Four-Four-Two

Milan were now attempting to win a third consecutive European crown and were helped by receiving a bye through to the second round. While the reigning champions looked on, their likely challengers made their intentions clear with convincing victories. Real Madrid put 10 goals past Odense of Denmark, Bayern scored seven times against APOEL Nicosia, Porto amassed 14 goals against Portadown, Napoli beat Ujpest Dozsa 5-0 and Marseille defeated Dinamo Tirana 5-1.

Scottish champions Glasgow Rangers had dominated their domestic league for the last two years, ever since their chairman David Murray had appointed former European Cup winner Graeme Sounness as manager and provided him with funds that allowed him to sign established international players from England to add to the best in Scottish talent. Rangers now looked to make an impression in the European Cup and started well by beating Valetta of Malta by ten goals in the first round. In Round 2 they were drawn to play Red Star Belgrade. The Yugoslavs had not progressed further than the quarter-finals for 20 years, but in recent years Real Madrid had only knocked them out on away goals and Milan had required a penalty shootout to get past them two years previously. In the first leg in Belgrade, Red Star announced themselves as major contenders for European Cup and, at the same time, ended Rangers hopes for another year. With Robert Prosinecki running the game in midfield and Darko Pancev always dangerous in attack, the hosts put on a display of thrilling attacking football which would have resulted in a scoreline much more overwhelming than the 3-0 that they finally achieved had it not been for the outstanding performance by English goalkeeper Chris Woods. A 1-1 draw in Glasgow saw Red Star through to the quarter-finals with ease.

Elsewhere, the goals continued to flow from some of the leading contenders. Bayern Munich beat CSKA Sofia 7-0, Porto won their home game against Dinamo Bucharest 4-0, Marseille won 6-1 at home to Lech Poznan after losing the first leg, and Real Madrid beat Tirol of Innsbruck 9-1 in the Bernabeu with Butragueno scoring three and Sanchez netting four. The two Italian clubs, however, were in much less impressive form as Milan, who had Marco Van Basten sent off, squeezed past Bruges by a single goal and Diego Maradona’s Napoli went out on penalties after two goalless draws with Spartak Moscow.

Of the four quarter-final ties, only two were actually completed. The major surprise of the round came when Spartak Moscow knocked out Real Madrid. Real had looked to have gained the upper hand when they held out for a goalless draw in freezing Moscow, and when Butragueno scored the opener early on in the second leg the Spaniards appeared to have taken a firm grip on the tie. But Spartak struck back with two first half goals from Radchenko and when Shmarov scored a third on 63 minutes, a shock result was complete. Bayern Munich also produced an impressive away performance as they gained revenge for their European Cup Final defeat to Porto four years earlier. Having only drawn 1-1 in Munich after Augenthalers sending off reduced them to ten men, Bayern won through to the semi-finals courtesy of goals from Ziege on 19 minutes and Bender after 71 minutes.

Red Star continued their impressive form into the quarter-finals as they took on the East Germans Dynamo Dresden. Goals from Prosinecki, Binic and Savicevic gave the Yugoslavs a comfortable 3-0 win in Belgrade. Dynamo sparked hopes of a recovery when they scored from the penalty spot after only three minutes of the second leg, but second half goals from Savicevic and Pancev effectively put the tie beyond the East Germans as was recognised by their supporters whose subsequent rioting caused the game to be abandoned on 78 minutes with the game being awarded to Red Star by three goals to nil.

The tie of the round pitted the holders Milan against Marseille. Milan were out of form and missing the injured Baresi and the suspended Van Basten. In the San Siro Gullit put Milan ahead on 14 minutes, but Papin equalised for Marseille just before the half hour mark and there was no further scoring in the match. In Marseille a volleyed goal from English winger Chris Waddle had put the French side ahead, and as the game entered its final moments, the home supporters were desperate for the game to end. With two minutes remaining, the referee awarded a free-kick, but many Marseille fans mistakenly thought that he had blown the final whistle and they ran onto the pitch. As the field of play was being cleared, a floodlight failed and the referee took the players off the pitch. Once the lighting had been restored and the pitch cleared, the referee instructed both teams to return, but the Milan players refused, hoping to have the game replayed. The match was then abandoned, but was subsequently awarded 3-0 to Marseille and so the holders were eliminated in the most unsatisfactory of circumstances.

The semi-final draw paired Eastern Europe with Western Europe in both ties. Having surprised Real Madrid, Spartak Moscow were now hoping to upset Marseille and reach the final, but the French champions dominated their semi-final from the start. Despite playing in front of 95,000 Muscovites, Marseille were at their exciting best and a left footed shot from their Ghanaian international forward Abedi Pele on 27 minutes, and a Papin goal just four minutes later gave them an early advantage. Spartak did reduce the deficit through Shalimov on the hour, but Phillippe Vercruysse’s late headed goal gave Marseille an almost insurmountable 3-1 lead to take back to France. In the second leg, goals either side of half-time from Pele and Boli made sure of Marseille’s place in the final and, although Mostovoi converted a second half penalty, Spartak had been well beaten.

Red Star Belgrade had impressed everyone with their flamboyant wins over Grasshoppers, Rangers and Dynamo Dresden, but it was widely expected that Bayern Munich would prove too strong for them in the semi-finals. And so, when Wohlfarth gave the Germans the lead in Munich’s Olympic Stadium there was little surprise. But Red Star struck back on the stroke of half-time when a Prosinecki pass found Savicevic breaking down the right wing and his cross found Darko Pancev who slid the ball home at the far post. Then, on 70 minutes, the Red Star defence broke down a Bayern attack and Savicevic ran through from the halfway line before slotting the ball past the German goalkeeper to make it 2-1. In Belgrade a first half Mihajlovic free-kick increased Red Star’s advantage, but Bayern refused to cave in and two goals in five minutes from Augenthaler and Bender levelled the aggregate scores with twenty minutes remaining. As the game entered its final seconds and with extra-time looming, Red Star attacked for one final time and, as Mihajlovic sent a low cross into the penalty area, Bayerns Augenthaler stuck out a leg to intercept, but succeeded only in sending the ball high into the air and it looped over his goalkeepers head and into the net. The Red Star Belgrade players and supporters went wild with delight for there was no time left for Bayern to come back again.

Red Star’s thrilling team full of players from a number of different ethnic backgrounds was in stark contrast to the political turmoil that was developing in Yugoslavia. The country was in fact on the brink of a terrible and bloody civil war, but for a few hours on the evening of May 29th 1991 the country came together behind one football team. One thing that was certain was that the winners would come from a country that had never won the European Cup before – either Yugoslavia who had not had a finalist since Partizan Belgrade in 1966, or France who had seen neither Stade de Reims or St Etienne win finals in the past, would see one of their teams crowned European champions for the first time.

The final, played in the vast bowl of a stadium in Bari which had built for the Italian World Cup in 1990, was keenly anticipated with two exciting teams with players such as Prosinecki, Abedi Pele, Mihajlovic, Waddle, Savicevic and Papin on show. As the game began, it looked as though it might live up to its billing as both teams showed flashes of the entertaining football that they had played en route to the final, but the game soon settled down into a war of attrition with Red Star packing their defence and Marseille stopping all breakaways with their ruthlessly efficient offside trap. Throughout the 90 minutes and an extra 30 minutes of extra-time, there were few chances – a Prosinecki free kick went close and a Waddle header across the goal was only just wide, but overall the game was a huge disappointment for the 60,000 paying spectators and the millions watching on television around the world.

