IT WAS AN acrimonious deal.
Fiorentina and Juventus despised each other.
It was a long-running hatred, taking in a bitter 1982 race for the Serie A title and a controversial Uefa Cup final.
To make matters worse, just days after being beaten by the Old Lady in the European decider, it was announced on May 18 1990 that La Viola’s prized asset – Roberto Baggio – would be transferring to the Turin giants.
There were riots on the streets of Florence, fans attacked the club’s HQ and set fire to the city. The anger and bitterness and frustration continued to rage even after the three-day siege.
Even a world record fee of £8 million was irrelevant.
It was two million more than what AC Milan had paid PSV Eindhoven for Ruud Gullit in 1987 but Baggio’s record would only last for two years. In 1992, Milan forked out £10m to sign Jean-Pierre Papin from Marseille.
To put the Baggio fee in a modern-day context, Newcastle signed Andros Townsend for £12m in January.
Memorably, when Baggio returned to Florence the following season, he won a penalty but refused to take it. Luigi De Agostini promptly missed it.
The hosts won the game 1-0 and when he was substituted, a home fan threw a Fiorentina scarf to Baggio as he made his way down the touchline. He picked it up and walked to the dressing-rooms, waving as he went.
The42 is on Snapchat! Tap the button below on your phone to add!
You made a show of yourself. From the bus incident to this very day. Used to be a massive Mcgregor fan but lost all respect for him at this stage. Wish he’d actually step away from the sport. They should just call him money Mcgregor
@Willy Motley: all mouth. I never listened to the stuff that went on outside the cage, but watched keenly what happened inside, and there used to be a difference, now he is just a joke inside and outside. He won’t resurrect his career now with all that has happened unless he drops down the weight again.
@Bungee Aky: A fighter that has never successfully defended either title that he won in UFC.. Absolutely joke that he has the name he has..
@Tom Kenny: he did well while he was on the way up, but he cut his own time at the top short and the fall was quicker than the rise. No humility, no class, no longevity. He will be remembered as the best, greatest, brightest flash in the pan that ever happened.
He was more interested in promoting his whiskey..how couldnt you give someone like Khabib no respect, the man never lost a round in 20 odd fights
Who cares ??
@Desmond Cassidy: you do apparently.
If Mcgregor gets another crack at Khabib and beats him then he’ll be a big hero again. But he seems to have lost the hunger. He has shown with Nate Diaz that you can never write him off but he seems to have been on a downward spiral since the Mayweather money rolled in.
@Stanley Baggins:
Motivation or not, he’ll never beat Khabib even if he fights him 100 times.
@Stanley Baggins: lol not happening.
I will give the guy credit for mouthing his way to the top, but not a nice guy in or outside the octagon/ring, he could of really been an Irish legend but his behavior has made him nothing more then a laughing stock, money won’t buy him class something he is seriously lacking,
The money mayweathers ruined him.
Aldo done it for 10 years and was caught naively in 13 seconds as he was beyond wound up.
McGregor lauded his own talking game and aldo never got his rematch shot.
McGregor says he was caught in a fight where he wasn’t up to much and ended in his second loss and should get a rematch just because.
With his stardust waning and a bit of perspective its easier for people to see hes the Kardashian of UFC , took on a persona popular with the majority and played it expertly through modern media.
A distasteful genius with talent in all the wrong places.May he and the rest of the kardashian culture be plagued with no privacy and a life in the public eye for selling there souls for a few million quid.
@baw baw: @baw baw: To write McGregor off as nothing more than Khardasian culture is a bit revisionist, while in recent times he has become a mere parody of himself, it would be foolish to discard how good he was at his peak.
His persona only became what it was through his huge performances on the biggest stage. Against both Mendes and Aldo he heaped pressure on himself by talking a big and confident game and backed it up in the octogon. Without those performances his quick wit would have been nothing more than a cheap novelty. He has proven himself against a lot of top fighters and his lose to Khabib doesn’t take anything away from that.
I do however agree that he is not entitled to an immediate rematch and nor should he want one, he needs to tune up, get a few wins under his belt and his head back in the game before he could pose any threat to Khabib.
The idea that he could come back after two years on the session and beat him in the first place was ludicrous and thinking he could jump straight back in with him now is even more so.