Real Madrid Hit Right Flamenco Beat to Take Club Championships
December 23, 1998 - 0:0
PARIS Real Madrid won the European Cup for the first time in 32 years on May 20, beating Juventus 1-0 in a pulsating final, and then added the world club title in December when they beat Brazil's Libertadores Cup champions Vasco da Gama 2-1. Yugoslav striker Predrag Mijatovic was the hero of the night in the European Cup, scoring his first and last goal in this season's competition after 66 minutes.
The victory still wasn't enough to save coach Jupp Heynckes' job. Heynckes paid the price for a poor league campaign which saw Real finish fourth behind bitter archrivals Barcelona. Mijatovic's strike brought the Spanish club their seventh success in Europe's top club tournament, but their first since 1966. There was bitter disappointment for Juventus, who also lost last season's final to Borussia Dortmund after winning the trophy in 1996. In South America, Vasco da Gama beat Ecuador's Barcelona 4-1 on aggregate over two legs in August to be crowned the Libertadores Cup winners and earn them their meeting with Real. Donizete and Luizao earned a 2-0 victory for the first leg in Rio and then the same players scored a goal apiece in the second leg in Ecuador to seal the win.
Real Madrid, who won the de facto world title for the first time in 1960, led 1-0 in Tokyo at half time through an own-goal after a cross from their Brazilian left back Roberto Carlos was headed past his own 'keeper by a Vasco defender. But Vasco da Gama, who won the South American Cup for the first time this year, hit back when Juninho volleyed home from the edge of the area.
Real Madrid scored the decider when Spanish international Raul tricked two defenders to score with a right-footed shot from close range out. Perhaps the most significant occurence club football came off the pitch when UEFA, European football's ruling body, reacted to growing disenchantment among the elite clubs, and threats of a breakaway group, and made radical changes to the club competitions.
The Champions League will increase to 32 teams at the start of next season after the switch was ratified at a meeting in December. It was also confirmed that the UEFA Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup will be merged into one tournament from next season. Super-sub Gianfranco Zola needed barely 20 seconds on the pitch to illuminate May's dour European Cup Winners' Cup final in Solna, Sweden, as English Premiership side Chelsea beat Bundesliga outfit VFB Stuttgart 1-0 for their first European trophy in 27 years.
But whereas homegrown heroes steered the blues to success in the same tournament in 1971, that team had precious little in common with the cosmopolitan crew which gave Italian player-manager Gianluca Vialli, who took over the helm following Dutchman Ruud Gullit's sacking in February, his second trophy of the season following Chelsea's triumph in the English League Cup. Inter Milan beat Lazio 3-0 at the Parc des Princes in Paris in an all-Italian match-up to earn the UEFA Cup title for the third time this decade and wipe away last year's disappointment of losing to Schalke 04 in the final.
An early goal from Chile's Ivan Zamorano, a superb volley from Javier Zanetti just after the break and a typical solo goal from Brazilian Ronaldo settled the title. Champions Juventus retained their Italian league title, the 25th in their history, after Filippo Inzaghi scored a hat-trick to earn them a stirring 3-2 victory over Bologna. League rivals Inter Milan conceded two goals in the last five minutes to go down 2-1 to Bari to ensure Juventus couldn't be caught.
Manchester United were completely overshadowed by their London rivals Arsenal in the 1997/98 English premiership season, the Gunners completing the league and cup double for the first time since 1971. Arsenal won the FA Cup for the seventh time on May 16, beating Newcastle United 2-0 with goals from Marc Overmars and Nicolas Anelka to complete the double, having already wrapped up the Premiership. French manager Arsene Wenger thus joined 1971 Supremo Bertie Mee in the Arsenal Hall of Fame for double-winning coaches.
Lens won the French League title for the first time, a 1-1 draw at Auxerre proving sufficient to pip Metz, 1-0 winners over Lyon, at the finishing post on goal difference. Things had looked bleak for Lens, who arrived at Auxerre on the back of seven straight league wins, when Sabri Lamouchi crashed home a low right-foot drive from 20 yards in the 14th minute to give the hosts the lead.
And with Bruno Rodriguez having scored with a scorching volley after just four minutes to put Metz a goal up against Lyon, that meant Metz were headed for their own first ever championship. But Lens, who had looked decidedly nervous after going behind as the consequences of failure dawned on them, equalized in the 53rd minute through Yoann Lachor, who steered a left-foot shot home from the edge of the six yard box after racing free on the left.
Two years after the bitterest moment in Kaiserslautern's history, the club celebrated its sweetest by winning the German Championship with a 4-0 victory over Wolfsburg to become the first newly promoted side to go on to win the title. Relegated from the Bundesliga on the last day of the 1996 season, Kaiserslautern kept their squad largely intact and fought their way straight back into the top flight.
They then laid the groundwork for this stunning title win by beating the reigning champions Bayern Munich on the opening day of this season. The title was especially sweet for Kaiserslautern coach Otto Rehhagel because Bayern had sacked him after only 10 months in the hot seat two years earlier. Dutch goalkeeper Ruud Hesp saved a penalty from Xabier Eskurza to give Barcelona a 5-4 penalty shootout win over Real Mallorca after the sides had drawn 1-1 after extra-time in the Spanish Cup final in Valencia in April. Barcelona thereby completed their fourth league and cup double, though their first since 1959, after sealing their 15th Spanish League title earlier in the month.
