Porto qualified as winners of the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League, having defeated Monaco of the French league 3–0 in the final, and were appearing in the Super Cup for the third time, following victory in 1987 and defeat in 2003. Meanwhile, Valencia were appearing as winners of the 2003–04 UEFA Cup, following victory over another French team, Marseille. It was their second Super Cup, having won in their only previous appearance in 1980.
Watched by a crowd of 17,292, a goal from Rubén Baraja gave Valencia the lead after half an hour, before Marco Di Vaio doubled their lead midway through the second half. Ricardo Quaresma scored for Porto in the 78th minute, but they were unable to find an equaliser and Valencia won the match 2–1 to win their second Super Cup.
Background
Porto qualified for the Super Cup as the reigning UEFA Champions League winners. They had won the 2003–04 UEFA Champions League beating Monaco3–0 to win the competition for the second time.[4] It would be Porto's third appearance in the competition was contesting the Super Cup for the third time. They won the competition in 1987 beating Ajax, while they lost in 2003, to Milan.[5]
Valencia had qualified for the competition as a result of winning the 2003–04 UEFA Cup. They had beaten Marseille 2–0 in the final.[6] Valencia's only previous appearance in 1980 resulted in victory, beating Nottingham Forest.[7] Porto and Valencia had previously met each other in two European competition matches. In the second round of the 1989–90 UEFA Cup, Porto eliminated the Spanish team with a 5–4 aggregate score, as result of a 3–1 home win and a 2–3 away loss.[8]
Coming into the match after their previous week loss at the Supercopa de España, Valencia captain David Albelda admitted the team was "not at 100 per cent" and was still "hurt by the defeat", but this setback should help them "go into the match fully concentrated and go all out to win".[12]
On the other hand, Porto were coming from another Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira victory. The team's midfielder and captain Costinha assured that Valencia would be "an even tougher match" as it is "a very experienced team with good players". Remembering the Super Cup defeat against Milan in the previous year, Costinha showed no doubts: "... this time things are going to be different. I'm confident we can win".[13]
Nonetheless, Porto had two key players ruled out due to injuries. Brazilian striker Derlei suffered a right knee ligament lesion during a friendly match on 15 August with city rivals Boavista,[14] whereas Diego suffered a thigh injury during the Portuguese Super Cup match.[15]
^Ross, James M. (17 January 2008). "UEFA Cup 1989–90". RSSSF.com. Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 1 May 2011.