Cup Winners Cup. One old winner of the trophy against the losing finalist of 1989. Anderlecht, well respected and constantly strong, was looking for its 3rd Cup Winners Cup. Sampdoria reached the final for a second consecutive year and was eager to win this time. The road to the final of both teams was impressive – collectively, they lost just a single game. Both finalists had their tougher opposition in the 1/8 finals: Sampdoria eliminated Borussia Dortmund (West Germany) 1-1 and 2-0 and Anderlecht prevailed over Barcelona 2-0 and 1-2 in extra time. That was the only match which either finalist lost on their way to the final. The rest was relatively easy: Sampdoria rolled ever Brann (Norway) 2-0 and 1-0, then came Borussia Dortmund, followed by Grasshopper (Switzerland) 2-0 and 2-1, and in the ½ finals Monaco (France) 2-2 and 2-0. Anderlecht: Ballymena United (Northern Ireland) 6-0 and 4-0, Barcelona, Admira-Wacker (Austria) 2-0 and 1-1, and Dinamo Bucharest (Romania) in the ½ finals 1-0 and 1-0. So, no favorite at the final even if Sampdoria had more famous stars: Katanec (Yugoslavia) and especially the lethal strikers Vialli and Mancini. Like the Champions Cup final, here was a clash of great coaches too: Yugoslavian Vujadin Boskov (Sampdoria) and Dutch Aad de Mos (Anderlecht).
A match between equals, so regular time ended scoreless.
Things changed in the extra time, Sampdoria getting the upper hand.
Vialli scored twice. And that was it.
Final, Nya Ullevi Stadium, Gothenburg, 9 May 1990, att 20103
UC Sampdoria (0) 2 RSC Anderlecht (0) 0 aet
105′ 1-0 S: Vialli
107′ 2-0 S: Vialli
UC Sampdoria: Pagliuca; L.Pellegrini, Mannini, Vierchowod, Carboni; Pari, Katanec (Salsano 93),
Invernizzi (Lombardo 53), Dossena; Vialli, Mancini
RSC Anderlecht: De Wilde; Grün, Marchoul, Keshi, Kooiman; Vervoort, Musonda, Gudjohnson,
Jankovic (Oliveira 112); Degryse (Nilis 103), Van der Linden
Referee: Galler (Switzerland)
Sampdoria happily got the Cup.
Then it was just the see of blue on the pitch and on the stands.
Anderlecht was unable to win 3rd Cup Winners Cup and it was just right under the circumstances: no matter how good and steady the club was, money talked more than ever before by the end of the 1980s. And the Italian clubs had the money… Yes, Anderlecht had top coach and impressive squad, but Keshi, Grun, Vervoort, Jankovic, de Wilde, Degryse, and Gudjohnsen were bellow the level of Sampdoria’a leading players. Luc Nilis was still too young to be a big factor and Oliveira was beyond his prime. Anderlecht was strong, well balanced, but… not at Sampdoria level, not even on the level of its own earlier vintages. Small difference, but crucial in matters of life and death. And the Africans were not yet prime stars of world football…
Sampdoria won its first European trophy. Of course, the team was going up for some time, but they lost the same Cup final the previous year and now did better, adding one more name to the list of Cup winners. Not only the city of Genoa equalized itself to Milano and Torino, bypassing Rome, but the success of Samdoria also firmly established the leading position of Italian club football in Europe. Vujadin Boskov knew his job very well indeed and he made impressive blend of young and experienced stars – Katanec (Yugoslavia), Dossena and Mannini at their prime, Vialli and Mancini, still young, but experienced and top talent, old, but very impressive Vierchowod, and young talented Pagliuca. The rest were well respected players, if not first class stars. Well rounded team, combining fresh talent and experience, as every great team does. Thus, success came and it did not look that Sampdoria was one-time wonder, but a team going to stay for awhile and do even better things. Well deserved victory.