Sampdoria seek splendid return

Gap years
Surprisingly, the match in Portugal was Sampdoria's first in Europe since they lost 4-1 on aggregate to Athletic Club Bilbao in the first round of this competition in 1997/98. Since then, the Genoa side - European stalwarts in the late 1980s and early 1990s - have been through hard times, spending four seasons in Serie B before being promoted back to Serie A in 2003.

Famous achievements
Italian champions in 1991, Sampdoria also lifted four Italian Cups, the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup and, in 1992, reached the European Champion Clubs' Cup final, where they went down 1-0 to FC Barcelona after extra time at Wembley. "It will be difficult to repeat that level of achievement," said president Riccardo Garrone upon their return to Italy's top flight.

Solid return
Nonetheless, the Blucerchiati are moving in the right direction. After a mid-table finish in their first campaign back, they were fifth in Serie A last season, missing out on a UEFA Champions League spot by just one point but qualifying for the UEFA Cup.

'Passion and enthusiasm'
"The UEFA Cup is a great adventure for us," explained Novellino. "We are preparing for the Vitória game with passion and enthusiasm. We will be a bit tense for our home debut in Europe, but that will last only a couple of minutes. Then we will focus on beating our rivals."

Battling spirit
The 52-year-old coach, nicknamed 'Carlos Monzon' after the former Argentinian boxer, is considered a great motivator with tremendous fighting spirit. "We want to reach the group stage," he said. "We wasted too many opportunities to score and kill the game in Portugal. We have to be more clinical on Thursday."

Solid performers
The new Sampdoria might not possess stars comparable with old heroes Roberto Mancini and Gianluca Vialli, but they are very solid. On Sunday they were unfortunate to lose 2-1 at home to AC Chievo Verona, but a week earlier Novellino's team had beaten AC Milan 2-1 at the Stadio Luigi Ferraris.

Cut above
"Milan, Juventus [FC] and [FC] Internazionale [Milano] are probably on another level, but I think we can compete to finish just behind them in Serie A," Novellino said. "We already had a very strong squad but once again the club did a great job in the summer adding some important players."

New striker
Among the newcomers, striker Emiliano Bonazzoli has caught the eye. The 26-year-old has scored four times in five Serie A appearances since joining from Reggina Calcio, and is forming an impressive strike pairing with crowd favourite Francesco Flachi.

Sampdoria ambition
The visit of Vitória and the return of European football to this Genoese outpost may evoke the successes of the past, but Novellino is focused on the present. "I'm ambitious and so are my players," he said. "The UEFA Cup is an important objective for us and you can be sure we will give everything to go as far as possible."