From an early stage, a penalty shootout had seemed inevitable, in fact Red Star coach Ljubomir Petrovic later admitted that his team had set out to play for penalties, and after 120 minutes of goalless football, that was what happened. The first penalty was converted for Red Star by Prosinecki, but Marseille’s first penalty by Amoros was saved by Stojanovic. After that all the penalties were successfully converted and it was left to Pancev to score the penalty that brought the European Cup to Yugoslavia for the first time as Red Star Belgrade won the shootout 5-3.

Just as their East European neighbours Steaua Bucharest had done five years earlier, Red Star Belgrade had stopped an expensively assembled group of international stars from scoring and had held their nerve to convert all their penalties and pull off a surprise win. The final itself had been a huge disappointment, but they had emerged victorious and the manner of their final victory could not detract from the thrilling football that they had played on their way to Bari. Few pundits would have tipped Red Star Belgrade to win the European Cup when the competition had started eight months earlier, but their world class players had got them past teams with greater reputations and they had emerged as worthy winners. Sadly the night of the 1991 European Cup Final was to prove to be one of the final times that Yugoslavia could come together to celebrate as one.

1991 European Cup Final (Bari)
Red Star Belgrade 0 Marseille 0 (5-3 penalties)
Red Star Belgrade: Stojanovic (capt), Sabanadlovic, Jugovic, Belodedic,Najdoski, Marovic, Savicevic (Stoaic), Prosinecki, Mihajlovic, Binic, Pancev
Penalty Scorers: Prosinecki, Binic, Belodedic, Mihajlovic, Pancev
Marseille: Olmeta, Boli, Mozer, Casoni, Amoros, Fournier (Vercruysse), Germain, Di Meco (Stojkovic), Waddle, Papin (capt), Abedi Pele
Penalty Scorers: Casoni, Papin, Mozer

Milan had won the 1989 European Cup in emphatic style, but if they were to repeat their achievement, they would have to get past an impressive number of challengers. As well as Steaua Bucharest who had reached the previous final, there were 1988 winners PSV Eindhoven and former winners Bayern Munich, Benfica, Real Madrid and local rivals Internazionale who had won the Italian league title. Another team who were likely to challenge for the trophy were Marseille. The French side had been taken over by multi millionaire Bernard Tapie in 1986 and had then been able to sign top players such as Jean-Pierre Papin, Rudi Voeller, Chris Waddle and Enzo Francescoli. As a result, they had won the French league title and now had their sights firmly set on European glory. Marseille had no problem getting through the first round beating Brondby 3-0 in the first leg and going through 4-1 overall. Similarly, AC Milan, PSV and Steaua all progressed with a 5-0 aggregate win while Benfica scored six goals and Real Madrid beat Spora Luxembourg 9-0. Internazionale, on the other hand, failed to get past the Swedes of Malmo. Having lost 1-0 in Sweden, Inter looked to be on the road to victory when they scored with twenty minutes remaining in the second leg, but an Engqvist goal on 80 minutes was enough to send Malmo through and Inter crashing out.

The second round draw ensured that at least two big name teams would be knocked out at this early stage. Steaua Bucharest won their home leg against PSV Eindhoven thanks to a single Lacatus goal, and when the same player scored the opening goal in the second game, Steaua looked to be in a strong position, but that was before PSV’s Brazilian striker Romario took centre stage as he scored a second half hat-trick which helped his team to a 5-1 win on the night. The big clash of the round saw Milan take on Real Madrid. Milan were without Gullit who was suffering from a long term injury, but they still had their two other Dutch maestros and it was they who combined to score the opening goal of the tie as Rijkaard headed home a Van Basten cross to send the San Siro wild with delight. A controversial Van Basten penalty made it 2-0 after just 14 minutes, but there were no further goals in the game. At the Bernabeu, Butragueno scored for Real on the stroke of half-time, but the remainder of the game was notable only for it’s ugliness as seven yellow and one red card were produced before the final whistle was blown and Milan marched on to the quarter-finals. Among those teams joining PSV and Milan in the last eight were Bayern Munich who beat Nentori Tirana 6-1, Benfica who thumped Honved 9-0, and Marseille who won 3-1 against AEK Athens.

In 1988, the football world had been shocked when a little known Belgian side had beaten mighty Ajax to win the Cup-winners Cup. Now Mechelen had their eyes on an even greater prize but, after having beaten Rosenborg and Malmo, they now had to get past Milan in order to continue their European Cup campaign. Mechelens ground was simply too small to host the champions of Europe so the game was moved to the biggest stadium in Belgium – the Heysel. And so, on the 7th of March, nearly five years on from the darkest day in European Cup history, the Heysel hosted a European club game once more. The occasion may have been significant, but the game was unremarkable as the Belgians were unable to break through Milan’s defence and the holders emerged with a goalless draw. If Milan thought that the hard work had been done, however, they were mistaken as they found the Mechelen defence equally hard to breach as 90 minutes in the San Siro also failed to produce a goal. It was not until the second half of extra time that Van Basten finally struck, and a Simone goal in the dying minutes put the tie beyond doubt.

Marseille took on CSKA Sofia in the quarter-finals. CSKA star Hristo Stoichkov was in his final season before heading off to Spain, and he stood out in a tight game in Sofia, but an 85th minute goal from substitute Philippe Thys gave Marseille a crucial first leg lead, and the French champions breezed to a 3-1 home win thanks to goals from Waddle, Papin and Sauzee.

Benfica dominated their first leg against Soviet champions Dnepr in Lisbon, but they only had a Magnusson penalty to show for all their good play and faced a tricky return game. Out in the Ukraine, however, Benfica put on an impressive performance as they scored three second half goals without reply to advance 4-0 on aggregate. The final semi-final place went to Bayern Munich who won a close contest with PSV Eindhoven. After Bayern had won their home game 2-1, there was no score in Holland until the final minute when an Augenthaler free-kick was deflected in by PSV defender Eric Gerets to seal a Bayern victory.

In the semi-finals Marseille played Benfica for the right to play in the European Cup final. In France, Benfica took a shock early lead through Lima, but goals from Sauzee and Papin before half-time put the Frenchmen in the driving seat and they finished the first leg with a 2-1 lead. In Lisbon, Marseille set out to defend their slender lead and, despite being roared on by a passionate 80,000 crowd, Benfica struggled to make any impact on the French goal. With only eight minutes left and the game still goalless, things were getting desperate for the home side as they won a corner. It was then that one of the most controversial incidents in European Cup history occurred. As the ball was swung in, it was flicked on towards the edge of the six yard area where Benfica’s Vata stuck out his hand and diverted the ball into the net. See the goal here. The crowd inside the Stadium of Light went wild as the Benfica players celebrated, but the Marseille players furiously surrounded Belgian referee Marcel van Langenhove to protest. Their protests were in vain, however, as the goal stood. Marseille were unable to reply in the remaining few minutes of the game and so, despite their feelings of injustice, they went out on away goals and it was Benfica who went through to the final.

The other semi-final was also extraordinarily close. Milan traveled to Bayern Munich with only a 77th minute Marco Van Basten penalty to show for their efforts in the San Siro and that goal was cancelled out on the hour in Germany when Thomas Strunz scored for Bayern. With the two teams deadlocked at 1-1 on aggregate, Milan were forced, yet again, to endure extra time. The crucial goal came ten minutes into extra time when Milan substitute Stefano Borgonovo lobbed the Bayern goalkeeper to score the all important away goal. Although Bayern did reply at the beginning of the second period of added time through their Scottish centre forward Alan McInally, they could not manage the further goal that they needed and this semi-final was also decided on the away goals rule.

