WE WANT OUR TROPHY BACK

The match dubbed the Eurovision Pong contest by the Daily Mirror also received nul point from Spain. There they had been unimpressed by the way Italian clubs had eliminated Valencia, Barcelona and Real Madrid, and their prejudices were confirmed by the 0-0 draw.

"The Italians are going to think that the Spanish are being critical of their style of play," said Ronaldo, "but we all saw that it was a very ugly and boring final for the spectators."

The European Cup was reluctantly returned to Milan after a year in Madrid.

"What a bore," said the Madrid sports daily Marca. "Give the cup back."

"The result says that Milan are now the best team in Europe," Ronaldo said. "But we have shown that we play the prettiest football in Europe."

"They should prohibit two Italian teams from playing in a European final," said Marca's rival daily AS. "As [Johan] Cruyff has said, the presence of even one Italian team is a tragedy for football."

Even in Italy there was some embarrassment - and La Gazzetta dello Sport, naturally, blushed pinker than its rivals. The shoot-out, it said, had "returned like a condemnation of Italian football".

"From now on it'll be difficult to argue with the aesthetes of football - those who insist the true European final was last month's showdown between Real Madrid and Manchester United," it commented.

"It will also revive our vociferous Spanish critics and sow doubt in England and France, where they had just started to celebrate Italy's footballing style.”


Bobby Charlton:

"I'd rather watch United. I would love to be able to tell people what a great game it was, but you have to be honest.

"We were looking forward to our stadium being the venue for a really exciting game, hopefully with lots of goals.

"Unfortunately, we didn't get that - in fact there were hardly any shots on goal. We are used to seeing exciting football at Old Trafford, but we didn't get any last night.”

Alex Stepney:

"The Italians have a certain way of playing and you will never change that. Even in the last couple of minutes last night, both teams were knocking the ball around, quite happy to settle for 0-0 and take their chances in the penalties.

"Their first priority has always been to stop the other team scoring rather than try to get one themselves.

"It doesn't seem to matter about the style of play or the crowd who are coming to watch but I don't think the fans over here would respond to the same kind of attitude.”