On 31 August 2007, AC Milan spoiled Sevilla's bid to repeat as Super Cup champions, beating the Spanish side 3-1 in Monaco.
Sevilla, as winners of the UEFA Cup in 2005, played their first Super Cup in 2006, beating the reigning Champions League winners Barcelona 0-3. They won the UEFA Cup again in 2006 to set up their 2007 meeting with that year's Champions League winners, AC Milan.
Playing before a crowd of 17,822 at the Stade Louis II, Sevilla staked their claim with a 14th-minute goal from Brazilian playmaker Renato. The score resulted from a corner kick that Renato headed down to the feet of Milan keeper Dida, who misjudged the bounce and allowed the ball to get past him into the net. Despite pressure from Milan at the other end, particularly from striker Pippo Inzaghi, Sevilla still held the 0-1 lead at the break.
Shortly after the restart, however, Inzaghi headed the equalizer home (55') and Milan claimed the lead seven minutes later with a thundering volley from left back Marek Jankulovski to the far post (62'). Milan sealed the win in the 87th minute after Sevilla left back Ivica Dragutinović conceded a penalty with a tackle from behind on Madrid striker Kaká, who dutifully converted the kick to stretch the margin of victory to 3-1.
On 30 August 1995, Grêmio won their second Copa Libertadores, beating Atlético Nacional on points over two legs.
Both teams had won the tournament once before, with Grêmio taking the honors in 1983 and Atlético in 1989. Grêmio returned to the final in 1984, but were unable to defend their title, losing to Independiente.
They entered the competition in 1995 as Copa do Brasil holders and, after finishing second to Palmeiras in the group stage, advanced with wins over Olimpia, Palmeiras, and Emelec to reach the final. Atlético, meanwhile, entered as Colombian top flight champions and, after also finishing second in their group (to Millonarios) reached the final with victories over Peñarol, Millonarios, and River Plate (on penalties).
Grêmio won the first leg of the final 3-1 on 23 August in front of their own supporters at the Estádio Olímpico, thanks in part to an opening own-goal from Atlético's Víctor Marulanda in the 35th minute. They followed that with strikes from Mário Jardel (43') and Paulo Nunes (55') before Juan Pablo Ángel pulled one back for Atlético in the 72nd minute.
In the second leg, played one week later at Atlético's Estadio Atanasio Girardot, the hosts again opened the scoring with a 12th-minute goal from Víctor Aristizábal. They held the lead deep into the second half, but needed another goal to preserve their hopes of lifting the trophy--the rules at the time decided the winner on points, then by goal differential, so a 1-0 win would draw them level with Grêmio on points, but leave them down a goal on differential.
Then, as Atlético pushed for a second, they conceded an 85th-minute penalty kick that was converted by Dinho to seal the win for the Brazilians. Grêmio returned in 2007, but finished as runners-up to Boca Juniors, while Atlético won the tournament in 2016 over Independiente del Valle.
On 29 August 2002, Zenit St. Petersburg secured their record victory, beating FC Encamp 8-0 in the qualifying round of the UEFA Cup.
It was the second leg of the tie, with Zenit having beaten the Andorrans 0-5 away two weeks earlier. In the rematch, Encamp would have been forgiven for hoping for a closer margin of victory and, for the first half, it appeared they might get it, as Zenit were up only 2-0 at the break with goals from Sergei Osipov (14') and Predrag Ranđelović (21').
The visitors maintained that margin for the first twelve minutes of the second half, but then the floodgates opened. Aleksandr Spivak led the assault on Encamp's goal in the 57th minute, followed by additional strikes from Osipov (69') and Ranđelović (71', 73') to stretch the lead to 6-0. Darius Miceika added a seventh in the 86th minute, then striker Andrei Nikolaev--making his first Zenit appearance--completed the 8-0 rout three minutes later.
Although the combined 13-0 result qualified Zenit for the UEFA Cup proper, their campaign ended in the first round with a 4-3 aggregate loss to Swiss club Grasshopper.
On 28 August 1947, Liverpool and England captain Emlyn Hughes was born in Lancashire. He went on to win four league titles and two European Cups while being named England's Footballer of the Year in 1977.
Hughes started his professional career with Blackpool in 1964, but made only 28 league appearances there before moving to Anfield in 1967 for a transfer fee of £65,000. Although Liverpool had won the league title in 1966, they went without silverware in Hughes' first four seasons.
They returned to their winning ways in the 1972-73 season, winning both the league and the UEFA Cup. Hughes took over as skipper and more honors followed, including three more league titles (1976, 1977, 1979), another UEFA Cup (1976), back-to-back European Cups (1977, 1978) and an FA Cup (1974). In the meantime, he made 60 appearances for England, wearing the armband for several games in 1974.