The final, to be played in Vienna’s Prater Stadium, was a repeat of the 1963 final at Wembley. 27 years earlier the Milan team had contained Cesare Maldini, and now his son Paolo took to the field in a Milan shirt. Also in the Milan side was Ruud Gullit, despite having played his first game of an injury plagued season just a few days earlier. Under the leadership of their Swedish coach Sven Goran Eriksson, Benfica were looking to their forward pairing of Valdo and Magnusson to break through the Milan defence.

A year earlier, Milan had captivated European football fans with their breathtaking attacking football as their brilliant forward play had been to much for Steaua Bucharest, but this time they adopted a far more cautious approach as they conceded possession to Benfica. Valdo played a prominent role as he kept the Milan defence busy, but it was Milan who made the best chance of the first half as a brilliant Van Basten turn put him through on goal, but his shot was not enough to beat a diving Silvino in the Portuguese goal. With Gullit reintroduced into the Milan attack, the Italian side appeared to be struggling to find their normal rhythm and when they did manage to play Gullit into a good goalscoring position early in the second half, he also shot too weakly to trouble Silvino.

Having seen his two Dutch colleagues fail to convert their chances, it was left to Frank Rijkaard to eventually open the scoring. Milan broke from defence and when Costacurta found Van Basten, the Dutch maestro’s first time flick put Rijkaard through on goal and as he ran into the penalty area, he clipped the ball with the outside of his right foot across Silvino and into the corner of the net. There were chances for both teams before the ninety minutes were up, but Rijkaard’s goal proved to be the only one of a disappointing final and Milan became the first team since Nottingham Forest in 1980 to retain the European Cup.

Once again Milan were at the summit of European football and again it was a Dutchman who had hit the headlines, but this time it was not Marco Van Basten and Ruud Gullit who were being feted, but their less celebrated compatriot Frank Rijkaard. Along with defenders Maldini, Costacurta, Baresi and Tassotti, Rijkaard had helped keep the Benfica attack at bay when they had enjoyed a significant share of the possession, and when the chance to score had arrived it was Rijkaard who had coolly slotted the ball home. Throughout the campaign, and in the final itself, Milan had been far less impressive than a year earlier, but the end result was exactly the same as they were crowned European champions once more. With Berlusconi and Sacchi in charge, and with the cream of Dutch and Italian football on the pitch, Milan looked set to dominate European football for years to come – it would certainly require something special from their challengers if they were to be denied.

1990 European Cup Final (Vienna)
Milan 1 Benfica 0
Milan: G.Galii, Tassotti, Baresi (capt), Costacurta, Maldini, Colombo (F.Galii), Rijkaard, Evani, Ancelotti (Massaro), Gullit, Van Basten
Scorer: Rijkaard
Benfica: Silvino, Jose Carlos, Ricardo Gomes, Aldair, Samuel, Vitor Paneira (Vata), Hernani, Thern, Jaime Pacheco (capt) (Cesar Brito), Valdo, Magnusson

The early 1980‘s were miserable years for AC Milan with their past glories tarnished by relegation, bribery scandal and debt. The two time European champions were in need of a saviour and he arrived in the shape of media mogul Silvio Berlusconi. Milan’s new owner cleared the clubs debts and set about spending millions on buying some of the best players in the world. Under coach Arrigo Sacchi, Milan would play an attacking, pressing game that had rarely been seen in Italy before and they went on to win the 1988 Serie A title before setting their sights on the European Cup. With their trio of Dutchmen who had helped Holland to win the 1988 European Championships Frank Rijkaard, Ruud Gullit and Marco Van Basten alongside some of Italy’s brightest stars, they were one of the teams fancied to emerge as 1989 European champions.

Milan signalled their intent in the first round as they won 2-0 away to the Bulgarians of Vitosha Sofia, before winning 5-2 in the San Siro with Van Basten netting four times. Holders PSV Eindhoven received a bye into the second round where they were joined by the likes of Real Madrid who beat Moss FK of Norway 4-0, Steaua Bucharest who had an impressive 7-3 win over Sparta Prague, Celtic who were 4-1 winners over the Hungarians of Honved, and Porto who squeezed through 3-2 against HJK Helsinki. Also through were West German champions Werder Bremen who came back against East German neighbours Dynamo Dresden after losing 3-0 in the first leg. Thanks to four second half goals they won the return match 5-0 to eventually progress with unexpected ease.

Bremen’s comeback was copied by Galatasaray in the second round as they came back from a 3-0 defeat at the hands of Neuchatel Xamax to beat the Swiss side 5-0 in the second leg thanks to three goals in the final twelve minutes. Monaco, managed by young French manager Arsene Wenger, put six goals past Club Brugge in their home leg to win 6-2 on aggregate, while Steaua Bucharest had few problems in disposing of Spartak Moscow 5-1 overall.

The second round draw paired the two most recent European Cup winners as holders PSV played 1987 winners Porto. The tie was as good as over after the first match as the Dutch side won 5-0 in Eindhoven to demonstrate that they would not be giving up their crown without a fight. Real Madrid found their second round match much more difficult, despite winning 1-0 away to Gornik Zabrze thanks to a Hugo Sanchez penalty. Another Sanchez goal early on in the Bernabeu looked to have killed the Poles off, but Gornik goals either side of half-time had Real facing elimination on away goals. Eventually, late goals from Butragueno and Sanchez were enough to send the Spaniards through. Also finding it difficult to get through this early round were Milan. Up against Red Star Belgrade, they could only manage a 1-1 draw at home and were in trouble when Savicevic put the Yugoslavs ahead in Belgrade on 50 minutes. Fortunately for them, Milan were saved when the game was abandoned by referee Dieter Pauly after 61 minutes due to fog, but they were not out of the woods yet. Van Basten gave Milan a first half lead, but Stojkovic equalised soon afterwards and there were no further goals in either normal or extra time. The tie was then settled by a penalty shootout where Milan were saved by their goalkeeper Giovanni Galli who stopped shots from both Savicevic and Mrkela to knock Red Star out.

It was just over two years since Steaua Bucharest had pulled off one of the most unexpected victories in European Cup history by beating Barcelona in the 1986 final. Now the likes of Iovan, Bumbescu, Lacatus and Piturca who had played in that victorious team, had been joined by top players such as Petrescu, Dumitrescu and, most significantly, the brilliant attacking midfielder Georghi Hagi. Many commentators considered this Steaua team to be better than its predecessor, and they were able to use their quarter-final performance against Gothenburg as evidence. Coming back from a 1-0 first leg defeat, Steaua destroyed the Swedes 5-1 thanks to a Lacatus hat-trick and goals from Dumitrescu and Balint. Also through to the semi-finals were Galatasaray who knocked out Monaco after winning 1-0 in the Principality before drawing their home leg 1-1. Another close tie saw Milan squeeze past Werder Bremen thanks to a solitary Van Basten penalty in the San Siro.

The tie of the quarter-finals pitted holders PSV against Real Madrid. Since winning the European Cup, PSV had invested in a young Brazilian forward named Romario who was now taking the Dutch League by storm with his goalscoring and he was to live up to his reputation against Real. In Holland Romario cancelled out Butragueno’s strike on the stroke of half-time, and in the second leg he scored on 84 minutes to equalize Sanchez’s penalty and send the tie into extra-time. In the dying moments of the first period of extra-time, Martin Vazquez put Real ahead for a third time, and this time neither Romario or any of his teammates were able to respond and the holders went out of the competition.

