1978 European Cup final
Event | 1977–78 European Cup | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
Date | 10 May 1978 | ||||||
Venue | Wembley Stadium, London | ||||||
Referee | Charles Corver (Netherlands) | ||||||
Attendance | 92,500 | ||||||
The 1978 European Cup final was an
As reigning champions, Liverpool received a bye in the first round, which meant that Club Brugge played two matches more to reach the final. All but one of Liverpool's matches were comfortable victories and they won each round with an aggregate score at least two goals to the good. In the first round Club Brugge beat Finnish champions Kuopion Palloseura by 9–2 on aggregate, but they won each of their subsequent rounds by just one goal.
Watched by a crowd of 92,500, the first half was goalless. Liverpool took the lead in the second half when Kenny Dalglish scored from a Graeme Souness pass. They held this lead to win the match 1–0, securing Liverpool's second European Cup and third European trophy in succession, and they became the first English team to retain the European Cup.
Route to the final
Liverpool
Round | Opponents | First leg | Second leg | Aggregate score |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st | Bye | — | — | — |
2nd | Dynamo Dresden | 5–1 (h) | 1–2 (a) | 6–3 |
Quarter-final | Benfica | 2–1 (a) | 4–1 (h) | 6–2 |
Semi-final | Borussia Mönchengladbach | 1–2 (a) | 3–0 (h) | 4–2 |
Liverpool were the reigning European Cup champions after defeating
In the quarter-finals, Liverpool were drawn against Portuguese champions Benfica. The first leg was played at the Estádio da Luz, Benfica's home ground. Nené scored for Benfica in the 18th minute, Jimmy Case equalised for Liverpool in the 37th minute, and Emlyn Hughes scored midway through the second half to give Liverpool a 2–1 victory. The second leg at Anfield was won 4–1 by Liverpool, giving them a 6–2 win on aggregate.[4]
Liverpool's opponents in the semi-finals were Borussia Mönchengladbach, the team they had beaten to win the European Cup the previous year. The first leg was played in Germany at the
Club Brugge
Round | Opponents | First leg | Second leg | Aggregate score |
---|---|---|---|---|
1st | KuPS | 4–0 (a) | 5–2 (h) | 9–2 |
2nd | Panathinaikos
|
2–0 (h) | 0–1 (a) | 2–1 |
Quarter-final | Atlético Madrid | 2–0 (h) | 2–3 (a) | 4–3 |
Semi-final | Juventus | 0–1 (a) | 2–0 (h) | 2–1 |
Their opponents in the second round were Greek champions
Brugge's opponents in the quarter-finals were Spanish champions Atlético Madrid. The first leg in Belgium was won 2–0 by Brugge. The second leg, played at the Vicente Calderón Stadium, Atlético's home ground, was a close match: Atlético scored twice in the first half; Cools scored for Brugge in the 60th minute; Marcial Pina scored for Atlético two minutes later; finally Raoul Lambert scored once more for Brugge. Thus Brugge lost the match 3–2 but won the round with a 4–3 aggregate score.[2]
Italian champions
Match
Background
1978 was the first year in which Club Brugge had reached the final, while Liverpool were appearing in their second successive final. The two teams had met before in the final of a European competition: the
As the final was held in England, at
Summary
The first half was dull. Brugge held back, using tight
Early in the second half, Jensen made another save, this time from Terry McDermott. Brugge's first significant chance came a few minutes afterwards, when a cross-field pass by René Vandereycken reached Jan Sørensen on the right-hand side of the pitch. Sørensen's subsequent shot was blocked by Liverpool captain Emlyn Hughes. The blocked shot was not cleared, but Ray Clemence reached the ball before Brugge's Lajos Kű could reach it and score. After this Kű was substituted with Dirk Sanders. Liverpool made a substitution minutes later, with Steve Heighway replacing Case. Liverpool's substitution had more effect, as Heighway gave Liverpool more width on the right-hand side of the pitch.[9] Two minutes after Heighway's introduction, Kenny Dalglish received the ball in the Brugge penalty area from a Graeme Souness pass and placed his shot over a diving Jensen to give Liverpool a 1–0 lead.[8]
Brugge now needed to score, but they only created one more chance. Ten minutes before the end of the match, Sørensen intercepted a Hansen backpass and shot. His shot was blocked by Clemence, and a goal-line clearance by Phil Thompson prevented Brugge from equalising.[8] The match remained at 1–0 and Liverpool won their second consecutive European Cup, becoming the first British team to retain the trophy.[10]
Details
Liverpool | 1–0 | Club Brugge |
---|---|---|
Dalglish 64' | Report |
Liverpool[11]
|
Club Brugge[11]
|
|
|
Post-match
After the match, figures from each team were critical of the other team's play. Liverpool defender Tommy Smith criticised Brugge for their approach, saying "It was a pathetic attitude. You never win anything like that."[8] Liverpool manager Bob Paisley also criticised the Belgian team's tactics: "It takes two teams to make a game into a spectacle and Bruges only seemed to be concerned with keeping the score down. Bruges didn't come at us much – apart from one mistake in our defence, they never looked like scoring. But they were well organised at the back and it was a case of breaking them down. We controlled the game from start to finish."[9] Meanwhile, Club Brugge manager Ernst Happel was critical of the quality of the Liverpool team: "Liverpool seemed only a shadow of the side we played in the UEFA Cup final two seasons ago. I was disappointed with them, but they deserved their victory although we were handicapped by injuries to two players."[9]
See also
- 1976 UEFA Cup final – contested between same teams
- Club Brugge KV in European football
- Liverpool F.C. in European football
References
- ^ "Edición del Wednesday 21 September 1977, Página 8 - Hemeroteca - MundoDeportivo.com". Archived from the original on 6 June 2019. Retrieved 23 May 2014.
- ^ a b c d e f Zea, Antonio; Haisma, Marcel (9 January 2008). "European Champions' Cup 1977–78". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics. Foundation. Archived from the original on 28 March 2018. Retrieved 12 August 2011.
- ^ Liversedge (1991, p. 186)
- ^ a b Kelly (1988, p. 130)
- ^ Liversedge (1991, p. 187)
- ^ Ross, James M. (9 January 2008). "UEFA Cup 1975–76". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Archived from the original on 17 August 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
- ^ "Honours". Liverpool FC. Archived from the original on 2 September 2011. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f Hale & Ponting (1992, p. 133)
- ^ a b c d e f Lacey, David (10 May 1978). "Liverpool's tunes of glory". The Guardian. London. Archived from the original on 3 January 2021. Retrieved 20 April 2011.
- ^ "Wembley glory as Reds beat Bruges". Liverpool FC. Archived from the original on 4 January 2012. Retrieved 24 April 2011.
- ^ a b "Liverpool 1, FC Bruges 0". Liverpool Echo. 11 May 1978. Archived from the original on 10 May 2018. Retrieved 14 June 2017.
Bibliography
- Hale, Steve; Ponting, Ivan (1992). Liverpool In Europe. London: Guinness Publishing. ISBN 0-85112-569-7.
- Kelly, Stephen F. (1988). You'll Never Walk Alone. London: Queen Anne Press. ISBN 0-356-19594-5.
- Liversedge, Stan (1991). Liverpool: The Official Centenary History. London: Hamlyn Publishing Group. ISBN 0-600-57308-7.