Tuesday, May 20, 2008

Same-Nation Continental Cup Finals

With Manchester United and Chelsea matching up tomorrow for an all-English final in this years UEFA Champions League, I wondered how often the major continental cup finals have had two teams from the same nation. This list shows all of the continental cup finals around the world that have matched up two clubs from the same nation.

The winners are in bold and the numbers in parenthesis are that year's domestic league position for the clubs involved.


UEFA Champions League

07/08 - England
Man U (1) v Chelsea (2)

02/03 - Italy
AC Milan (3) v Juventus (1)
0-0 (3-2 pens)

99/00 - Spain
Real Madrid (5) v Valencia CF (3)
3-0


AFC Champions League

01/02 - South Korea
Suwon Samsung Bluewings (3) v Anyang LG Cheetas (4)
0-0 (4-2 pens)

96/97 - South Korea
Pohang Steelers (4) v Cheonan Ilhwa Chunma (8)
2-1


CONCACAF Champions Cup

2007 - Mexico
Pachuca (1/8) v Chivas (2/4)
2-2 agg. (7-6 pens)

2006 - Mexico
America (13/3) v Toluca (6/4)
2-1 agg.

2004 - Costa Rica
LD Alajuelense (2) v Deportivo Saprissa (3)
5-1 agg.

2003 - Mexico
Toluca (5/10) v Morelia (1/13)
5-4 agg.

2002 - Mexico
Pachuca (13/20) v Morelia (6/4)
1-0

1996 - Mexico
Cruz Azul (10) v Necaxa (6)


CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores

2006 - Brazil
Internacional (2) v Sao Paulo (1)
4-3 agg.

2005 - Brazil
Sao Paulo (11) v Atletico Paranaense (6)
5-1 agg.



It's interesting that outside of the two South Korean finals in Asia and the Costa Rican final in CONCACAF, the lower placed side in the domestic league wins every time. That's 9 out of 12 games where the lower ranked team has won.

The African and Oceania Champions League's have never had a same-nation final matchup.

Manchester United v. Chelsea is only the second 1-2 matchup in a final. Domestically second, Internacional beat league winning Sao Paulo in the 2006 Copa Libertadores. (I guess you could say that Pachuca v Chivas in 2007 was also 1-2, but I used the combined Apertura/Clausura rankings.)

The last all-English final in a European competition was in the 71/72 UEFA cup when Tottenham Hotspur defeated Wolverhampton Wanderers 3-2 on aggregate.


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