The draw for the semi-finals pitted together the two glamour teams, Milan and Real Madrid, while Galatasaray would face Steaua Bucharest. Galatasaray were aiming to be the first Turkish side to reach a European final, but they were blown away by a Steaua team that continued its impressive form. The first half in Bucharest saw the home team gain control thanks to an early own goal and a Hagi penalty. Two further goals in the second half from Petrescu and Balint put Steaua on the verge of the final. The second leg in Izmir saw Galatasaray gain some hope when Tanman scored on 36 minutes, but when Dumitrescu headed home a Hagi cross just three minutes later, the tie was as good as over and Steaua were through to another European Cup final.

The clash of the giants began in Spain where Real were at home to Milan. Sanchez gave the Spaniards the lead when he volleyed home a Schuster corner just before half-time. With less than 15 minutes remaining, Van Basten gained a crucial equaliser as his powerful diving header hit the bar and rebounded off the back of goalkeeper Buyo into the goal. Milan had begun the competition with a host of big name stars and a big reputation , but in their last six European Cup games they had struggled through with five draws and a 1-0 win. The second leg of their semi-final, however, was the moment that they announced themselves to the footballing world as the top team in Europe. Milan tore into their opponents, and Real were powerless to reply. First a Carlo Ancelotti screamer from 30 yards found the top corner of the Real net. Rijkaard headed home the second, and another header from Gullit made it 3-0 by half-time. Just after the interval a long pass from Rijkaard found the head of Gullit who nodded the ball down to Van Basten and he rifled the ball into the net. Finally, on the hour, the rout was completed when Donadoni’s shot from the corner of the penalty area beat Buyo at his near post to make it 5-0. You can see the goals from the semi-final by clicking here.

The final saw possibly the greatest movement of people for a sporting event ever seen as an estimated 80,000 Milanese supporters made the journey to Barcelona in anticipation of their team being crowned European champions. As they had been three years earlier, Steaua were massive underdogs against highly fancied glamour opponents and in front of an overwhelmingly hostile crowd. Managed by Anghel Iordanescu, who had come on as substitute in their previous final appearance, Steaua were without the suspended Dumitrescu, but still possessed plenty of goalscoring potential with their dangerous counter attacking midfielders Hagi, Petrescu and Stoica and accomplished forward Lacatus. Milan were hoping that Gullit would prove to be fully recovered from the cartilage operation that he had undergone after the semi-final with Real.

In the event, the final could hardly have proved more different from the last time Steaua had appeared in Europe’s showcase game. Instead of a plucky underdog stifling the nervous favourites and holding on to win on penalties, on this occasion the favourites justified their position with an exhibition of brilliant, thrilling football. Sacchi the Milan coach had set out to attack Steaua with Rijkaard moving up into midfield and full backs Tassotti and Maldini pushing forward and playing almost as wingers.

It did not take long for Milan to break through. Gullit almost opened the scoring after quarter of an hour when Baresi put him clear, only for his shot to rebound away off the post. A few minutes later and Milan were ahead when Van Basten’s cross shot was only parried by Lung in the Steaua goal and Gullit prodded home the rebound. On 26 minutes a Milan corner was cleared only as far as Tassotti and his cross was headed home by Van Basten. With 38 minutes on the clock, Gullit scored the best goal of the night as he crashed a volley into the roof of the net to make it 3-0. The interval brought a brief respite for the Romanians, but within moments of the restart Van Basten strolled onto Rijkaards pass and steered the ball home. The game was now won, and with Milan wasting further opportunities to score, the highlight of the remainder of the game was the standing ovation afforded to Ruud Gullit when he was substituted on the hour. There were no more goals and the match finished 4-0.

Franco Baresi lifted the European Cup as the thousands of Milan supporters celebrated the most comprehensive win in a European Cup final since the 1974 replay and pundits drew comparisons with Real Madrid’s performance in 1960. Whether or not Gullit, Van Basten and the rest of the team were as good as the likes of Di Stefano and Puskas was a matter of opinion, but the fact was that Milan were now undoubtedly the top team in Europe and, with the financial might of Silvio Berlusconi behind them, they looked set to rule over European football for many years to come.

1989 European Cup Final (Barcelona)
Milan 4 Steaua Bucharest 0
Milan: G.Galii, Tassotti, Baresi (capt), Costacurta (F.Galii), Maldini, Colombo, Rijkaard, Donadoni, Ancelotti , Gullit (Virdis), Van Basten
Scorers: Gullit 2, Van Basten 2
Steaua Bucharest: Lung, Petrescu, Bumbescu, Iovan, Ungureanu, Minea, Hagi, Stoica (capt), Rotario (Balint), Lacatus, Piturca

The draw for the first round of the 1988 European Cup pitted the champions of Spain and Italy together. Real Madrid, who had come so close to reaching the final a year earlier were drawn to play Napoli who had been energised by the brilliance of Diego Maradona and had won the Italian Championship. Due to the crowd trouble at the Bernabeu in the previous semi-final, the first leg was played behind closed doors in Madrid. The eerie atmosphere did not affect Real too badly however as a Michel penalty and a De Napoli own goal gave them a 2-0 lead to take to Italy. Napoli started the second leg well with a goal within the first ten minutes, but Butragueno’s equaliser on the stroke of half-time effectively ended the contest and Real went through 3-1 on aggregate.

Elsewhere holders Porto progressed comfortably with two 3-0 wins over Vardar Skopje, while the other Portuguese side in the competition Benfica won their first leg 4-0 against a Partizan Tirana side who had four men sent off and were subsequently thrown out of the competition. There were easy wins for Sparta Prague (10-0 winners over Fram Reykjavik) and Bayern Munich (5-0 against CSKA Sofia). Anderlecht had more difficulty as they squeezed past Malmo by the odd goal in three, while PSV Eindhoven who beat Galatasaray by an impressive 3-0 scoreline in Holland, were left hanging on in Turkey after they conceded two first half goals in the return match. In the end they survived and went through 3-2 on aggregate. Similarly Steaua Bucharest won 4-0 at home to MTK Budapest, but conceded two first half goals in Hungary. They also held on to progress. One big name to go out at the first hurdle, however, was Dynamo Kiev who beat Rangers 1-0 at home, but seemed unnerved by the Scottish sides tactic of making their pitch narrower for the second game and were beaten 2-0 in Glasgow.

If Real Madrid were looking forward to an easier draw in the second round they were to be sorely disappointed as this time they were drawn to play reigning champions Porto. After the first game in Valencia the tie was still very much in the balance as Madjers goal for Porto after an hour was cancelled out by goals from Sanchez and Sanchis in the final ten minutes. In Portugal, Antonio Sousa scored from a free kick to level the overall score at 2-2 with Porto ahead on away goals, but two goals from Michel in the second half, both set up by winger Solana who had come on as substitute at half-time, sent the holders out and confirmed Real’s status as favourites to win the cup.

The team that Porto had defeated in the 1987 final came very close to going out at the same stage. Trailing 2-1 from the first leg in Switzerland to Neuchatel Xamax, Bayern Munich were unable to find a way past the Swiss defence in the second leg until the 87th minute when Pfugler levelled the scores. To make matters worse for Xamax, Wegmann scored Bayern’s winner in the last minute.

