Seventh Super Cup final

Barça play in the European Super Cup for the seventh time tonight, thus equalling Milan’s all-time record.


Just by taking part in tonight’s game at the Louis II, Barça are making history, as they equal Milan’s tally of seven appearances in a competition that has been held since 1973.

The ‘rossoneri’ have a record five titles. Barça, despite competing six times before, have only brought home the trophy twice.

1979: Nottingham Forest

The Cup Winners Cup win in Basel earned Barça the right to contest the trophy for the first time. It was a two-legged affair in those days, and things got under way with 1-0 defeat away to the late Brian Clough’s Nottingham Forest, the English side hitting the post three times. In the return, Roberto ‘Dinamita’ put Barça ahead, but Scottish international Kenny Burns grabbed an equaliser for Forest to win the cup 2-1 on aggregate.

1982: Aston Villa

Barça had another English side to tackle in their second appearance, and once again missed out on the silverware. This time the opposition was Aston Villa, and the 1-0 win in Barcelona, thanks to a Marcos Alonso goal, proved insufficient. In the return at Villa Park, the Birmingham club took the game into extra time thanks to a Gary Shaw effort, and eventually sentenced the tie with goals from Gordon Cowans and Ken McNaught (3-0).

1989: Milan

Neither was it third time lucky for FCB. AC Milan, led by Arrigo Sacchi, were dominating European football in the late 1980s, and went ahead at the Camp Nou thanks to the great Van Basten. But Guillermo Amor levelled affairs to make it 1-1. At the San Siro, an Evani free kick made it 1-0 to the Italians, and Barça failed to conjure up a response.

1992: Werder Bremen

After the famous win at Wembley, Barça qualified for their fourth Super Cup, this time against German outfit Werder Bremen. Johan Cruyff’s Dream Team collected an important 1-1 draw at the Weserstadion, Julio Salinas scoring for Barça and Klaus Allofs for the Bundesliga side. In the return leg at the Camp Nou, FCB were finally able to celebrate a win in this competition, beating the Germans 2-1 with goals from Hristo Stoitchkov and Andoni Goikoetxea (Wynton Rufer getting the consolation for Werder).

1997: Borussia Dortmund

Barça only took five years to win the title a second time, and once again this was against a German side, Borussia Dortmund. This was the last ever edition to be played over two legs, and Barça got off to the ideal start with a 2-0 win at the Camp Nou thanks to goals from Rivaldo and Luis Enrique. In Germany, an early Giovanni Silva strike as good as sentenced things, rendering Jörg Heinrich’s consolation goal meaningless.

2006: Sevilla

Barça have foul memories of their only experience to date of the new format of a single match played in Monaco. Frank Rijkaard’s star studded side led by Ronaldinho were delighting the world with their football, but not on this particular night. Renato, Kanouté and Maresca were all on target in a 3-0 win for the impressive Andalusians on a night the travelling Barça supporters will prefer to forget.