Rags to riches for favoured Parma club

Two weeks ago, your correspondent travelled north to visit Parma, the Serie A club due to meet French club Olympique Marseilles in an intriguing UEFA Cup final in Moscow tomorrow night. The last time I was down Parma way, the club had trained on a pitch that was to be found in the middle of a public park.

These days Parma train at their own purpose-built sports centre near a little village called Collechio, far from the city crowds. It may seem a trifling matter, but the fact that Parma now have their own country-club cum training ground is just another indication of this club's seriousness.

Tomorrow night, Parma find themselves in their second final in the last week, given that last Wednesday they drew 2-2 in Florence with Fiorentina to lift the Italian Cup (aggregate result 3-3, Parma win on away goals).

Tomorrow night, too, Parma will play in their fourth European final of the 1990s, having won the Cup Winners' Cup in 1993, the UEFA Cup in 1995 and been beaten by Arsenal in the final of the 1994 Cup Winners' Cup.

For a side that first won promotion to Serie A only in 1990, they have come a long way in a short time, a long way in which the massive infusion of cash from Parmalat, a Parma-based multinational dairy products giant, has counted in no small measure.

As he prepares for tomorrow's game, Parma coach Alberto Malesani has every reason to feel confident. Not only last week's Italian Cup triumph, but also a 3-1 away win against the hapless Inter Milan last weekend testify to his side's current well-being. Furthermore, that latter league win moved Parma into third place in Serie A, not close enough to trouble the two sides up front, Lazio and AC Milan, but close enough to be three points away from the mathematical certainty of a place in the Champions League next season.

All of which might have prompted Malesani to make some ultra-confident eve of battle noises. However, the Parma coach, in his first season at the club, would say only:

"This is but the first year of a long term project, one that I think can become a winning project."

Unlike his opposite number, Marseilles coach Roland Courbis, Malesani is in the fortunate position of fielding his strongest side. Starting with Gianluigi Buffon in goal and ending with Argentine striker Hernan Crespo, this is an awesomely strong squad that also includes Frenchman Lilian Thuram and Fabio Cannavaro in defence, Dino Baggio and Frenchman Alain Boghossian in midfield, with Argentine playmaker Juan Veron behind the two front men, Enrico Chiesa and Crespo.

While Malesani's side picks itself, Roland Courbis will have to prove inventive if he can adequately replace his two international strikers, Christophe Dugarry and Italian Fabrizio Ravanelli, as well as defender William Gallas and midfielder Peter Luccin, all of whom are suspended. Ex-Parma player and ex-French international Daniel Bravo return to midfield alongside the talented France 1998 reserve Robert Pires. Jocelyn Gouvernnec will fill at least some of the gaps, while striker Florian Maurice may be left to go it alone up front.

In defence, however, Marseilles have two impressive players in Cyril Domoraud and the all too well-known Laurent Blanc, the man ruled out of the French side for the World Cup final.

Logic suggests that Parma's overall strength should prove too much for weakened Marseilles. Logic, however, often counts for not a lot in a one-off final.