Real and Bayern met in the quarter-finals – a repeat of their semi-final meeting a year earlier. Bayern appeared to be on the verge of a similar score to the 4-1 that they had achieved in their last home game with Real when they took a 3-0 lead thanks to three goals between the 40th and 50th minute. With only a few minutes remaining, Real looked to be heading towards another defeat at the hands of the German champions. But Real were rescued by two goals in the final six minutes. First Butragueno seized upon a lapse in the German defence to pull a goal back, and then a Sanchez goal brought them right back into the tie. Security was at its most stringent for the return match as the authorities feared a repeat of the scenes that had occurred when the same two teams had last met in the Bernabeu. This time it was a much happier occasion for the home fans as first half goals from Jankovic and Michel took them through to the last four.

The other three quarter-finals saw teams who had established a first leg advantage hold on to progress through. Benfica scored two early goals at home to Anderlecht and they proved decisive as they eventually won 2-1 overall. PSV Eindhoven drew 1-1 in Bordeaux and a goalless draw at home was sufficient for them to win on away goals. Meanwhile Steaua beat Rangers 2-0 in Bucharest and an early Lacatus goal in Glasgow meant that even after Rangers came back with two goals, it was the Romanians who reached another semi-final.

In the semi-finals, Real Madrid took an early lead in the Bernabeu against PSV through a Sanchez penalty, but the Dutch midfielder Edward Linskens equalised on 19 minutes and PSV managed to hold on for an invaluable 1-1 draw. Back in Holland, goalkeeper Hans Van Breukelen was in outstanding form as he kept the Real attack at bay and helped PSV survive 90 goalless minutes which took them through to their first European Cup Final on away goals. The other semi-final saw Benfica follow a 0-0 draw away to Steaua with a 2-0 win at home thanks to a pair of first half goals from the head of Rui Aguas. And so, for the second year running there was a Portuguese side in the final.

PSV had in their team two men who would make a major contribution to the Dutch national side that would go on to win the European Championship in the summer of 1988. Goalkeeper Hans Van Breukelen had already played a big part in getting PSV to the final and he would go on to make a huge contribution for both club and country in what would prove to be a memorable few months for both. Ahead of him was Ronald Koeman who combined first class defending with a lethal shot from anywhere around the opposing penalty area. In midfield they had the Scandinavian talents of Soren Lerby and Frank Arnesen, while in attack was the powerful and free scoring Wim Kieft. Their opponents Benfica were hit before the final by an injury to their winger and captain Diamantino. In his absence they looked for strength at the back to the Brazilian Jose Mozer, and for inspiration in attack to Rui Aguas (son of the European Cup winning captain of 1961) and the Swede Mats Magnusson.

The final in Stuttgart before 70,000 spectators, the majority of whom had travelled down from Holland, was a huge disappointment. Without Diamantino at their disposal, Benfica played in a negative style with eleven men behind the ball for the majority of the game. PSV had most of the possession, but they were unwilling to commit too many men forward and the game lapsed into sterility. The only shot on goal during the first half came in the 37th minute when a Vanenburg shot was saved by Silvino in the Benfica goal. As the game passed the hour mark, PSV finally started to put some pressure on the Benfica goal and Silvino was called upon to make more saves. The best chance of the game fell to PSV defender Ivan Nielsen when the ball came to him just six yards out from an open goal, but he could only put his shot wide and so the stalemate continued. Ninety minutes was completed without any score, and thirty minutes of extra-time produced little goalmouth action, and so a goalless European Cup Final went to penalties for the second time in four years.

Whereas the penalty shootout in the final of 1986 had been notable for the number of misses, this time both teams scored all five of their initial attempts. Koeman, Kieft, Nielsen, Vanenburg and Lerby all scored for PSV, and Elzo, Dito, Hajiri, Pacheco and Mozer were successful for Benfica. The shootout then became a sudden death affair. First Janssen who had come on as substitute for Gillhaus put PSV 6-5 ahead. Full back Veloso then stepped up for Benfica and put his kick to Van Breukelens right, but this time the goalkeeper had guessed the right way and he dived low to save the kick and win the European Cup for PSV Eindhoven.

The PSV team that won the 1988 European Cup will not go down as one of the greatest in the history of the competition. Having won only three of their nine games and scored only twice in their final five games, they were never going to be seen in the same light as some of the great attacking teams that had won the competition before or after them, but manager Guus Hiddink had forged a team together around such top players as Van Breukelen, Koeman, Lerby and Kieft and produced a side that could match and beat any side in Europe at that time. PSV Eindhoven had become the third Dutch side to bring home the European Cup and they had provided the beginning of what would prove to be a momentous summer for Dutch football. 1988 was indeed the year of Holland and PSV.

1988 European Cup Final (Stuttgart)
PSV Eindhoven 0 Benfica 0 (6-5 on penalties)
PSV Eindhoven: Van Breukelen, Gerets (capt), Nielsen, Koeman, Heintze, Van Aerie, Vanenburg, Linskens, Lerby , Kieft, Gillhaus (Janssen)
(Penalty Scorers: Koeman, Kieft, Nielsen, Vanenburg, Lerby, Janssen
Benfica: Silvino, Veloso, Mozer, Dito, Alvaro, Elzo, Pacheco, Sheu (capt), Chiquinho, Magnus son (Hajiri), Rui Aguas (Vando)
(Penalty Scorers: Elzo, Dito, Hajiri, Pacheco, Mozer)

Steaua Bucharest’s reign as European champions did not last long. Having received a bye into the second round, they came up against Anderlecht, the team they had beaten to reach the 1986 final. For much of the first leg in Brussels it looked as though Steaua would frustrate their hosts just as they had done in their previous meeting, but with just 15 minutes remaining the champions were hit by three goals which put them on the verge of elimination. Two goals from Krncevic on 74 and 86 minutes, and another from Jansen after 76 minutes gave Anderlecht a comfortable lead to take to Romania, and when Steaua could only score once in Bucharest, the Belgians had revenge for their semi-final defeat while Steaua were sent crashing out.

The second round draw had ensured that another big name would be going out at an early stage. Real Madrid, who had come back from a 1-0 defeat in Switzerland to beat Young Boys of Berne 5-1 on aggregate, were paired with Juventus who had scored a total of 11 goals against Valur Reykjavik with Michael Laudrup netting five. In Madrid the Juventus defence was hampered by the absence of Scirea, while their attack struggled thanks to the marking job that was done on Platini by Camacho. Real scored after 21 minutes thanks to their predatory striker Emilio Butragueno and had it not been for an inspired performance by goalkeeper Tacconi the Spanish giants could have finished the game with a bigger lead. The return match was a very different affair as Juventus drove forward in search of a goal that would level the tie. After just nine minutes they broke through with Cabrini converting a Mauro cross, but despite the fact that both teams had chances to score further goals, the aggregate scores remained level at 1-1 through the rest of normal time and extra time. So, in the end it came down to a penalty shootout, and it was the home fans who were silenced as both Manfredo and Favero missed their spot kicks for Juventus as Real Madrid won 3-1 to go through.

Bayern Munich were now one of the strongest teams in Europe. With Belgian international goalkeeper Jean-Marie Pfaff behind a defence marshalled by captain Klaus Augenthaler, Lothar Matthaus running the midfield and Michael Rummenigge (brother of Karl Heinz) up front, the German champions were looking to return their club to the heights they had reached back in the mid seventies. They had started their campaign impressively as two goals from striker Reinhold Mathy won the game away to PSV Eindhoven in Holland and a goalless stalemate at home saw them through 2-0 on aggregate. The second round pitted Bayern against Austria Vienna and a 2-0 home win meant that a 1-1 draw in Vienna was enough to get through to the quarter-finals.

