UEFA Super Cup
Founded
1972
Continent
Europe (UEFA)
Number of Teams
2
Current Champions (2007-08)
A.C. Milan
Most successful club
A.C. Milan (5 time champions, 2 times runner-up)
Website
(Website)

The European Super Cup (UEFA Super Cup) is at stake in an annual football game between the reigning champions of the UEFA Cup and the Champions League. It takes place at the start of the domestic season, in August, and it is generally regarded as a minor event, with the Champions League and UEFA Cup winners not always fielding their strongest sides; since the game happens after the Summer transfer window, the teams selected may be different from the ones who won the qualifying competitions.

The most successful team is Italian side AC Milan, who have won the trophy five times. They faced Sevilla in the 2007 UEFA Super Cup on August 31, 2007 and won the match 3-1. The match was marred by the death of a Sevilla player just days before - Antonio Puerta. It is understood that AC Milan started the match unsure of how aggressively to play considering the emotionally charged nature of the evening, but Sevilla set the tone by scoring first, which led to Milan giving one of their finest performances and coming back to score three goals in the second half. Both teams dedicated the match to Puerta and all goalscorers made a point of celebrating Puerta's name which was printed on the back of all players shirts below their squad number.

History

The European Super Cup was created in 1972 by Anton Witkamp, a reporter and later sports editor of Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. The idea came to him in a time where Dutch total football was Europe's finest and Dutch football clubs were living their golden era (especially Ajax). Witkamp was looking for something new to definitely decide which was the best team in Europe and also to further test Ajax's legendary team, led by their star player Johan Cruyff. It was then proposed that the winner of the European Cup would face the winner of the Cup Winners' Cup.

All was set for a new competition to be born. However, when Witkamp tried to get an official endorsement to his competition, the UEFA president turned it down because of a one-year ban applied to Cup Winners' Cup holders Rangers, due to misbehavior of their supporters. Still, the cup dispute went ahead despite the unofficial status. It was played in two legs and was financially supported by Dutch newspaper De Telegraaf. Ajax beat Rangers and won the very first European Super Cup. Since then, the competition has been officially recognised and supported by UEFA.

Although the two-legged format was kept, in some years, the European Super Cup was decided in one single match whether because of schedule dilemmas or political problems. In 1974, 1981 and 1985, the European Super Cup was not played at all. Everton are in talks with UEFA to have a legends game in August against Juventus, with the winners claiming the 1985 trophy. The two clubs in question would have contested for the cup in 1985; had the game gone ahead.

Since 1998 the European Super Cup has always been decided in one single match, in Monaco's Stade Louis II.

At the end of the 1998/99 season, the Cup Winners' Cup was discontinued by UEFA. Since the beginning of the 1999/2000 season, the European Super Cup has been contested between the respective winners of the UEFA Champions League (formerly the European Cup before the format was changed) and the UEFA Cup.

Three Trophies, Three Changes

The UEFA Super Cup has undergone some changes in its history, not only has the number of legs been changed but the trophy itself has undergone 3 stage changes. The first trophy wasnt a cup at all it was in fact a Plaque, that had a Gold UEFA Emblem on it with the continent inscribed within the Emblem, Teams to have won this trophy are Aberdeen FC, Aston Villa and many more alike. Stage 2 was the trophy being shaped into almost how it looks today.

The old UEFA Super Cup trophy - which was raised in celebration by footballing giants like Alessandro Nesta, Fernando Hierro and Paolo Maldini - was the smallest and lightest of all the European club trophies, weighing just 5kg and measuring a modest 42.5cm in height. With the UEFA Champions League trophy weighing in at 8kg and the UEFA Cup at 15kg, the UEFA Super Cup was never quite as super as it sounded.

