Mauro Bressan will at all times be remembered as a one-goal marvel – however, my God, what a aim to be remembered for.
When the jobbing midfielder was named within the Fiorentina line-up for a Champions League group stage conflict with Barcelona in November 1999, few may have predicted he would rating one of the iconic targets within the historical past of the competitors.
In reality, Bressan was one thing of a journeyman, plucked from the relative obscurity of Serie B facet Como after catching the attention of legendary Foggia coach Zdenek Zeman.
Inside a yr, he was headed for the brilliant lights of Serie A, first with Cagliari after which Bari, the place his Michael Carrick-esque metronomic passing and ball retention made him an excellent foil for an thrilling array of younger expertise on the membership that included Nicola Ventola, Gianluca Zambrotta and Antonio Cassano.
By the point he rocked up at Fiorentina two years later, Bressan was 28 and on the peak of his powers.
This was his shot on the massive time, working below Giovanni Trapattoni as a part of a Viola facet that, in Manuel Rui Costa and Gabriel Batistuta, boasted two of Serie A’s best attacking skills.
Bressan added depth to the squad and a few much-needed composure and organisation to a crew that had buckled below strain a yr earlier; surrendering the possibility of a primary Scudetto in 30 years with a dramatic collapse in kind over the ultimate few months of the season.
Regardless of the frustration, Fiorentina had nonetheless salvaged a third-place end and Champions League qualification, setting the stage for Bressan’s massive second.
By the point Fiorentina confronted off towards Barcelona on the Stadio Artemio Franchi, qualification for the second group stage had already been secured courtesy of a 1-0 win over Arsenal at Wembley, sealed with a thunderous Batistuta strike.
Bressan however went into the sport with some extent to show. The midfielder had been a bit-part participant throughout his first few months on the membership, watching on as Fiorentina’s title hopes shortly evaporated.
Although they fared higher in Europe, Bressan had solely seen half an hour of motion towards group whipping boys AIK. A useless rubber towards Barca, already confirmed as group winners, might not have had something driving on it, however the Italian made certain it could be an evening to recollect.
Barcelona had handily dispatched Fiorentina 4-2 on the Camp Nou earlier within the marketing campaign and fielded a robust line-up that included the likes of Luis Figo, Pep Guardiola, Patrick Kluivert and Rivaldo alongside rising stars like Xavi and Carles Puyol.
Regardless of the array of skills on both crew, this may be Bressan’s night time to shine. The midfielder was by no means an everyday goalscorer, which solely made what occurred quarter-hour into the sport that bit extra extraordinary.
There was undoubtedly a component of fine fortune to the way in which the ball got here to Bressan on the sting of the Barcelona field; a hurried Guardiola clearance, some miscontrol by Fiorentina’s Jorg Heinrich and an tried header from Rivaldo that failed to attach.
However there was no mistaking the standard of his strike. Bressan had his again to aim because the ball bounced in entrance of him hanging within the air for lengthy sufficient to permit him to regulate his place and execute a shocking bicycle kick from all of 25 yards out.
🔥 Greatest bicycle kick in historical past?
🤯 Mauro Bressan #OTD in 1999! #UCL | @ACFFiorentinaEN pic.twitter.com/1jhtfCjSWf
— UEFA Champions League (@ChampionsLeague) November 2, 2020
Surrounded by gamers from both facet, the Italian defied the legal guidelines of physics, producing sufficient energy on the ball to ship it looping by way of the air and over the hapless Francesc Arnau within the Barcelona aim.
Arnau was powerless to forestall it from flying satisfyingly into the top-right hand nook off the underside of the bar. The Spaniard desperately lurched backwards in a futile try at a save solely to collide with the publish and find yourself tangled in his personal internet, a visibly overwhelmed man.
The noise among the many 25,000 packed into the Artemio Franchi was deafening as Bressan’s team-mates ran to embrace the midfielder, whose expression was a combination of unadulterated pleasure and shock.