The Czechs of Vitkovice had surprisingly beaten Paris St Germain in the opening round, but when they came up against a Porto side that had already put ten goals past Rabat Ajax, they were beaten 3-1 on aggregate.

The quarter-finals saw two teams make a statement of intent with impressive performances. First, a Dynamo Kiev side containing European Footballer of the Year Igor Belanov and former holder of the title Oleg Blokhin, went to Turkey and thrashed Besiktas 5-0 with both of their big stars getting on the score sheet. Goals from Blokhin and Vadim Yevtushenko completed the rout back in the Ukraine to send Dynamo through to the last four in style.

In the second round, Anderlecht may have got revenge for their semi-final defeat a year earlier, but now Bayern Munich had the opportunity to get revenge for the defeat that the Belgians had inflicted upon them in the 1986 quarter-finals. It was a chance that the Germans took full advantage of. The first leg in Munich’s Olympic Stadium saw Rummenigge and Pfugler put Bayern 2-0 ahead in the first half, and when, on 69 minutes, Dieter Hoeness made it 3-0, the Germans were in a very strong position. But when goals from Hoeness and Wolfharth in the final five minutes made it a 5-0 thrashing, the tie was as good as over. A late goal from Matthaus in Brussels even denied Anderlecht the consolation of a second leg victory as Bayern cruised through with an aggregate 7-2 win.

Danish champions Brondby had surprised many by reaching the quarter final stage. They had knocked out Honved and Dynamo Berlin and were now drawn to face Porto. Having restricted their opponents to a 1-0 win in Porto, the Danes were in with a real chance of making the semi-finals when Steffenson scored a first half goal in the home leg to bring the overall scores level. They were to be disappointed, however, as a Juary goal for Porto with just 15 minutes left won the tie for the Portuguese side.

Completing the semi-final line-up was Real Madrid, but only after a hard fought clash with Red Star Belgrade. Red Star had actually taken a 3-0 lead in the first leg and, with the game in Belgrade entering its final minutes were 4-1 ahead, but an 87th minute goal from Hugo Sanchez – his second of the game – gave Real some small hope for the return game. In the Bernabeu, a goal in the first half from Butragueno and another in the second half by Michel was enough to see Real Madrid squeeze through to the last four.

The Bayern Munich v Real Madrid final that many would have wished for was foiled by the semi-final draw which paired the two giants together. But even taking into account Real’s famed powers of recovery, the tie was essentially over after the first leg in Munich. After an uncertain start, Bayern soon took control of the game as they swarmed forward towards the Real goal. After ten minutes Augenthaler exchanged passes with Dorfner before squeezing his shot past Buyo in the Real goal. On the half hour came the most controversial moment of the match. A Brehme pass put Dorfner through on goal, but as he attempted to go around Buyo, the Real goalkeeper seemed to grab the ball cleanly before Dorfner fell over the goalkeepers body. Scottish referee Robert Valentine, however, decreed that a foul had been made and he awarded a penalty. The Real players were incensed and held play up for some time with their protests, but eventually Matthaus stepped up to make it 2-0. Six minutes later, with the Real players still fuming, Wohlfarth stabbed the ball home for a third goal. Then, to make matters even worse for the Spaniards, Juanito reacted to a foul on Chendo by kicking Matthaus on the ground and pushing the referee – he was sent off. Butragueno did pull a goal back before the break, but in the second half Matthaus scored from the penalty spot again after Mino handled the ball, and Mino was then sent off for a wild late tackle to complete Real’s miserable night. After his teams 4-1 defeat, Real coach Leo Beenhakker said: ‘At this moment the players are angry. They will still be angry in two weeks, but being angry does not affect them. I believe they can still win.’

The second leg was marred by the behaviour of home supporters who delayed the kick-off by over five minutes as they hurled flares and other objects in the direction of Pfaff in the Bayern goal. And as the game began, and Real showed no signs of staging a recovery, the game was held up once more as objects were thrown onto the pitch again. After 28 minutes, however, the atmosphere changed as first Real scored when Santillana scrambled home a corner, and then, two minutes later, Bayern’s inspirational captain Augenthaler was sent off after a scuffle with Sanchez.

Real could now sense that a comeback similar to the one they had achieved in the previous round was possible and for the rest of the first half they pounded the Bayern goal. Butragueno, Sanchez and Vazquez all went close and Pfaff made a great full length save from a powerful Gordillo shot. After the break, however, Bayern regrouped with Nachtweib switched to fill the role of sweeper and the likes of Eder and Brehme forming a wall in front of the penalty area which managed to snuff out most of the Real attacks. On one of the rare occasions that the Spanish side did break through, Pfaff was again in masterly form as he denied substitute Pardeza with a stunningly agile save. There were no more goals and while Real were reported to UEFA about the unfortunate crowd scenes, Bayern were through to the final.

The second semi-final pitted the less glamorous Porto and Dynamo Kiev against each other. Porto were faced with playing their home game without the injured Casagrande and Laureta and the suspended Frasco and Quim, but they still had the prolific Paolo Futre and it was he who put them ahead just after half-time with a wonderful individual goal. A penalty converted by Andre after 57 minutes gave Porto a two goal lead, but Yakovenko put the tie in the balance once more when he scored on 74 minutes. The game ended 2-1 to leave both teams with a chance of reaching the final.

In Kiev, Porto took a fourth minute lead through Celso’s twenty yard free-kick, and Gomes added a second goal on 11 minutes when he headed home a corner kick. Kiev then struck back through Mikhailichenk who scored just two minutes later, and the same man later hit both the crossbar and the post. Dynamo, however, were unable to score again and Porto were 4-2 winners on aggregate. And so Porto reached their first ever European Cup Final, and became the first Portuguese side to reach that stage since Benfica in 1968.

Both teams were without significant players for the final. As well as their suspended captain Augenthaler, Bayern were also without their winger Roland Wohlfarth, while Porto had both centre-back Lima Pereira and striker Fernando Gomes out with broken legs. Bayern were big favourites to win in front of 62,000 spectators in Vienna’s Prater Stadium, and they took the lead after 24 minutes. The goal came from a throw-in level with the Porto penalty area. With Porto’s Magelhaes standing three yards in front of Pfugler as he prepared to take the throw, Belgian referee Alexis Ponnet strangely ordered him back 10 yards, and as he retreated the throw was taken. Slightly off balance, Magelhaes managed to get his head to the ball, but he could only flick it towards Bayerns Ludwig Kogl who headed the ball just beyond the despairing dive of Pfaff and into the Porto net. It had been ten years since any team had scored more than one goal in a European Cup final, so the odds were now stacked even more firmly against the Portuguese side. Bayern went on to dominate the rest of the first half, with Rummenigge coming close with a cross shot, but Porto made it to the interval with just a one goal deficit.

At half-time Porto manager Artur Jorge brought Juary on for Quim and the substitute, along with fellow Brazilian Celso, was instrumental in the Porto comeback which happened in the second half. They provided the ammunition for forwards Futre and Madjer to cause havoc amongst the Bayern defence. It was not until the 77th minute, however, that the pressure finally told, but it was then that one of the most memorable European Cup Final goals was scored. As Porto attacked down the right hand side, the ball was played through to Juary and as Pfaff dived at his feet, the Brazilian flicked the ball to his right where Madjer, with his back to the goal, cheekily back heeled the ball into the net. Before Bayern could recover from the shock, they were behind. The same two men behind the equaliser combined once more as this time Madjer ran down the left wing before crossing to the far post where Juary volleyed the ball high into the roof of the net.