That has all changed now, and with the new model trophy now standing at 58cm, the UEFA Super Cup now tips the scales at a strapping 12.2kg - a fair reflection of the importance of the final as the finale to the annual UEFA European Football Awards. And while the trophy may have put on weight, there will be no shortage of players eager to raise it after the final whistle in Monaco. The new trophy retains the basic design of its predecessor, which was designed and crafted at the Bertoni workshop in Milan. The classic bowl is held aloft on a base that is subtly twisted like a skein of wool while the two arms allow the winners enough room to take a firm grip as they do their lap of honour. The champion is entitled to have a replica made, provided that it does not exceed four-fifths of the dimensions of the original - which means that the winning team can craft a replica that is much bigger than the ones possessed by previous winners.

In line with the increased prestige of the competition, the new UEFA Super Cup trophy - which was lifted for the first time by Sevilla FC's Javi Navarro in August 2006 - is bigger and better than ever.

European Super Cup finals

Single match finals

2007
	Milan	3 - 1	Sevilla	Stade Louis II, Monaco Referee: Konrad Plautz
	Inzaghi  55' Jankulovski  62' Kaká		Renato  14'

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2006
	Barcelona	0 - 3	Sevilla	Stade Louis II, Monaco Referee: Stefano Farina
			Renato  7' Kanouté  45' Maresca  90' (pen)

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2005
	Liverpool	3 - 1 a.e.t.	CSKA Moscow	Stade Louis II, Monaco Referee: René Temmink
	Cissé  82'  103' García  109'		Carvalho  28'

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2004
	Porto	1 - 2	Valencia	Stade Louis II, Monaco Referee: Terje Hauge
	Quaresma  78'		Baraja  32' Di Vaio  67'

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2003
	Milan	1 - 0	Porto	Stade Louis II, Monaco Referee: Graham Barber
	Shevchenko  10'

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2002
	Real Madrid	3 - 1	Feyenoord	Stade Louis II, Monaco Referee: Hugh Dallas
	Paauwe  15' (o.g) Roberto Carlos  21' Guti  60'		van Hooijdonk  56'

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2001
	Bayern Munich	2 - 3	Liverpool	Stade Louis II, Monaco Referee: Vítor Melo Pereira
	Salihamidžić  57' Jancker  81'		Riise  22' Heskey  45' Owen  46'

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2000
	Real Madrid	1 - 2 a.e.t.	Galatasaray	Stade Louis II, Monaco
	Raúl  79' (pen)		Jardel  41' (pen)  103'

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1999
	Manchester United	0 - 1	Lazio	Stade Louis II, Monaco
			Salas  35'

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1998
	Real Madrid	0 - 1	Chelsea	Stade Louis II, Monaco
			Poyet  81'

