Hierro says success is in Madrid's genes

A central defender and defensive midfielder of awesome ability, Fernando Hierro anchored the Real Madrid CF sides that won UEFA Champions League finals in 1998, 2000 and 2002. With Carlo Ancelotti's current side having ended a 12-year wait by winning La Décima last season, the 47-year-old recalled his team's golden years and predicted that this could be the start of a similarly glorious spell for the club.

UEFA.com: How did you feel when Madrid finally became European champions for the tenth time last season?

Fernando Hierro: It was a great source of pride and happiness for me. It really was a milestone for our club. Twelve years was quite a long wait by our standards, but there was a time when I was a player when Real Madrid had to wait 32 years to become European champions for a seventh time. This has always been a very special competition. It is packed with great teams, and it is very short – you only need to fail in one match in any in the knockout stages and you have little or no chance to sort things out.

UEFA.com: As you say, your Madrid side brought an end to a long barren spell for the club in 1998. Were you all nervous before the final?

Hierro: We were doing really badly in the Spanish league, and we thought we wouldn't even have the chance to qualify for Europe in 1999. The Champions League was the only competition we could have won that year; it was our only hope, but it was something we really wanted to achieve, and right after the end of the return leg of the semi-final in Dortmund our minds were already on the Amsterdam final, because we all knew what it could mean to us and to the club as a whole.

We went to Amsterdam and we were the underdogs – everyone thought Juventus were favourites, and that we didn't have that much chance of winning. That was an experienced team, and we knew that it was our last and biggest chance to win the competition. And at that moment, we showed the world our attitude. We couldn't let that opportunity get away.

UEFA.com: You won the UEFA Champions League three times. Was the first win the best?

Hierro: Yes, certainly. Of course this competition is so wonderful, and we won three editions in five years, but the seventh Madrid title was a milestone for all of us and for our generation. The urge to be champions of Europe is in the club's DNA, and that's why it was a real milestone to put an end to that 32-year gap. Everyone in Madrid was on the streets celebrating – we had never seen anything like that before.

UEFA.com: The 2000 final against Valencia CF was the first one between two clubs from the same country. What do you remember about that?

Hierro: We were favourites that year, but we showed the world that we were confident about our chances. That generation was really amazing, with Michel Salgado, Roberto Carlos, Iván Campo, Iván Helguera, Aitor Karanka, and Iker Casillas was already the goalkeeper. And then McManaman, Redondo, Anelka, Raúl, Morientes … In the two years since 1998, a lot of players had changed, but the confidence was the same.

UEFA.com: You were captain for the third win in 2002. What was it like to beat Bayer 04 Leverkusen with that extraordinary goal from Zinédine Zidane?

Hierro: It's something you keep with you forever, in your memory. It’s something really exciting. You don't quite get the difficulty of that goal when you watch it on TV; you can see it from ten different angles, but when we were there and we saw him hit the ball that was coming in so high... I was about 30-40 metres away. I remember Solari passing the ball on the wing to Roberto Carlos near the line, and he crossed the ball as well as he could, but it was a really difficult ball and … then Zizou did that unbelievable thing. It left us all speechless.

UEFA.com: After ending the 12-year barren spell, could you see this Madrid side having a similar successful European run to the one your side experienced?

Hierro: I think so. They are strong and confident, and they won a very close Champions League final last time. It’s true that every record is there just to be broken. Everyone is pessimistic now because no club has won back to back Champions Leagues, but I think we are a really powerful team with a great coach leading us.

Zinédine Zidane scoring that goal in 2002©Getty Images