Liverpool FC UEFA Super Cup Record

Elsewhere on the site it has been mentioned that ‘Liverpool without European football is like a banquet without wine’. That is mostly in reference to the fact that the Reds are expected to play in the European Cup as much as possible, with the UEFA Cup, now the Europa League, being accepted as a possible second-choice.

If that is true and you wanted to continue the metaphor then the UEFA Super Cup could be seen as a glass of port after you’ve finished your meal or maybe a snifter of whisky; it isn’t the main constituent part of anything but is a lovely addition that you only really get to enjoy on special occasions further down the line.

The competition itself was created in 1971 by a Dutch journalist at a time when Dutch football was in its golden era. The idea of the man behind it, Anton Witkamp, was to find a way to decide definitively which team was the best on the planet, with the winner of the European Cup going up against the winner of the European Cup Winners’ Cup, but UEFA initially refused to give it credence.

As a result, the first official version of the competition took place in 1973, played over two-legs until 1997. When the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup was discontinued in 1999, it was decided that the winners of the UEFA Cup would take part instead.

@shfootballpage UEFA SUPER CUP history. #foryou #foryoupage #fypシ #football #soccer #uefa #supercup #chelsea #villareal ♬ Background Hip Hop Beat – Oleg Fedak

As far as Liverpool’s involvement in the competition is concerned, one of the only surprises is that the Reds haven’t won it more often; after all, Liverpool are comfortably England’s most successful side when it comes to success in the Champions League, having also won the UEFA Cup more than once.

They might well have gone on to win it in 1981, but for the fact that the club couldn’t find space in the calendar in order to take on Cup Winners’ Cup victors Dinamo Tbilisi after the Merseysiders had won their third European Cup thanks to a win over Real Madrid in the final; something that modern day Liverpool fans would be forgiven for thinking was impossible.

🔴 @LFC win their 4th @UEFA Super Cup:

🏆 1977
🏆 2001
🏆 2005
🏆 2019

🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Most successful English club in Super Cup history. pic.twitter.com/oFdeSKGvou

— SPORF (@Sporf) August 14, 2019

Add in the fact that the Reds have also been losing finalists in both the Champions League and the Europa League, before and after their re-brands, and you can see why it is that the UEFA Super Cup is a trophy that might well have landed in the club’s silverware cabinet more times than it actually has.

It is a competition that supporters of lesser clubs like to mock and diminish, happily ignoring the fact that it has some of the most challenging qualification criteria of any tournament in world football. Not only do you have to qualify for either the Champions League or the Europa League in the first place, you then have to go on and win it.

Liverpool with Jürgen Klopp:

▶ Won the Premier League after a 30-year absence.
▶ Won the Charity Shield after a 16-year absence.
▶ Won the FA Cup after a 16-year absence.
▶ Won the UEFA Champions League after a 16-year absence.
▶ Won the UEFA Super Cup after a 14-year… pic.twitter.com/UNwhX8zPCd

— Football Factly (@FootballFactly) January 18, 2025

As a result, players, management and supporters of Liverpool Football Club know what an honour it is to be able to take part in the UEFA Super Cup, let alone win it. Being successful in the competition is about the only form of proof that you can find that you are the best team in Europe at the time. Given the fact that supporters of the Reds are never shy of letting everyone know about how successful the club is, it is hardly surprising that they have taken the Super Cup to heart so readily.

Remarkably, there was only one win for Liverpool during the 1970s and 1980s when they were consistently winning the major European honours.

Liverpool in the UEFA Super Cup

*Although the 1972-1973 season saw the Cup Winners’ Cup victors play in the 1973 UEFA Super Cup final, which Liverpool weren’t involved in, that did win the UEFA Cup that season

**Although the 1975-1976 season saw the Cup Winners’ Cup victors play in the 1976 UEFA Super Cup final, which Liverpool weren’t involved in, they did win the UEFA Cup that season

***Although Liverpool won the European Cup in 1981 and therefore should’ve taken part in the following season’s UEFA Super Cup, they didn’t as they had no room in their calendar

Given the fact that the UEFA Super Cup wasn’t an official competition in UEFA’s stable until 1973, that is a nice, clear starting point for us in terms of looking at how the Reds have got on in it over the years. The table above takes a look at how Liverpool did in the previous season’s European Cup/Champions League, as well as how they did in the Cup Winners’ Cup until the move to having the winners of the UEFA Cup/Europa League take part in it from 2000 onwards.

We have also looked to see who Liverpool played in the final, if applicable, and what the final score was. For the purposes of ease, we have put Liverpool’s score first each time.

Taking a Closer Look at Liverpool’s UEFA Super Cup Wins

The manner in which Liverpool dominated English football in the 1970s and 1980s also translated onto the European stage on several occasions during the same period. As a result, you might expect Liverpool to have appeared in more UEFA Super Cup finals than they actually have. In the end, for numerous reasons, the Reds made just three appearances in it between its launch in 1973 and the period in which English clubs were banned from European competition following the Heysel Stadium disaster, winning it on just one of those occasions. In fact, there is an argument that the Reds have won it most when not at their best.

