What We're Reading
Recalling Barcelona's last final win at Wembley
- The Guardian, Friday, May 27, 2011 1:08 PM
David Lacey of The Guardian covered a European final at Wembley nearly two decades ago. Then known as the Champions Cup, the 1992 final matched a Barcelona team
led by Bulgarian international Hristo Stoichkov and Danish legend Michael Laudrup against Italian club Sampdoria, which featured internationals Gianluca
Vialli and Gianluca Pagliuca, as well as current Manchester City coach Roberto Mancini.
Also on the field for Barca that day was midfielder
Pep Guardiola, the current Barcelona coach.
Open play produced chances at both ends but no goals, and as the game dragged into overtime, prospects of a penalty-kick
shootout -- which had decided four of the previous eight finals, including an especially dreary 1991 stalement between Marseille and Red Star Belgrade -- increased.
In the second period of
overtime, Barca earned an indirect free kick near the penalty area that Barca, via Dutch defender Ronald Koeman, turned into the winning goal.
