The player's tense relations with Capello soon inflamed again. First, as the Champions League group phase began in late November 1993, Capello named Savićević to the reserves for the opening match away at Anderlecht, which the player protested by refusing to travel to Brussels with the team. Then, in mid-December 1993, Capello dropped him from the squad altogether for the 1993 Intercontinental Cup in Tokyo versus Telê Santana's São Paulo FC.