25 years of the Seventh, Mijatovic's finger, Lorenzo Sanz's mobile and a "floating" Sanchís: "It was breaking with everything"

On May 20, 1998, around 10:10 p.m., the life of Real Madrid came to a halt at the Amsterdam Arena. A cross from Panucci, a rebound from the Juventus defense that fell into the boots of Roberto Carlos, a shot, another rebound, a control from Pedja Mijatovic, a dribble over Peruzzi and the goal of the seventh European Cup for the white team .

A goal that changed a generation, which connected the greatness that Madrid had built in black and white with the successes achieved in full color. 32 years later and after endless black nights, the club once again became the biggest in Europe.

Today, on its 25th anniversary and with seven more Champions Leagues at the Bernabéu Museum, the protagonists of that Dutch afternoon remember in EL MUNDO the anecdotes and the meaning of everything they experienced and achieved in 1998. “It is the most important trophy in the history of the club,” says Manolo Sanchís, the man in charge of raising the cup to the sky of Amsterdam. “When I picked it up, my mind was blank, I was in a floating state, you neither think nor feel. There is no title in the history of Madrid that has had behind it the desire and emotions of the Seventh”.

A glass that, deep down, is also a bit of La Quinta del Buitre, with the central defender as the last member of that generation. “Having won it means that the Fifth was present. It is also an achievement of his that he did not achieve unfairly”, reflects Sanchís, who insists on the special thing about the Seventh: “The feeling in the dressing room was of an urgent need, to reset the clock to zero. It was something that every year accumulated. The Seventh had 32 years behind it, 32 changing rooms, 32 benches, 32 boards of directors, 32 groups of fans…”.

The intrastory of the goal

In the memory of that squad everything leads to Mijatovic's goal. From what was discussed in the previous days at lunch and dinner with Davor Suker, Fernando Sanz and Guti, the four who were always together, the confidence of the Montenegrin, the motivation of the Croatian and Sanz's premonition: “You are going to score” he told her the day before. After beating Peruzzi, the finger of the man from Podgorica pointed angrily and non-stop towards the bench, at a Fernando who was the first to hug him and who from that day on became like thick and thin for him.

“I was unlucky, because just when we were going to hug, the television producer changed the shot towards the stands. Luckily the Madrid photographers did capture the moment,” jokes Sanz, who was appointed this week as the new director of International Business Development for the RFEF. “I shared a room with Guti and we always sat with Pedja and Davor. At lunch or dinner, I don't remember, I told him I was going to score. The thousandth of a second after scoring the goal struck him, he came towards me. We have been neighbors since 1996 and dedicating the goal to me made our relationship more accentuated. We live door to door, we watch the games together and we have shared many things, screwed up moments for both of us.. It's a very special relationship,” he says.

In the goal there is also a lie, or a truth not told by Mijatovic: “I had a muscle problem in my calf and I told Pedro Chueca, the physio, 'look, you can't tell anyone. If you tell it, I'll kill you'. He knew that he came from the Balkans and he thought he was crazy”, the Balkan has recounted on more than one occasion.

The replica commissioned by Lorenzo

The Seventh will always be Mijatovic's European Cup, but also that of Lorenzo Sanz, who died in the pandemic, president of the club and father of Fernando. “My generation had not seen anything like that and the Seventh was to break with everything, with the mockery, the defeats…. The figure of my father is linked to that date. It is a very special day, especially since his death”, confesses Fernando, who recalls some of Lorenzo's anecdotes as a result of the title. “He was a person with many eccentricities, I don't know if he was rare, but he was unusual. He went to make a replica of the European Cup in the same jewelry store where the original was made and now I have it at home. And he changed his phone to one that ended in 052098, the date of the final,” he recalls with a laugh.

For years, Lorenzo Sanz had “between eyebrows” gather all the members of the Seventh for the 25th anniversary. An event that now would have to be done without him. “Before he passed away, he told Pedja and me that he wanted to bring us together. I wanted. But life goes so fast for everyone that it’s complicated,” Fernando explains.

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