It was a aim that was gorgeous not least within the unorthodox approach utilized but additionally the actual fact it had been scored by a participant not identified for scoring targets of any type, not to mention ones of such spectacular ones.
“It most likely appeared a bit loopy on the time,” Bressan later instructed FourFourTwo, “however I needed to strive it as a result of I had tried it a number of occasions in coaching with not a lot success.
“All of it got here right down to the way in which I hit it, and that took place by way of co-ordination, then connecting cleanly with the ball. After I bought again onto my ft I simply began screaming.”
Fiorentina maybe understandably struggled to regain their composure within the aftermath, with Barcelona taking full benefit to attain twice by way of Luis Figo and Rivaldo and go in 2-1 up on the break.
However Bressan – nonetheless on a excessive after his once-in-a-lifetime strike – discovered one other gear after the interval with good help usually will get neglected within the retelling of his best night time.
Abel Balbo collected the ball 30 yards from aim earlier than taking part in a sq. move to Bressan who in a second of unheralded genius, returned it to the Argentine with a first-time backheel that cut up the Catalan defence in two.
Balbo duly completed with aplomb, however there was no mistaking Bressan’s position because the architect of what was an excellent attacking transfer and an help to savour.
The Argentine added a 3rd for Fiorentina 14 minutes later earlier than Rivaldo volleyed dwelling shortly after to finish a memorable night time for each groups.
The sport stays an excellent advert for the Champions League, performed by two groups worthy of a spot within the subsequent spherical and one ceaselessly revisited in YouTube highlights reels and DVD compilations.
For Bressan, nonetheless, it was a lot greater than that. This proved to be the one time he ever accomplished full 90 minutes of Champions League soccer – the midfielder inexplicably returned to his position as a bit-part participant within the second group section, with Fiorentina in the end bowing out.
The Italian however discovered a technique to etch his identify into the historical past of the event ceaselessly in a lot the identical approach Tony Yeboah managed the identical with Leeds within the Premier League with a few blistering strikes again within the mid-90s.
Bressan nonetheless will get requested in regards to the aim to at the present time. Whereas it’s one often wheeled out by the Champions League social media admins throughout on-line discussions about bicycle kicks, finest ever targets and even simply to mark the Italian’s birthday.
An ITV countdown of the event’s finest ever targets even ranked it as second solely to Zinedine Zidane’s Champions League last winner for Actual Madrid towards Bayer Leverkusen.
Although he remained a squad participant, there was a contented ending of types to Bressan’s Florence journey, with the midfielder making a big contribution to Fiorentina’s Coppa Italia success a season later in 2001.
Bressan not solely scored towards Milan within the semis but additionally arrange Paolo Vanoli for an important aim within the first leg of the ultimate towards Parma with an excellent floated cross.
He returned to his nomadic methods quickly after, spending single seasons at Venezia and Genoa, the place he carried out admirably, earlier than returning to the place all of it started at Como.
There was nonetheless time for one final journey in Switzerland with FC Lugano and FC Chiasso, the place Bressan continued to play often earlier than hanging up his boots aged 38, in 2009.
Had the story ended there, then Bressan might need been remembered extra affectionately as a cult hero in his homeland. But it surely didn’t.
In 2011, Bressan was one among 16 arrested for suspected match-fixing in Italy’s decrease leagues. Amongst these additionally implicated was ex-Lazio captain and Soccer Italia icon Giuseppe Signori and former Atalanta captain and Italy worldwide Cristiano Doni.
The arrests have been the fruits of a six-month investigation by police who uncovered “necessary and compelling” proof indicating that these arrested have been a part of a prison organisation suspected of manipulating leads to Serie B and Serie C video games.
A yr later, in August 2012, the Italian Soccer Federation’s (FIGC) disciplinary committee banned Bressan from soccer for three-and-a-half years.
The allegations and the match-fixing scandals that engulfed the Italian sport left an indelible stain on these concerned.
But regardless of this, the identify Mauro Bressan lives on as one thing else – a reminder of the magic of soccer and the particular form of fleeting brilliance that makes it such a compelling spectacle.
By Jack Beresford
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