There were still ten minutes remaining, but Bayern never really threatened the Porto goal again before the final whistle blew to end probably the most exciting final for a decade and, for the second season running, crown a surprise winner. The European Cup was returning to Portugal for the first time in 25 years and Porto had joined their rivals Benfica as Portuguese winners of the trophy. Maybe more importantly they had shown that, after years of dull and negative finals, attacking skilful play could still prevail over sterile tactics and that the likes of Madjer, Juary and Futre could lead a team to the ultimate prize in club football.

1987 European Cup Final (Vienna)
Porto 2 Bayern Munich 1
Porto: Mlynarczyk, Joao Pinto (capt), Eduardo Luis, Celso, Ignacio (Frasco), Quim (Juary), Magalhaes, Madjer, Sousa , Andre, Futre
Scorers: Madjer, Juary
Bayern Munich: Pfaff, Winklhofer, Nachtweih, Eder, Pfugler, Flick (Lunde), Brehme, Hoeness, Matthaus (capt), Kogl, Rummenigge
Scorer: Kogl

Two days after the tragedy of Heysel, the Football Association withdrew all English clubs from European competition for twelve months. A further two days later, UEFA imposed an indefinite ban. On June 20th, UEFA announced that Liverpool would be banned for three years in addition to the indefinite ban on English clubs. They also ordered Juventus to play their next two European games behind closed doors, and banned Belgium from hosting European finals for ten years. Before Liverpool reached the 1985 final, English teams had won seven of the previous eight European Cups, but Everton, the 1985 English champions and winners of the Cup-Winners Cup, would be denied the chance to follow them and so the competition would now have a very different look to it with more clubs feeling that they had a chance of winning it.

Juventus had finally won a European Cup, but their victory had been irrevocably tarnished by the terrible events at Heysel, so they were now determined to celebrate a victory that would be untarnished by tragedy. Boniek, Tardelli and Rossi had all left and been replaced by, amongst others, striker Aldo Serena and playmaking Danish midfielder Michael Laudrup who had been signed a year earlier and loaned out to Lazio. They began their defence of the trophy with a 9-0 aggregate win over Jeunesse Esch of Luxembourg with Serena scoring a total of four goals.

Barcelona were back in the competition after an eleven year absence, as desperate as Juventus had ever been to win their first European Cup. Under the management of Englishman Terry Venables they had just won their first Spanish Championship since 1974. With the temperamental German Bernd Schuster pulling the strings in midfield, Julio Carrasco on the wing, and Scotsman Steve Archibald up front, Barcelona were one of the leading contenders for the 1985/86 tournament. Barca had a much rockier 1st Round tie than that which Juventus had enjoyed. Drawn against Sparta Prague, they had gone a goal down early on in Czechoslovakia before recovering to win the first leg 2-1 thanks to two Clos goals. Back at home, however, they were rocked by an 8th minute Sparta goal and were only able to hang on till the end when they sneaked through on away goals.

Two teams that had won the European Cup in the past had differing fortunes in the first round. Ajax went out after a 2-0 defeat in Portugal to Porto was followed by a goalless draw in Amsterdam. But Bayern Munich were safely through after beating Gornik Zabrze 6-2 on aggregate.

The second round draw gave the two favourites difficult tasks. Juventus were drawn against fellow Italians and reigning Serie A champions Verona. Verona had been surprise champions and would only finish 10th in 1986, but they fancied their chances of doing what little known Nottingham Forest had done to Liverpool in similar circumstances just six years earlier. In the event, however, Juventus were too good. After a goalless draw, Juve did enough in Turin as a first half penalty from Platini and a second half goal from Serena saw the holders through to the quarter-finals.

Barcelona were paired with Porto and they seemed to have established a commanding lead in the Nou Camp when second half goals from Marcos and Schuster gave them a 2-0 first leg lead. All was progressing smoothly for Barcelona until the 67th minute in Portugal when Juary scored to leave Porto just one goal behind. Three minutes later Juary struck again to put his team level, but the Portugese celebrations were short lived as Archibald put Barcelona ahead once more on 73 minutes. With two minutes remaining, however, Juary completed his hat-trick and left Barcelona hanging on before going through on away goals once more.

Bayern Munich were also through as they won a high scoring tie against Austria Vienna 7-5 on aggregate, but there were surprises elsewhere as the Finns Kuusysi Lahti knocked out Russian champions Zenit Leningrad after extra time, and Swedens IFK Gothenburg thrashed Fenerbahce 4-0 before progressing 5-2 on aggregate.

In the opinion of many, the ideal final would have been Barcelona v Juventus, but they were to be denied by the Quarter-Final draw which pitted these giants of European football together. The first leg was in the Nou Camp and was dominated by the home team, despite them being without Schuster and Caldere in midfield and Rojo, Marcos and Clos up front. With Juventus employing extremely defensive tactics, it took a late spectacular shot from full back Julio Alberto with only eight minutes remaining to break through the Italian defence and so Barcelona had to travel to Turin with just a one goal lead. In Turin Juventus completely dominated, but without the missing Serena and Briaschi in attack they missed a succession of easy chances. The pain of those misses was compounded when Archibald headed home a Victor cross after half an hour. Platini did score for the holders just before half time but, despite intense Italian pressure, Barcelona held on to record a 2-1 aggregate win and proceeded through to the semi-finals.

Anderlecht had reached the European Cup semi-final in 1982, had won the UEFA Cup in 1983 and only lost the 1984 UEFA Cup final on penalties. In 1985 they had regained the Belgian league title and had set their sights on a European Cup challenge. With Danish captain Morten Olsen at the back, the hard working Franky Vercauteren and the brilliant Enzo Scifo in midfield, along with the free scoring Erwin Vandenbergh up front the Brussels team were one of the most fancied teams in the competition. Having comfortably despatched Omonia Nicosia in the second round, the Belgians faced a much sterner test in the quarter-finals as they came up against Bayern Munich. The tie appeared to be going Bayerns way when they took a two goal first half lead in Munich, but a 72nd minute goal from the Danish midfielder Andersen gave Anderlecht hope for the return match. The last six minutes of the first half proved pivotal in the second leg as goals from Scifo and Primann put the Belgians ahead, and Bayern were unable to claw their way back. With both Juventus and Bayern out of the competition, a new winner was now guaranteed.

The Scots of Aberdeen who had won the Cup-Winners Cup in 1983 were highly rated, but they were surprisingly knocked out by IFK Gothenburg. Aberdeen were undone by a 2-2 draw at home which meant that the goalless draw that the Swedes earned in the return match was enough to send them through on away goals. Meanwhile, Kuusyi Lahti of Finland and the Romanians Steaua Bucharest played out a dull but closely fought tie that was only decided by a goal four minutes from time in the second leg from Piturca that sent Steaua through to the last four.

In order to reach their first European Cup final in 25 years, Barcelona only had to beat IFK Gothenburg. Few people imagined that they might fail. But the Swedish champions were determined to make the most of their chance and in the first leg in Sweden they shocked Barcelona with a stunning display. Gothenburg had already come close before they took the lead on 24 minutes when Ekstrom’s headed flick reached veteran forward Torbjorn Nilsson and he drove the ball home. Moments before half-time, Nilsson found himself with a view of the goal again and once more he beat goalkeeper Urrutti from an acute angle to make it 2-0. The second half saw Barcelona emerge with renewed determination, but that merely opened them up to the counter attack and a typically fast breakaway saw Holmgren score a third on the hour. Nilsson still had time to hit the post and there were other chances for Gothenburg before the end, while the Catalan giants, playing without the injured Archibald, rarely threatened the Swedish goal, although Marcos hit the bar in the dying moments. The 3-0 scoreline was a shock for Barcelona, but it could have been even worse. Shellshocked manager Venables said: ‘Gothenburg are an excellent team, but we made it too easy for them. They fully deserved their win but we still have a chance in the return.’

