Ciriaco Sforza is a Swiss football manager and former professional player who last managed Swiss Super League club Basel. After beginning his career with Swiss clubs FC Aarau and Grasshopper Club Zürich, he most notably played for Internazionale in Italy, and 1. FC Kaiserslautern, and FC Bayern Munich in Germany. Sforza represented the Switzerland national team 79 times, and represented his country at the international 1994 World Cup and Euro 96 tournaments.

The 1997 UEFA Cup Final was a two-legged football match contested between Schalke 04 of Germany and Inter Milan of Italy. The tie was a tight affair, with each leg being won 1–0 by the home-team. After 210 minutes of football, the tie was eventually settled on penalties, with Schalke winning 4–1 at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza. It was to be the last UEFA Cup final to be played over two legs, future finals being one-off games at a neutral ground.