 Match programme cover | |||||||
| Event | 1993–94 European Cup Winners' Cup | ||||||
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| Date | 4 May 1994 | ||||||
| Venue | Parken Stadium,Copenhagen | ||||||
| Referee | Václav Krondl (Czech Republic) | ||||||
| Attendance | 33,765 | ||||||
←1993 1995 → | |||||||
The1994 European Cup Winners' Cup Final was afootball match on 4 May 1994 contested betweenArsenal ofEngland andParma ofItaly. It was the final match of the1993–94 European Cup Winners' Cup and the 34thEuropean Cup Winners' Cup final. The final was held at theParken Stadium inCopenhagen, and Arsenal won 1–0 with the goal coming fromAlan Smith. It is widely considered as the peak of Arsenal's famous defence. Arsenal became the fourth London club to win the trophy afterTottenham Hotspur,Chelsea andWest Ham United.[1]
Having beatenAntwerp in the same competition in the previous year,Parma were aiming to become the first side to win consecutive finals; five sides had previously failed to do so after reaching the final for a consecutive year. The final was the first time that Parma had come up against English opposition. On the other hand, Arsenal had three times played out two-legged affairs with Italian clubs. The first meeting was in the1970–71 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup, when they overcameLazio 4–2 on aggregate, drawing the first leg inRome and winning the second leg 2–0 atHighbury. Arsenal had also faced Italians in the1979–80 European Cup Winners' Cup at the semi-final stage; Arsenal won 2–1 on aggregate. The most recent meeting was in the quarter-finals of this year's competition, where they overcameTorino 1–0 over two legs.[2]
It was the first timeParken Stadium had hosted the major European competition's final and the first time any European competition's final had been held inDenmark. The stadium had opened only recently – in 1992 – and was the home ofCopenhagen and theDenmark national team, taking two years to construct at the cost of 640 millionDanish kroner. It was built on the site of the national team's previous home,Idrætsparken.[3]
 Arsenal |  Parma | |||||||
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| Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | |
 Odense | 3–2 | 2–1 (A) | 1–1 (H) | First round |  Degerfors | 4–1 | 2–1 (A) | 2–0 (H) |
 Standard Liège | 10–0 | 3–0 (H) | 7–0 (A) | Second round |  Maccabi Haifa | 1–1 (3–1p) | 1–0 (A) | 0–1 (a.e.t.) (H) |
| Torino | 1–0 | 0–0 (A) | 1–0 (H) | Quarter-finals |  Ajax | 2–0 | 0–0 (A) | 2–0 (H) |
 Paris Saint-Germain | 2–1 | 1–1 (A) | 1–0 (H) | Semi-finals |  Benfica | 2–2 (a) | 1–2 (A) | 1–0 (H) |
A crowd of 33,765 witnessed a tactical match. Parma'sTomas Brolin hit the post early on but, in the 20th minute,Lorenzo Minotti miss-hit an overhead clearance andAlan Smith capitalized, beatingLuca Bucci with a left-footed volley.[citation needed] Arsenal then invited pressure from Parma but, by controllingGianfranco Zola andFaustino Asprilla, defended their lead and became the fourth London club to win the trophy.[1] The final was noted for Arsenal fans singing "one nil to the Arsenal" throughout the match.[4]
Arsenal were without their leading goalscorerIan Wright, who missed the final through suspension as well as the injuredJohn Jensen,Martin Keown, andDavid Hillier.[5] Arsenal were fielding a starting midfield ofIan Selley,Steve Morrow andPaul Davis. The famous back five of Seaman, Dixon, Adams, Bould and Winterburn was safely in place but with Wright suspended,Alan Smith was given a lone role up front with Merson andKevin Campbell instructed to play wide in a 4-5-1.
          Arsenal |      Parma |
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Assistant referees: | Match rules
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