The 1999 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup Final was a football match between Mallorca of Spain and Lazio of Italy played on 19 May 1999 at Villa Park, Birmingham, England. It was the final match of the 1998–99 season of the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup and the culmination of the competition before it was absorbed into the UEFA Cup the following season. Mallorca were appearing in their first final in their first season in European competition, while Lazio were also appearing in their first Cup Winners’ Cup final. It was their second European final in succession after reaching the final of the UEFA Cup the previous season.
Each club needed to progress through four rounds to reach the final, which were contested over two legs, with a match at each team’s home ground. Mallorca’s ties were all close affairs. They beat Genk of Belgium on the away goals rule after the tie finished 1–1 on aggregate. They beat defending champions Chelsea of England by a single goal. The majority of Lazio’s ties were close affairs, two of which were decided on the away goals rule. The exception was their quarter-final tie against Greek team Panionios, which they won 7–0 on aggregate.
Watched by a crowd of 33,021, Lazio took the lead in the final when striker Christian Vieri scored in the 7th minute. They were not ahead for long as Mallorca equalised four minutes later when striker Dani scored. The match remained level for the majority of the match until the 81st minute when Lazio midfielder Pavel Nedvěd scored. With no further goals, Lazio won the match 2–1 to win the last Cup Winners’ Cup and their first European trophy.
. . . 1999 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup Final . . .
Main article: 1998–99 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup
Mallorca qualified for the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup by finishing as runners-up in the Spanish Copa del Rey. They lost to Barcelona 5–4 in a penalty shootout, but as Barcelona finished first in the 1997–98 La Liga, they qualified for the 1998–99 UEFA Champions League and Mallorca were awarded their spot in the Cup Winners’ Cup.[3] Mallorca’s opponents in the first round were Scottish team Heart of Midlothian (Hearts). They won the first leg, held at Hearts’ home ground Tynecastle, 1–0.[4] The second leg was held at Mallorca’s home ground, the Estadio Lluís Sitjar. Before the match, Hearts players protested that the goalposts at the same did not meet regulations. An inspection revealed there was a 10-centimetre (3.9 in) difference between one post and the other at both ends of the ground, this was due to the undulation of the pitch. Despite the issue, the match went ahead and finished 1–1. This meant Mallorca progressed to the second round 2–1 on aggregate.[5]Genk of Belgium were the opposition in the second round. The first leg held at the King Baudouin Stadium in Belgium finished 1–1. The second leg ended in a 0–0 draw, which meant Mallorca won the tie on the away goals rule to progress to the quarter-finals.[6]
Mallorca faced Croatian team Varteks in the quarter-finals. The first leg, held at Varteks home ground, Gradski Stadion, finished 0–0.[7] Three goals from Ariel Ibagaza, Veljko Paunović, and Dani, despite a late goal from Varteks defender, Andrija Balajić, were enough to secure a 3–1 victory and their progression to the semi-finals.[8] Their opponents in the semi-finals were English team, Chelsea, who had won the competition the previous season and were looking to become the first team to retain the competition.[9] Mallorca went ahead in the first leg at Chelsea’s home ground, Stamford Bridge, when Dani went past Chelsea goalkeeper Ed de Goey to score. Chelsea equalised in the 50th minute when striker Tore André Flo scored.[10] Mallorca took an early lead in the second leg when Leonardo Biagini scored. Chelsea midfielder Roberto Di Matteo hit the crossbar 20 minutes from the end of the match and fellow midfielder Dennis Wise missed a header to equalise. They were unable to score and Mallorca won the match 1–0 to win 2–1 on aggregate and progress to the final in their first season in European competition.[11]
. . . 1999 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup Final . . .
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