Italian incentive for D'Onofrio's troops

Dominique D’Onofrio, the R. Standard de Liège coach, is an Italian national and, will welcome the chance to pit his wits against Serie A club Parma FC. Standard are the only team in Group B without a win so far, having lost 2-0 at FC Steaua Bucuresti in their first group game, and will look to home advantage to recover ground in their second match.

Narrow exits
The Belgians have previously met five Italian clubs in UEFA club competitions and are unbeaten at home. In the 1967/68 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup quarter-final, Standard drew both games 1-1 against AC Milan only to lose the replay 2-0 in Milan as the Italians went on to win the trophy. Then in the 1971/72 European Champion Clubs’ Cup quarter-final, Standard beat FC Internazionale Milano 2-1 at home, after having lost 1-0 away from home, and made an exit on the away goal rule, with this time Internzionale going though to the final. The 1979/80 UEFA Cup second round tie with SSC Napoli provided the Belgians first winning tie against an Italian club, as after having won 2-1 at home, Standard held out for a 1-1 draw at Napoli and a 3-2 aggregate success. Then in the 1982/83 Champion Clubs’ Cup, Standard held Juventus to a 1-1 stalemate at home, only for a Paolo Rossi double to win the return leg for the Italians, who also went through to the final. More recently, Standard faced AC Perugia in the 2000 UEFA Intertoto Cup, winning 2-1 away before drawing 1-1 in Belgium.

Final significance?
In a curious statistic, although Standard remain unbeaten at home against Italian clubs in the previous five games - on the three occasions that Italians clubs have won the tie, they also went on to reach the final.

Fond memories
Parma have fond memories of their only previous game with a Belgian club in UEFA club competitions. In the final of the 1992/93 Cup Winners’ Cup at Wembley, Parma won their first European trophy with a 3-1 success against R. Antwerp FC with Lorenzo Minotti, Alessandro Melli and Stefano Cuoghi scoring the goals. In visiting Liège, Parma now play their first game in Belgium.