Home from home calls Mancini

Glory days
The 42-year-old represented the Blucerchiati between 1982 and 1997, helping the Genoa club capture the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup in 1989/90 and their only league title in 1990/91. He was also in the Sampdoria team that reached the 1991/92 European Champion Clubs' Cup final, losing to FC Barcelona.

'You cannot forget'
"You cannot forget the 15 years in which me and my team-mates made history at Sampdoria," said Mancini. "Every player from that time, not just me, should always be treated well and loved by the Samp fans. We spent 15 splendid years together. The fans support Samp but they cannot forget those great years."

Cup glories
That golden age marked the beginning of Mancini's great Coppa Italia adventure. Sampdoria lifted the trophy in 1984/85, 1987/88, 1988/89 and 1993/94, and Mancini went on to collect it six more times: twice as a player with S.S. Lazio, once as ACF Fiorentina coach, once as Lazio coach, and for the last two seasons as boss of Inter.

Safe bet
As he seeks his eleventh domestic cup success, Mancini can feel reasonably confident of earning a place in the final. Since leaving Sampdoria, he has never been on the losing side against his old club as player or coach. However, Walter Novellino's Sampdoria have some hope - they remain the only team to have avoided defeat at the Giuseppe Meazza stadium in this Serie A season, earning a 1-1 draw in September. No small achievement as the Nerazzurri have won 17 of their 20 league games, including the last 13 in a row.

Three meetings
The match at the Luigi Ferraris stadium is the first of three in eight days between the two teams, who will cross swords again in Serie A at the weekend before the return leg next Thursday. "Facing today's Inter is a great opportunity for us," said Sampdoria forward Francesco Flachi. "They are the best team in Italy and one of the best in the world but we will try to cause them problems. Reaching the Coppa Italia final could give us the chance to play in Europe next season."

Other games
Tonight also sees Calcio Catania host Empoli FC in a rescheduled league fixture which was postponed due to heavy rain in December, while on Thursday AC Milan take on AS Roma in the other Coppa Italia semi-final. Carlo Ancelotti is also facing his former team as a player having won the Scudetto with the Giallorossi in 1982/83.