Predrag Mijatovic: The Unfashionable Hero of Real Madrid's Champions League Winning Galacticos

When we reflect with misty eyes on Real Madrid's drought-ending, Champions League winning side of 1998, we become lost among a sea of Galacticos, a collection of superstars united in search of one common goal - domination.

32 years of European hurt came to an end on that May evening in Amsterdam, as the likes of Raul, Fernando Morientes, Clarence Seedorf, Fernando Hierro and Roberto Carlos brought the giant trophy back to the Spanish capital.

But in a game of fine margins, it was left to one man to score the decisive goal in a nervy 90 minutes. That man was Predrag Mijatovic.

An opportunistic striker, Mijatovic was an absolute predator inside the box, and made a living off his supernatural instincts. The Serb was able to get a shot off from anywhere inside the penalty area, regardless of the amount of pressure he was under, and invariably, the ball would end up in the back of the net.

His right foot was deadly, and once he found a pocket of space, it was game over for the opposition. Within the blink of an eye, the ball had parted ways with his foot and arrowed past the opposition goalkeeper with electrifying pace and unerring ease.

He was also prolific in the air, and possessed impeccable timing when rising to meet a floated cross from the flanks. Mijatiovic's movement, anticipation and nose for a goal made him the unstoppable force he proved himself to be in La Liga, with both Valencia and latterly, Real Madrid.

He was lethal, devastating and relentless. And the 1990's belonged to the Serbian hitman.

Mijatovic began these wonder years at Partizan in Belgrade, and although he got off to a slow start there, once he got going, he never looked back. His 50 goals in 133 appearances were enough to convince Valencia to take a punt in the transfer market back in 1993, where he joined them in a deal worth €10m.

He continued his scoring exploits in Spain, hitting 16 goals in his first season in La Liga. But it wasn't just his love for scoring goals which attracted the attention and plaudits, it was his tendency to produce the spectacular which really caught the eye.

The striker dared to try and beat the keeper from the halfway line - and succeeded - on at least three occasions during his time with Valencia, lobbing his adversary with inch perfect wedges from a mile out. He could do it with either foot, too.

He also produced wicked volleys from acute angles, audacious chips from the edge of the box, free-kicks, solo dribbles, you name it, he could do it. His final season at the club was his finest in their colours, smashing 28 goals in 40 league games, and claiming the award for La Liga's Best Foreign Player in 1996.

Valencia's three-year love affair with the Serb came at a price, however. Madrid had been watching, and they liked what they saw. Los Blancos snatched Mijatovic, desperate for this crop of new players to lead them back to glory at Santiago Bernabeu.

Once again, he settled into his new surroundings with ease, managing 14 goals in 38 league games for los Merengues. Those goals fired the Spanish giants to the Liga title, their third and final domestic success in the 1990's.

Ultimately however, there was a much bigger game at play in the Spanish capital: they wanted the Champions League. Madrid's 1997 Ballon d'Or runner-up had certainly hit his peak by this point, but even on the downward slide, he could still find the net. 10 goals in the 1997/98 campaign were a decent return, but he failed to hit the target in his first seven matches in Europe.

It was in his eighth that he broke this curse, a game which just so happened to be the Champions League final. Mijatovic's career reached its pinnacle in three touches. The first to gather a wayward and deflected shot from Roberto Carlos into his path. The second to take the ball around the flailing Juventus goalkeeper Angelo Peruzzi, and the third to neatly caress his shot over the line.

He sprinted off in wild celebration, ending up at the bottom of the world's most decorated pile-on. And that was the moment in which Mijatovic completed football. For a striker, it doesn't get much better than scoring the winning goal in a European Cup final, let alone doing so in the famous white of Real Madrid.

Yet it was no less than this talented striker deserved.