In 1977, Liverpool narrowly missed out on a treble, losing to Manchester United in the FA Cup final. Later that year, Hughes became the second consecutive Liverpool player (and third in four years) to win the Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year Award.
He left Liverpool in 1979 and spent time with Wolves, Rotherham (as player-manager), Hull City, Mansfield Town, and Swansea City before retiring in 1984. He died of cancer in 2004 at the age of 57.
On 27 August 2011, the Western New York Flash won the WPS Championship, beating the Philadelphia Independence on penalties, 1-1 (5-4). It turned out to be the last WPS Championship, as the league folded soon afterward.
The Flash were an expansion team playing in the first league season, but they had acquired several players from the previous season's champions, FC Gold Pride, who had dissolved in 2010. They picked up where the Pride left off, topping the regular season table with a record of thirteen wins, two draws, and two losses that sent them directly into the playoff final.
The Independence were not much older, having entered the league in 2010. They finished the 2011 regular season in second, which qualified them for a semifinal match against magicJack, whom the beat 2-0 to advance to the final.
Playing at Sahlen's Stadium in Rochester, former Pride forward Christine Sinclair gave the Flash a 64th-minute lead that they almost took to the final whistle. But in the 88th minute, Philadelphia winger Amy Rodriguez equalized to send the match into extra time. With the score still level at 1-1 after extra time, the match went to a penalty shootout.
There, both teams converted their first four kicks each. After Yael Averbuch scored on the Flash's fifth attempt, Western New York goalkeeper Ashlynn Harris made a diving save to deny Independence forward Laura del Rio and win the title.
On 26 August 1998, Vasco da Gama won the Copa Libertadores, beating Barcelona SC 1-2 in the final's second leg.
The two teams qualified for the competition by winning their domestic leagues--Brazil for Vasco and Ecuador for Barcelona--in 1997. Vasco had a more difficult road to the final, beating defending champions Cruzeiro in the Round of 16, then overcoming Grêmio and River Plate in the quarterfinals and semifinals, respectively. Barcelona, meanwhile, advanced over Colo-Colo, Bolívar, and Cerro Porteño.
The final was played over two legs, home and away, with the winner determined by points. Vasco won the first leg, played at the Estádio São Januário in Rio on 12 August, by the score of 2-0 with goals from their forward pairing of Donizete (7') and Luizáo (35').
In the second leg, played two weeks later at Barcelona's Estadio Monumental in Guayaquil, Vasco again went up by two at the break, with the same two players providing the goals, Luizáo striking in the 24th minute and Donizete in the 45th.
Barcelona halved the margin to one with a 79th-minute goal from forward Antony de Ávila, but they could get no closer, even after Donizete received a 93rd-minute red card to reduce Vasco to ten men.
It was Vasco's first appearance in the Copa Libertadores final, while Barcelona had been there once before, finishing as runners-up to Olimpia in 1990. Neither team has returned since.
On 25 August 2009, violence marred a match between West Ham and Millwall in their first meeting for over four years.
Separated by only five miles and the River Thames, the two London teams have a longstanding rivalry that dates back to their first meeting in 1897 (when West Ham were still known as Thames Ironworks). Their respective supporter groups have a history of clashes, including an outbreak of fighting at the 1972 testimonial for Harry Cripps, who had played for both teams, and a 1976 clash at New Cross Station that resulted in the death of Millwall supporter Ian Pratt, who fell under a train.
Before the 2009 meeting, the two teams had last played each other in April 2004, the sixth match in an unbeaten run for Millwall that stretched back to November 1992. Then the League Cup paired them for a second-round meeting at West Ham's Upton Park.
Neil Harris gave the visitors a 26th-minute lead, which they held for most of the match. But West Ham's Junior Stanislas equalized in the 87th minute, sending the home supporters into a frenzy and sparking a pitch invasion. In extra time, Stanislas scored again, this time from the penalty spot in the 98th minute, resulting in another invasion. Zavon Hines added a third for West Ham in the 100th minute to set the final margin at 3-1.
Fighting broke out both inside and outside the stadium, with at least twenty people getting injured and a 44-year old Millwall fan going to the hospital with a stab wound. Supporters clashed with each other and the police clashed for several hours, resulting in several arrests.
Afterward, the Football Association found West Ham guilty of failing to restrain their supporters and fined the club £115,000.
On 31 August 2007, AC Milan spoiled Sevilla's bid to repeat as Super Cup champions, beating the Spanish side 3-1 in Monaco.