Venables team knew that they had to attack Gothenburg from the start of the second leg if they were to have any chance of reaching the final, and so they threw themselves forward virtually from the opening whistle. The early goal that was so important came after just ten minutes when Pichi Alonso ran onto a Caldere pass and muscled his way through two tackles before shooting past Wernersson in the Gothenburg goal. The Swedes responded by putting the home goal under sustained pressure. Anderssons shot was denied only by a brilliant Urruti save, and the same player should have scored instead of blazing over the bar with the goal at his mercy. Then on 35 minutes the ball hit the post before Andersson scrambled it into the net . Gothenburg appeared to have scored the goal that would almost certainly have taken them to the final, but Urruti chased the referee to the halfway line and persuaded him to consult his linesman. The referee eventually walked over to his assistant and, after some deliberation, they agreed that the ball had gone out of play and that the goal should be disallowed. As the game entered its final half an hour, the impetus seemed to have gone out of Barcelonas play and they appeared to be drifting out of the competition, but Alonso then struck again on 63 minutes to make it 2-3 on aggregate, and six minutes later he completed his hat-trick with a header that levelled the overall scores. There were no further goals in the 90 minutes so extra time was required. Within moments of the restart Gothenburg came close to winning when Ekstrom hit the post, but there were no more goals and the tie went to a penalty shootout.

In the shootout, Carrasco’s miss put Gothenburg on the verge of the final once again, but Urruti made himself a Barca hero when he not only saved what could have been the winning penalty by the Swedes, but went on to score himself. He then challenged Warnersson the Swedish goalkeeper to do the same. Put off by Urruti’s mind games, the Swede missed his spot kick, leaving it up to Victor to score the winning goal. The Nou Camp exploded with joy as the Barcelona fans celebrated their first final in 25 years and started to plan the short trip to Seville where the final was to be played.

The favourites to face Barcelona in Seville were Anderlecht who were expected to comfortably dispose of the Romanians Steaua Bucharest. In the first game in Brussels, however, the Belgian champions struggled to break through a stubborn Romanian defence, and it was only a brilliant lob from Scifo in the last ten minutes which cleared the head of the Steaua goalkeeper before dropping into the net that gave Anderlecht a lead that they could protect in Bucharest. The second leg brought a performance from Steaua that they had not hinted at in previous rounds. Straight from the first whistle they attacked the Belgians who were unable to withstand such pressure. After only four minutes the tie was level as Piturca took a long pass from Barbulescu to rifle the ball home. The Belgians were rattled and found themselves swamped during the first twenty minutes. Hlalfway through the first half, it was 2-0 as Balint scored with a close range volley. One away goal would still have been enough for Anderlecht to go through, but they rarely threatened the Steaua goal and it was the Romanians who eventually scored the decisive goal when Piturca headed home in the 71st minute. There may only have been 35,000 spectators, but the scenes were the equal of those in Barcelona as the Steaua supporters wildly celebrated an unexpected but famous victory that saw their team become the first Romanian team to reach a European final.

Seville was invaded by 50,000 Barcelona supporters for a final that they fully expected to win. 300 buses, a dozen aeroplanes and 6 trains were commandeered to get the Barca hordes to the Sanchez Pijuan Stadium where they would be met by only a handful of Steaua fans. Within the Barcelona camp, however, things were far from perfect. Their Scottish goalscorer Archibald had been suffering from groin and hamstring problems for over a fortnight and had chosen to fly out to Amsterdam to consult a Dutch physiotherapist in an attempt to be fit for the final. On his return, the striker pronounced himself fit and was reinstated in the team at the expense of the popular Alonso whose hat-trick in the semi-final had enabled Barcelona to come back against Gothenburg. Also of concern to Venables was the lack of fitness of his captain Schuster who had been struggling with a niggling injury for some time.

In front of a partisan Spanish crowd, Steaua made their negative approach clear right from the start. Within twenty minutes they had begun to waste time to the frustration of Barcelona who were already being constrained by a defensive side who stopped Barca’s flow and rhythm. Miodrag Belodedici swept up behind the Steaua defence while forward Ladislau Boloni moved into the middle of the pitch where he closed down his midfield opponents to great effect. Venables may have promised beforehand that Barcelona would ‘stick to our principles of playing in an open, adventurous fashion,’ but the Steaua tactics made that virtually impossible. In a game of very few chances, Barcelona only threatened in the periods just before and after the interval, but at that point Steaua coach Emerich Jenei brought the veteran 36 year old Angel Iordanescu off the bench to shore up the defence and ensure that the game went to a penalty shootout. On 85 minutes, Schuster was controversially substituted and the furious captain walked straight off the pitch and out of the stadium. In the first few minutes of extra time, Archibald was also taken off, having made little contribution to the game.

It soon became sadly inevitable to the tens of thousands inside the stadium and the millions watching on television that the game would have to be decided by penalties and, after 120 dull and almost chanceless minutes, they were proved correct. It was to be a battle of goalkeepers with Barcelona’s semi-final hero Urruti up against Steaua’s Ducadam and neither man would let his side down. First up was Steaua’s Majearu, and Urruti sent the stadium wild as he saved the penalty. Not to be outdone, Ducadam then saved from Alexanko. Incredibly, the spot kicks from Steaua’s Boloni and Barcelona’s Pedraza were also saved. Four penalties taken – none scored. Urruti was finally beaten when Lacatus found the net, but Ducadam saved again to leave Steaua with a 1-0 lead after three penalties each. Balint then found the net for the Romanians which meant that Marcos had to score to keep Barcelona’s hopes alive. Unbelievably, Ducadam saved for the fourth time and was engulfed by his jubilant teammates to a backdrop of silence from the disbelieving Barcelona supporters. Back in Bucharest, there was singing and dancing for the first time in decades on the tightly controlled streets. The spontaneous celebrations provided a rare evening of liberation for the inhabitants of one of Europe’s most downtrodden countries.

For Barcelona the evening was a disaster. They had failed with their best chance ever to win a European Cup title and would have to remain in the shadow of their great rivals Real Madrid. But for Steaua it was a remarkable achievement. Few people had given them any chance against the superstars of Catalonia, but their gameplan had worked and thanks to their hero Helmut Ducadam they had emerged triumphant. Having kept the Barcelona attack at bay for a full 120 minutes, he had then saved all four penalties in the shootout and was rightly hailed a national hero on his return to Romania. Steaua had won a victory for the whole of Eastern Europe as the European Cup trophy went behind the Iron Curtain for the first time and it was Ducadam who had made it all possible.

1986 European Cup Final (Seville)
Steaua Bucharest 0 Barcelona 0 (2-0 penalties)
Steaua Bucharest: Ducadam, Iovan (capt), Bumbescu, Belodedici, Barbulescu, Majaru, Balan (Iordanescu), Boloni, Balint, Lacatus, Piturca (Radu)
(Penalty Scorers: Lacatus, Balint)
Barcelona: Urruti, Gerardo, Migueli, Alexanko (capt), Julio Alberto, Victor, Schuster (Moratalla), Carrasco, Pedraza, Archibald (Piichi Alonso), Marcos