You would struggle to convince anyone who watched Liverpool play in the 2004-2005 season, for example, that that side was the best team in Europe, yet Rafa Benítez knew how to win trophies on the continent. Even so, winning the competition is all that matters once you’ve managed to make the final. Here is a closer look at the times that Liverpool have won the UEFA Super Cup:

1977(Liverpool 7 Hamburger SV 1 on Aggregate)

The 1977 UEFA Super Cup final was the only one that Liverpool won when it was played over two legs. The Reds qualified for the match after winning the European Cup for the first time in the 1976-1977 season, defeating Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1. Hamburger SV, meanwhile, had won the European Cup Winners’ Cup thanks to a 2-0 win over Anderlecht in the final. The first match was one in which neither side created a huge amount of chances, with Ferdinand Keller actually giving the German side the lead after scoring past Ray Clemence in the Liverpool goal. It would prove to be their own goal of the entire tie, with the Reds equalising through David Fairclough in the second-half.

1977 Super Cup Phil Neal tackles Kevin Keegan @LFC beat Hamburg 6-0 at Anfield pic.twitter.com/DieJoJC6Oc

— Firmino (@brazilegend10) September 22, 2024

That meant that things were finely poised for the return leg at Anfield, but they didn’t remain so for long. Phil Thompson scored from a Steve Heighway corner to give the Reds the led after 21 minutes, with Terry McDermott doubling it five minutes before half-time. Ten minutes into the second-half and McDermott scored his second and Liverpool’s third to all but kill off any possible Hamburger SV comeback. A minute later and he completed his hat-trick, becoming the first Liverpool player to do so in the competition. A header from David Fairclough in the 86th minute and a goal from Kenny Dalglish two minutes later completed the rout.

2001 (Liverpool 3 Bayern Munich 2)

The Gérard Houllier team that won the treble in 2000-2001 was often derided at the time for the fact that they were the ‘Mickey Mouse’ trophies of the League Cup, the FA Cup and the UEFA Cup. Any sense that the side in question was anything other than a brilliant one should’ve been put to bed by the fact that they defeated Bayern Munich in the UEFA Super Cup in the August of 2001. The German side were in the final on account of the fact that they had defeated Valencia on penalties in the Champions League final, whilst Liverpool had won 5-4 over Alavés in that UEFA Cup final courtesy of a Golden Goal in extra-time.

@lahemerotecafutymas Final de la supercopa de europa del año 2001 entre liverpool y bayern munich #bayernmunich #livepool #supercopa #partido #foryou #futbol #hemeroteca #parati #final #viral #futebol ♬ sonido original – hemeroteca futbol mas!

In the Super Cup final, Liverpool took the lead after 23 minutes when John Arne Riise scored Michael Owen’s cross. As half-time approached, the Reds doubled their lead through Emile Husky, moving into a 3-0 leads just 13 seconds after the break thanks to a left-footed goal from Owen. Hasan Salihamidžić got one back for Bayern in the 57th minute, with most of the match then playing out without incident before substitute Carsten Jancker made it 3-2 with eight minutes remaining. The Germans pushed for an equaliser, almost getting one through Bixente Lizarazu, but his attempt was straight at Sander Westerveld and the Reds held on.

2005 (Liverpool 3 CSKA Moscow 1 After Extra-Time)

If the 2001 Super Cup showed that Gérard Houllier’s team deserved more respect, the 2005 iteration of it might well have been a demonstration that Rafa Benítez was getting his feet under the table at Anfield. The Reds qualified for the match in the most improbable of ways thanks to that famous win against AC Milan in Istanbul in the May. CSKA Moscow, meanwhile, were making their debut in the tournament after a 3-1 win over Sporting CP in the UEFA Cup. There were just over 17,000 people inside the Stade Louis II in Monaco to watch the match, with the Russian side actually taking the lead through Daniel Carvalho after 28 minutes.

UEFA Super Cup 2005

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— greenreds1892 (@greenreds1892.bsky.social) January 20, 2025 at 12:30 PM

The Reds took their time to respond, peppering the CSKA goal with attempts but never really looking likely to score. In fact, it was the Russians who nearly doubled their lead after a mixup between Sami Hyypiä and Pepe Reina, but the Reds did eventually get an equaliser through substitute Djibril Cissé. The French striker also scored the first goal of extra-time after the game finished level in normal time. It was the first time that the Merseysiders had led, with Luis García giving the Reds the lead four minutes into the second-half of extra-time. García got onto the end of a Cissé cross, handing Liverpool a 3-1 win and Cissé the Man of the Match award.

2019 (Liverpool 2 Chelsea 2 After Extra-Time; Liverpool won 5-4 on Penalties)

During the Rafa Benítez and José Mourinho period, there was a sense of familiarity breeding contempt between Liverpool and Chelsea in European football. Although that had calmed down by the time the two sides met in the 2019 UEFA Super Cup, it was still pleasurable for Jürgen Klopp’s men to get the win. They were there thanks to their Champions League victory of Tottenham Hotspur, whilst Chelsea had beaten another London side in Arsenal in the Europa League. The game itself was notable for the fact that it was the first time that a woman, Stéphanie Frappart, had refereed the final of a UEFA men’s competition.

Chelsea scored 36 minutes in through Olivier Giroud, then Liverpool equalised three minutes into the second-half courtesy of Sadio Mané. When no further goals were scored, the game went to extra-time and Mané scored his second five minutes after it got underway. Six minutes later and the Londoners were awarded a penalty, which Jorginho scored to level things up. When no more goals were scored it meant a penalty shoot-out, with Roberto Firmino, Fabinho Tavares, Divock Origi, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Mohamed Salah all scoring for Liverpool. When Adrián saved Tammy Abraham’s penalty, it meant the Reds had won the Super Cup for the fourth time.