It was contested by Chelsea of England and VfB Stuttgart of Germany and was the 38th final of what was Europe's second largest football competition at the time.

Chelsea had the upper hand in all but two of their encounters, defeating Tromsø IL with an accumulative score of 9–4 in a two-legged match and edging Vicenza Calcio by one goal.

[2] Both matches resulted in 2–0 wins for the English outfit; the first leg took place at Stamford Bridge,[3] and the second at Tehelné pole, as they won 4–0 in total.

[8] The opening game at Estadio Manuel Ruíz de Lopera was won with 2–1 after a Tore André Flo double,[9] before a 3–1 win at home with goals signed by Frank Sinclair, Roberto Di Matteo and Zola were enough to hand Chelsea an overall 5–2 victory.

[12] They ended the round with a 3–1 home victory, following goals by Gus Poyet, Zola and Mark Hughes to send them through to their second final.

[26] At Lokomotiv Stadium, Bobic once again managed to score, during the first half, which proved to be decisive as Stuttgart won 1–0 and the concluding tie 3–1 to proceed to the final.

[43] The latter was opposite Leeds United, in the 1992–93 season of the UEFA Champions League;[44] the club saw themselves be eliminated in the same fashion, as they won 3–0 at home,[45] before losing the second leg 4–1.

[51] However, Stuttgart decided to send 11,000 of their 12,000 tickets back to UEFA, due to the German club's supporters finding it difficult to make their way to the country, as well as the absence of air flights available.

[54] Located in Solna, Stockholm, the stadium opened its doors to the public in 1937,[55] and was used by the Sweden national team for their games in the 1958 FIFA World Cup, including the final, as well as most of their general ties.

[56] Råsunda also held four of the national team's fixtures, in the 1992 European Championship,[57] and the 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup Final;[58] it was also the home base of AIK's matches,[59] until demolishment plans began in 2012.

[62] It was the sixteenth edition in the Adidas football series; the name "Tricolore" translates to "three-coloured" and contains a tricolour crest and a cockerel, along with French classic themes which were used as influences, for the ball's construction, to illustrate the nation's flag.

[64] Stefano Braschi from the Italian Football Federation, was appointed to officiate the final,[65] making it his first time to decide a closing match in a European contest.

[78] Central midfielder Poyet was also included in the starting line-up to join captain Dennis Wise, after returning from a damaged cruciate ligament.

[81] Together with forward and lead goalscorer Vialli, Flo began in the attack, instead of Zola,[78] who was named as a substitute,[82] despite making an improvement from his damaged groin,[83] sustained in a league fixture against Liverpool in April.

[87] The Germans continued to push forward, as Balakov had a chance on goal, after being found by Poschner, but his shot was kept out by Ed de Goey to mark the first save of the match.

[86] Chelsea held on however; a few minutes later, Poyet ran towards the ball to direct a powerful volley on goal following a weak clearing header from Berthold, but a well-placed Franz Wohlfahrt dived to read the attempt.

[87] Chelsea had another chance before half time, which saw Wise from a Di Matteo free kick launch another volley, with the successive effort going just off the target.

[86] Prior to the first half, Chelsea continued to dominate possession and round-up more opportunities – the ball was given to Wise, after cooperation between Petrescu and Vialli, whose shot went just across the left goal.

[87] He made an effect immediately, picking up the ball after a well-timed pass by Wise, and finishing with a half volley in the penalty box, past Wohlfahrt, which found its way straight in the top right corner.

Following Chelsea's victory, player-manager Vialli was satisfied with his club's performance, commending the substitution of Zola by assistant manager Graham Rix: "He decided he had a feeling and he was right".

[86][88] Stuttgart manager Joachim Löw was disappointed with the defeat, but remained confident about his future at the team, as well as the season: "I'm calmly looking forward to the discussion.

[93] His word was also shared by Bobic who felt that his team were treated unfairly to the goal, also taking time to defend Löw: "We need to talk about mistakes and learn from them, it does not mean that it is necessary to change the manager".