liaison officer, striker Hans Gilhaus a scout, and full-back Erik Gerets was their coach. Danish star Frank Arnesen has also influenced the current side: he was PSV's technical director before joining Tottenham Hotspur FC last summer.

Ancelotti honours
Like Hiddink, Carlo Ancelotti, is no stranger to European success with the club he now coaches. As a player he twice lifted the European Cup with Milan - in 1989 and again in 1990 - and emulated his mentor Arrigo Sacchi when he brought the trophy back to Milan in 2003.

'Family'
The 45-year-old is Milan through and through, an alumnus of the Sacchi school of coaching. Nobody understands better what working for Milan is all about. "We are carrying on with tradition. Ancelotti is a part of our family," Rossoneri vice-president Adriano Galliani said when Ancelotti signed a new contract last August.

Towering symbols
Helping Ancelotti transmit Milan's values to his players are veterans Paolo Maldini and Alessandro Costacurta, who both played alongside Ancelotti in the triumphs of 1989 and 1990. They are towering symbols of Milan's style. They know what it takes to win - but also how to win the Rossoneri way, with a professional and attacking approach.

Strong ties
Assistant coach Mauro Tassotti was a key member of Milan's European Cup-winning teams of 1989, 1990 and 1994, while Baresi, twice a winner, is coach of the Primavera side. Their former team-mates Alberigo Evani and Angelo Colombo also work in the club's youth system - ensuring past glories still resonate today.