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Two-legged finals

Year	Home Team	Score	Away Team	Venue
1997	Barcelona (C2) (ESP)	2 - 0	Borussia Dortmund (C1) (GER)	Camp Nou, Barcelona
	Borussia Dortmund (GER)	1 - 1	Barcelona (ESP)	Westfalenstadion, Dortmund
	Barcelona won 3-1 on aggregate
1996	Paris Saint-Germain (C2) (FRA)	1 - 6	Juventus (C1) (ITA)	Parc des Princes, Paris
	Juventus (ITA)	3 - 1	Paris Saint-Germain (FRA)	Stadio La Favorita, Palermo
	Juventus won 9-2 on aggregate
1995	Zaragoza (C2) (ESP)	1 - 1	Ajax (C1) (NED)	La Romareda, Zaragoza
	Ajax (NED)	4 - 0	Zaragoza (ESP)	Olympic Stadium, Amsterdam
	Ajax won 5-1 on aggregate
1994	Arsenal (C2) (ENG)	0 - 0	A.C. Milan (C1) (ITA)	Highbury, London
	A.C. Milan (ITA)	2 - 0	Arsenal (ENG)	San Siro, Milan
	A.C. Milan won 2-0 on aggregate
1993	Parma (C2) (ITA)	0 - 1	A.C. Milan (C1) (ITA)	Ennio Tardini, Parma
	A.C. Milan (ITA)	0 - 2 aet	Parma (ITA)	San Siro, Milan
	Parma won 2-1 on aggregate Note: European champions Marseille were suspended due to a bribery scandal
1992	Werder Bremen (C2) (GER)	1 - 1	Barcelona (C1) (ESP)	Weserstadion, Bremen
	Barcelona (ESP)	2 - 1	Werder Bremen (GER)	Camp Nou, Barcelona
	Barcelona won 3-2 on aggregate
1991	Manchester United (C2) (ENG)	1 - 0	Red Star Belgrade (C1) (YUG)	Old Trafford, Manchester
	Only the first leg was played in Manchester, due to political reasons in former Yugoslavia the game in Belgrade was not played.
1990	Sampdoria (C2) (ITA)	1 - 1	A.C. Milan (C1) (ITA)	Stadio Luigi Ferraris, Genoa
	A.C. Milan (ITA)	2 - 0	Sampdoria (ITA)	San Siro, Milan
	A.C. Milan won 3-1 on aggregate
1989	Barcelona (C2) (ESP)	1 - 1	A.C. Milan (C1) (ITA)	Camp Nou, Barcelona
	A.C. Milan (ITA)	1 - 0	Barcelona (ESP)	San Siro, Milan
	A.C. Milan won 2-1 on aggregate
1988	KV Mechelen (C2) (BEL)	3 - 0	PSV Eindhoven (C1) (NED)	Achter de Kazerne, Mechelen
	PSV Eindhoven (NED)	1 - 0	KV Mechelen (BEL)	Philips Stadion, Eindhoven
	KV Mechelen won 3-1 on aggregate
1987	Ajax (C2) (NED)	0 - 1	FC Porto (C1) (POR)	De Meer Stadium, Amsterdam
	FC Porto (POR)	1 - 0	Ajax (NED)	Estádio das Antas, Porto
	FC Porto won 2-0 on aggregate
1986	Steaua Bucharest (C1) (ROM)	1 - 0	FC Dynamo Kyiv (C2) (URS)	Stade Louis II, Monaco
	Single match played in neutral ground for political reasons
1985	NOT HELD Juventus (ITA) (C1) vs Everton (ENG) (C2)
	Not held because of Heysel tragedy and consequent UEFA ban on English clubs
1984	Juventus (C2) (ITA)	2 - 0	Liverpool (C1) (ENG)	Stadio Comunale, Turin
	Only one match played because Liverpool could not find another date to play Juventus
1983	Hamburger SV (C1) (FRG)	0 - 0	Aberdeen (C2) (SCO)	Volksparkstadion, Hamburg
	Aberdeen (SCO)	2 - 0	Hamburger SV (FRG)	Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen
	Aberdeen won 2-0 on aggregate
1982	Barcelona (C2) (ESP)	1 - 0	Aston Villa (C1) (ENG)	Camp Nou, Barcelona
	Aston Villa (ENG)	3 - 0 aet	Barcelona (ESP)	Villa Park, Birmingham
	Aston Villa won 3-1 on aggregate
1981	NOT HELD Liverpool (ENG) (C1) vs Dinamo Tbilisi (URS) (C2)
	Not held because Liverpool could not find dates to meet Dinamo Tbilisi
1980	Nottingham Forest (C1) (ENG)	2 - 1	Valencia (C2) (ESP)	City Ground, Nottingham
	Valencia (ESP)	1 - 0	Nottingham Forest (ENG)	Luis Casanova Stadium, Valencia
	Aggregate: 2-2 Valencia won on away goals
1979	Nottingham Forest (C1) (ENG)	1 - 0	Barcelona (C2) (ESP)	City Ground, Nottingham
	Barcelona (ESP)	1 - 1	Nottingham Forest (ENG)	Camp Nou, Barcelona
	Nottingham Forest won 2-1 on aggregate
1978	Anderlecht (C2) (BEL)	3 - 1	Liverpool (C1) (ENG)	Parc Astrid, Brussels
	Liverpool (ENG)	2 - 1	Anderlecht (BEL)	Anfield, Liverpool
	Anderlecht won 4-3 on aggregate
1977	Hamburger SV (C2) (FRG)	1 - 1	Liverpool (C1) (ENG)	Volksparkstadion, Hamburg
	Liverpool (ENG)	6 - 0	Hamburger SV (FRG)	Anfield, Liverpool
	Liverpool won 7-1 on aggregate
1976	Bayern Munich (C1) (FRG)	2 - 1	Anderlecht (C2) (BEL)	Olympiastadion, Munich
	Anderlecht (BEL)	4 - 1	Bayern Munich (FRG)	Parc Astride, Brussels
	Anderlecht won 5-3 on aggregate
1975	Bayern Munich (C1) (FRG)	0 - 1	FC Dynamo Kiev (C2) (URS)	Olympiastadion, Munich
	FC Dynamo Kiev (URS)	2 - 0	Bayern Munich (FRG)	Republican Stadium, Kiev
	FC Dynamo Kiev won 3-0 on aggregate
1974	NOT HELD Bayern Munich (FRG) (C1) vs FC Magdeburg (GDR) (C2)
	Not held for political reasons
1973	A.C. Milan (C2) (ITA)	1 - 0	Ajax (C1) (NED)	San Siro, Milan
	Ajax (NED)	6 - 0	A.C. Milan (ITA)	Olympisch Stadion, Amsterdam
	Ajax won 6-1 on aggregate
1972	Rangers (C2) (SCO)	1 - 3	Ajax (C1) (NED)	Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow
	Ajax (NED)	3 - 2	Rangers (SCO)	De Meer Stadium, Amsterdam
	Ajax won 6-3 on aggregate

