1988/89: Hat-trick for Barcelona

FC Barcelona 2-0 Sampdoria UC
Wankdorf Stadium, Berne

Johan Cruyff won his second trophy in three seasons, allowing FC Barcelona to become the first to achieve a UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup hat-trick. Yet, even though their star-studded line-up included Gary Lineker and Julio Salinas in the front-line, they hardly took the competition by the scruff of the neck. They stumbled past KKS Lech Poznán 5-4 on penalties after two 1-1 draws in the second round and could manage only one goal in 180 minutes against AGF Århus in the quarter-final. They got into their stride in the semi-finals, beating CFKA Sredets Sofia 6-3 with a certain Hristo Stoitchkov hitting all three Bulgarian goals.

Vialli goals fuel Sampdoria's challenge
Their opponents in the Berne final were Sampdoria UC, led by former Real Madrid CF coach, Vujadin Boskov, and spearheaded by the attacking duo of Gianluca Vialli and Roberto Mancini. After eliminating IFK Norrköping and FC Carl Zeiss Jena, they needed the away goals rule to overcome CS Dinamo Bucuresti in the quarter-finals. That brought them face-to-face with the defending champions, KV Mechelen. After going 2-0 down in Belgium, Vialli scored a crucial away goal and, in Genoa, three goals in the last 22 minutes clinched their place in a final which attracted a crowd of 40,000.

Only one outcome following Salinas' early strike
Sampdoria’s bid was badly hit by injuries and, once Salinas had beaten Gianluca Pagliuca in the 4th minute, they never looked like recovering. They hung on until 11 minutes from time when full-back Luís López Rekarte scored the second only four minutes after coming on a substitute.