It was a perfect start for their Dutch coach Louis van Gaal in his first season in charge after taking over from former England coach Bobby Robson. Barcelona's win was a record 24th in the cup, overhauling the mark of 23 they shared with Athletic Bilbao. (AFP)
The victory still wasn't enough to save coach Jupp Heynckes' job. Heynckes paid the price for a poor league campaign which saw Real finish fourth behind bitter archrivals Barcelona. Mijatovic's strike brought the Spanish club their seventh success in Europe's top club tournament, but their first since 1966. There was bitter disappointment for Juventus, who also lost last season's final to Borussia Dortmund after winning the trophy in 1996. In South America, Vasco da Gama beat Ecuador's Barcelona 4-1 on aggregate over two legs in August to be crowned the Libertadores Cup winners and earn them their meeting with Real. Donizete and Luizao earned a 2-0 victory for the first leg in Rio and then the same players scored a goal apiece in the second leg in Ecuador to seal the win.
Real Madrid, who won the de facto world title for the first time in 1960, led 1-0 in Tokyo at half time through an own-goal after a cross from their Brazilian left back Roberto Carlos was headed past his own 'keeper by a Vasco defender. But Vasco da Gama, who won the South American Cup for the first time this year, hit back when Juninho volleyed home from the edge of the area.
Real Madrid scored the decider when Spanish international Raul tricked two defenders to score with a right-footed shot from close range out. Perhaps the most significant occurence club football came off the pitch when UEFA, European football's ruling body, reacted to growing disenchantment among the elite clubs, and threats of a breakaway group, and made radical changes to the club competitions.
The Champions League will increase to 32 teams at the start of next season after the switch was ratified at a meeting in December. It was also confirmed that the UEFA Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup will be merged into one tournament from next season. Super-sub Gianfranco Zola needed barely 20 seconds on the pitch to illuminate May's dour European Cup Winners' Cup final in Solna, Sweden, as English Premiership side Chelsea beat Bundesliga outfit VFB Stuttgart 1-0 for their first European trophy in 27 years.
But whereas homegrown heroes steered the blues to success in the same tournament in 1971, that team had precious little in common with the cosmopolitan crew which gave Italian player-manager Gianluca Vialli, who took over the helm following Dutchman Ruud Gullit's sacking in February, his second trophy of the season following Chelsea's triumph in the English League Cup. Inter Milan beat Lazio 3-0 at the Parc des Princes in Paris in an all-Italian match-up to earn the UEFA Cup title for the third time this decade and wipe away last year's disappointment of losing to Schalke 04 in the final.
An early goal from Chile's Ivan Zamorano, a superb volley from Javier Zanetti just after the break and a typical solo goal from Brazilian Ronaldo settled the title. Champions Juventus retained their Italian league title, the 25th in their history, after Filippo Inzaghi scored a hat-trick to earn them a stirring 3-2 victory over Bologna. League rivals Inter Milan conceded two goals in the last five minutes to go down 2-1 to Bari to ensure Juventus couldn't be caught.
Manchester United were completely overshadowed by their London rivals Arsenal in the 1997/98 English premiership season, the Gunners completing the league and cup double for the first time since 1971. Arsenal won the FA Cup for the seventh time on May 16, beating Newcastle United 2-0 with goals from Marc Overmars and Nicolas Anelka to complete the double, having already wrapped up the Premiership. French manager Arsene Wenger thus joined 1971 Supremo Bertie Mee in the Arsenal Hall of Fame for double-winning coaches.
Lens won the French League title for the first time, a 1-1 draw at Auxerre proving sufficient to pip Metz, 1-0 winners over Lyon, at the finishing post on goal difference. Things had looked bleak for Lens, who arrived at Auxerre on the back of seven straight league wins, when Sabri Lamouchi crashed home a low right-foot drive from 20 yards in the 14th minute to give the hosts the lead.
And with Bruno Rodriguez having scored with a scorching volley after just four minutes to put Metz a goal up against Lyon, that meant Metz were headed for their own first ever championship. But Lens, who had looked decidedly nervous after going behind as the consequences of failure dawned on them, equalized in the 53rd minute through Yoann Lachor, who steered a left-foot shot home from the edge of the six yard box after racing free on the left.
Two years after the bitterest moment in Kaiserslautern's history, the club celebrated its sweetest by winning the German Championship with a 4-0 victory over Wolfsburg to become the first newly promoted side to go on to win the title. Relegated from the Bundesliga on the last day of the 1996 season, Kaiserslautern kept their squad largely intact and fought their way straight back into the top flight.
They then laid the groundwork for this stunning title win by beating the reigning champions Bayern Munich on the opening day of this season. The title was especially sweet for Kaiserslautern coach Otto Rehhagel because Bayern had sacked him after only 10 months in the hot seat two years earlier. Dutch goalkeeper Ruud Hesp saved a penalty from Xabier Eskurza to give Barcelona a 5-4 penalty shootout win over Real Mallorca after the sides had drawn 1-1 after extra-time in the Spanish Cup final in Valencia in April. Barcelona thereby completed their fourth league and cup double, though their first since 1959, after sealing their 15th Spanish League title earlier in the month.
It was a perfect start for their Dutch coach Louis van Gaal in his first season in charge after taking over from former England coach Bobby Robson. Barcelona's win was a record 24th in the cup, overhauling the mark of 23 they shared with Athletic Bilbao. (AFP)