• aet - after extra time
• (C1) refers to entrants from the European Cup or Champions League
• (C2) refers to entrants from the Cup Winners' Cup
• (C3) refers to entrants from the UEFA or Fairs Cup

Performance by nation

Nation	Winners	Losing finalists	Winning clubs
Italy	9	3	A.C. Milan (5), Juventus (2), Parma (1), Lazio (1)
England	7	5	Liverpool (3), Chelsea (1), Manchester United (1), Aston Villa (1), Nottingham Forest (1)
Spain	6	8	Barcelona (2), Valencia (2), Real Madrid (1), Sevilla (1)
Netherlands	3	3	Ajax (3)
Belgium	3	0	Anderlecht (2), KV Mechelen (1)
Portugal	1	2	Porto (1)
Scotland	1	1	Aberdeen (1)
Ukraine	1	1	Dynamo Kyiv (1)
Romania	1	0	Steaua Bucharest (1)
Turkey	1	0	Galatasaray (1)
Germany	0	7
France	0	1
Yugoslavia	0	1
Russia	0	1

By Club

	Team	Winners	Runners-Up
1	AC Milan	5	2
2	Liverpool F.C.	3	2
3	AFC Ajax	3	1
4	FC Barcelona	2	4
5	Valencia CF	2	0
	Juventus	2	0
	Anderlecht	2	0
7	FC Porto	1	2
	Real Madrid	1	2
9	Manchester United	1	1
	Nottingham Forest	1	1
	Dynamo Kyiv	1	1
	Sevilla FC	1	1
13	Steaua Bucharest	1	0
	Aston Villa	1	0
	Aberdeen	1	0
	Chelsea	1	0
	KV Mechelen	1	0
	AC Parma	1	0
	Lazio	1	0
	Galatasaray	1	0
21	Bayern Munich	0	3
22	HSV	0	2
23	Feyenoord	0	1
	PSV	0	1
	Borussia Dortmund	0	1
	Rangers	0	1
	Real Zaragoza	0	1
	Arsenal F.C.	0	1
	Werder Bremen	0	1
	Sampdoria	0	1
	Crvena Zvezda	0	1
	PSG	0	1
	CSKA Moscow	0	1

See Also

• UEFA Champions League
• UEFA Cup
• Super Cup

External Links

• UEFA Super Cup

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