The European Supercup. It was played in the fall of 1990 with huge gap between the first and second leg- the first match was on October 10th, the second on November 29th. No matter what, the ‘biggest’ trophy of the European pyramid never got the intended importance – it was difficult to find proper time for it, fans, observers, and clubs never warmed up to it, as attendance amply shows. It was the new season, domestic and international, on the mind of coaches, players, administration, fans. And since it was a new season already, the opponents featured slightly different squads than those which won the Champions Cup and the Cup Winners Cup back in the spring of 1990. Milan was apparently stronger and perhaps more motivated, but there was a problem, becoming increasingly bigger: the injuries of the flying Dutch. It has been Gullit more than an year ago, now van Basten was out. Unfortunately, there was no solution and it looked like that Milan was going always to miss some key player and as soon as he was back, the next one was out. One more problem was goalkeeping, which was always somewhat not at par with the rest of squad. But Sampdoria had similar problems – either that, or Vujadin Boskov preferred to keep his foreign players fresh and healthy for the Italian championship. Whatever the circumstances, neither team appeared to be in full strength. Yet, it was a trophy to be won…
Important, not important, Milan won.
Franco Baresi lifted the Supercup,
Everybody happy.
1st leg, Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa, 10 Oct 1990, att 25000
UC Sampdoria (1) 1 AC Milan (1) 1
31′ 1-0 S: Mikhailitchenko
39′ 1-1 M: Evani
UC Sampdoria: Pagliuca; Mannini, Invernizzi, Pari, Lanna, Pellegrini, Mikhailitchenko,
Lombardo, Branca, Mancini, Dossena
AC Milan: Pazzagli; Tassoti, Costacurta, Guadenzi, Galli, F.Baresi, Donadoni (Rijkaard 59),
Ancelotti, Massaro, Gullit, Evani (Stroppa 70)
Referee: Rosa dos Santos (Portugal)
2nd leg, San Siro Stadium, Milan, 29 Nov 1990, att 25000
AC Milan (1) 2 UC Sampdoria (0) 0
44′ 1-0 M: Gullit
76′ 2-0 M: Rijkaard
Milan won 3-1 on aggregate
AC Milan: Pazzagli; Tassotti, Baresi, Costacurta (F.Galli 78), Maldini, Carbone, Ancelotti,
Rijkaard, Evani, Gullit (Donadoni 73), Agostini
UC Sampdoria: Pagliuca; Lanna, Pellegrini, Vierchowod, Bonetti, Pari, Mikhailitchenko
(Dossena 67), Katanec (Branca 73), Lombardo, Vialli, Mancini
Referee: Petrovic (Yugoslavia)
Milan with the Supercup – it was their year, so far they won the Champions Cup and the Supercup and by the end of the year will collect the Intercontinental Cup. All international trophies in their hands, a testimony of a great team. A testimony of great Italian football too – all European cups went to the Italians, two all-Italian finals. Let forget the World Cup fiasco.