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UEFA Cup facts and figures
LONDON (Reuters) -- Facts and figures relating to Wednesday's UEFA Cup final between Alaves of Spain and Liverpool of England in the Westfalenstadion, Dortmund, Germany: Wednesday's final is the 30th since the competition was re-named the UEFA cup at the start of the 1971-72 season. The first UEFA Cup final was an all-English affair between Tottenham Hotspur and Wolverhampton Wanderers which Spurs won 3-2 on aggregate. - - - Liverpool won the second UEFA Cup the following year beating Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-2 on aggregate. Liverpool also beat Borussia 3-1 in 1977 to win the European Cup for the first time. - - - The UEFA Cup replaced the Inter Cities Fairs Cup which ran from 1958 until 1971. Spanish teams won that competition six times, with English clubs winners four times. - - - Italian clubs have won the UEFA Cup a record nine times, followed by German clubs (6) and English clubs (5). Two of those English victories belong to Liverpool with wins in 1973 and 1976. No English side has won the UEFA Cup since Tottenham beat Anderlecht on penalties in 1984. - - - Arsenal went close last season when they were beaten 4-1 on penalties by Galatasaray in Copenhagen after a 0-0 draw. Galatasaray became the first Turkish side ever to win a European club trophy. - - - Although Barcelona (1958, 1960, 1966), Valencia (1962 and 1963) and Real Zaragoza (1964) all won the Inter Cities Fairs Cup, the only Spanish club to win the UEFA Cup is Real Madrid (1985 and 1986). They are also the only club to ever win the competition in successive seasons. - - - Including victories in the old Inter Cities Fairs Cup and the now defunct European Cup Winners' Cup, English and Italian clubs have won most European trophies -- with 26 each. Spain (24 wins overall) could pull level if Alaves win the UEFA Cup and Valencia beat Bayern Munich to win the European Cup next week. West German and German clubs are fourth on the all-time list with 15 wins. - - - Alaves have reached the final in their first season in Europe. They qualified for the UEFA Cup by finishing sixth in the Spanish first division last season. - - - Alaves will not be wearing their now-famous pink shirts. Because of a colour clash with Liverpool's red, Alaves will wear a blue and yellow shirt, reminiscent of that of Boca Juniors. The names of the club's 13,400 season-ticket holders have all been sewn into the new shirt, just as they are in the original pink design. - - - Alaves were formed as a club known as Sport Friends in 1921 and as recently as six years ago were playing in the Spanish third division. They spent a total of five seasons as a first division club in the 1930s and '50s, but were out of the top flight for 42 years before returning three years ago. They have never won a domestic trophy. - - - In contrast, Liverpool have won the English title a record 18 times and their FA Cup win on Saturday was their sixth since 1965 when they won the cup for the first time. - - - Liverpool are going for a cup treble this season after winning the League Cup and the FA Cup. They also secured a treble in 1984 when they won the European Cup, the English League title and the League Cup. In all Liverpool have won 35 major honours, not including Charity Shields or European Super Cups. - - - Liverpool are playing in their first European final for 16 years. On their last appearance on May 29, 1985, they lost the European Cup final 1-0 to Juventus on the night of the Heysel Stadium disaster when 39 Juventus fans died as a result of rioting by Liverpool supporters. - - - When Alaves beat Kaiserslautern 4-1 in the second leg of their semifinal last month, it was the first time a Spanish club had ever won a European club cup match in Germany. Their 9-2 aggregate victory was the biggest in a European semfinal since Valencia defeated MTK Budapest 10-3 over the two legs of the Inter Cities Fairs Cup in 1962.
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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