His prolific performances with Fiorentina earned him a permanent move to Milan, where he contributed to the club's European Cup victory in 1990, despite struggling with injuries.
[1] After two years Borgonovo was sent on loan again, this time to ACF Fiorentina, where he had the most successful season of his career, scoring 14 league goals in 30 appearances while playing alongside attacking partner Roberto Baggio under coach Sergio Santarini.
[3][4] Borgonovo's performances earned him three caps for Italy, all in 1989 – his debut coming on 22 February 1989, in a friendly with Denmark, which ended in a 1–0 victory to the Italians.
[1] He also helped the under-21 side to qualify for the upcoming European Championships during the 1985–86 season, earning three caps, and scoring a crucial goal against Sweden, although he was unable to take part in the finals, in which Italy finished runners-up to Spain, due to injury.
[7] A quick, agile, opportunistic, and intelligent striker, with an eye for goal, Borgonovo possessed an excellent positional sense in the area, as well as good acceleration, and fast reactions; these attributes allowed him to anticipate opponents in the area, and enabled him to be prolific in front of goal throughout his career, despite his relatively small stature, slender physique, and lack of notable pace.
[10] To raise funds and awareness of the disease, Borgonovo started his own foundation[2] and a testimonial match was organized by his former clubs Fiorentina and Milan.
"[8] Borgonovo wrote an autobiography, Attaccante nato (Born striker), while only to be able to make use of his eyes to control a computer to write it.
[16] His death coincided with the Italian national team's semifinal against Spain at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, and the Italy squad wore black armbands as a mark of respect.