1975 European Cup final
 Match programme cover | |||||||
| Event | 1974–75 European Cup | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||
| Date | 28 May 1975 | ||||||
| Venue | Parc des Princes,Paris | ||||||
| Referee | Michel Kitabdjian(France) | ||||||
| Attendance | 48,374 | ||||||
The1975 European Cup finalwas afootballmatch betweenBayern MunichofWest GermanyandLeeds UnitedofEngland,played on 28 May 1975 at theParc des Princesin Paris. It was the final match of the1974–75 seasonof Europe's premier cup competition, theEuropean Cup.Bayern Munich were appearing in their second final; they had won the previous season's competition, beating Spanish teamAtlético Madrid4–0in areplayafter the first match finished 1–1. Leeds were appearing in their first final.
As defending champions of the European Cup, Bayern Munich received a bye in the first round, while Leeds progressed through four rounds to reach the final. Bayern's matches were generally close affairs, they beat Soviet teamArarat Yerevan2–1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals and won their semi-final tie against French teamSaint-Étienne2–0 on aggregate. Leeds matches ranged from close affairs to comfortable victories. They beat Hungarian teamÚjpest5–1 on aggregate in the second round, while they beatBarcelonaof Spain 3–2 on aggregate in the semi-final.
Watched by a crowd of 48,374, Leeds had the best of the opening exchanges of the match and had two appeals for a penalty kick turned down by the refereeMichel Kitabdjian.Bayern suffered two injuries in the first half, to defenderBjörn Anderssonand striker Uli Hoeneß, following strong tackles by Leeds players. APeter Lorimergoal for Leeds in the 62nd minute was disallowed, whenBilly Bremnerwas adjudged to be offside.Franz Rothscored in the 71st minute for Bayern andGerd Müllerextended the lead ten minutes later, to secure a 2–0 victory for Bayern.
It was Bayern's second consecutive victory in the competition, although they failed to retain theirBundesligatitle,finishing in 10th place.Riotsby the Leeds fans during the match led toUEFAbanning the club from European competition for four years, although this was reduced to two years on appeal.
Background
[edit]Bayern Munichwere appearing in what would be their second of three consecutive European Cup finals, all of which they would win. The Bavarian side contained many great players such asFranz Beckenbauer,Gerd MüllerandUli Hoeneß,who had featured heavily in West Germany's1974 World Cupvictory the previous season, and as such were heavy favourites. In the 1974–75 Bundesliga season, Bayern had a serious slump after winning the previous three German championships. This was said to be caused by motivational deficits, especially as six of the Bayern players also won the1972 European Championshipand the1974 World Cup.To boot, at the start of the seasonPaul Breitnermoved toReal Madrid.
Bayern became the domestically worst-performing winner of the European Champions Cup up to then, finishing only 10th in the Bundesliga with a negative goal difference. OnlyAston Villawould do domestically worse in the year of their European title win. In 1982, when they defeated Bayern 1–0 in the final, the team from Birmingham finished 11th in theFirst Divisionbut a positive goal difference. For Bayern coachDettmar Cramer,who took over fromUdo Lattekearly in the season, this was the first of three international club titles. He remained without domestic silverware.Franz Rothscored for the second time in a European final, after the Cup Winners' Cup final in 1967, putting Bayern ahead 1–0 in this final, and drew level withSandro Mazzolafrom Italy'sInter Milan,who achieved this in the champions' finals 1964 and 1967.
ForLeeds United– only the second English club to reach the final afterManchester Unitedin1968,and the second team in history to reach the finals of all three European cup competitions afterFC Barcelona– the game was the climax of the "glory years" of the team built by former managerDon Revie.Among the stars of the team were the Scottish internationalsBilly BremnerandPeter Lorimer.This would be the club's last appearance in a major cup final until they reached the1996 League Cup final.
Like Bayern Munich, Leeds also had a rather poor season domestically; the experienced, but now aging side had finished only 9th in theFirst Division.Thus, only the winner of the final between Bayern and Leeds would be entitled to participate in the European Cup competition the following season.
Route to the final
[edit]| Bayern Munich | Round | Leeds United | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Opponent | Agg. | 1st leg | 2nd leg | |
| Bye | First round |  Zürich
|
5–3 | 4–1 (H) | 1–2 (A) | |||
 1. FC Magdeburg
|
5–3 | 3–2 (H) | 2–1 (A) | Second round |  Újpesti Dózsa
|
5–1 | 2–1 (A) | 3–0 (H) |
 Ararat Yerevan
|
2–1 | 2–0 (H) | 0–1 (A) | Quarter-finals |  Anderlecht
|
4–0 | 3–0 (H) | 1–0 (A) |
 Saint-Étienne
|
2–0 | 0–0 (A) | 2–0 (H) | Semi-finals |  Barcelona
|
3–2 | 2–1 (H) | 1–1 (A) |
Match
[edit]Summary
[edit]Leeds United dominated most of the match and had a number of near misses, while Bayern created few chances. The match became controversial for several hotly contested refereeing decisions.[1]
After three minutes, Bayern's Swedish international defenderBjörn Anderssonhad his leg broken byTerry Yorathwhile the ball was not in play, which was described by German international Uli Hoeneß as the "most brutal foul I think I have ever seen".[2]Andersson was replaced bySepp Weiß,and only played a handful more matches for Bayern. In the 23rd minute, Bayern captainFranz Beckenbauerwas in his own penalty box on the ground and rested on his left arm which subsequently came into contact with the ball. The Leeds players appealed for a penalty, which the French refereeMichel Kitabdjiandenied. More controversial, however, was when the referee denied Leeds a penalty in the 34th minute after Beckenbauer trippedAllan Clarke,who was attacking the Bayern goal from the left wing and seemed ready to round Bayern goalkeeperSepp Maier.The first half also saw Uli Hoeneß suffer a serious knee injury in the 37th minute after turning awkwardly on the pitch, which would ultimately bring his career to a premature end in 1979 at the age of 27, at which time he began his career in club management; he went on to become president of Bayern. He was replaced in this match by one-time German internationalKlaus Wunder.
In the 62nd minute,Billy Bremnerwas denied from five metres by a reflex of Sepp Maier in the Bayern goal. Less than a minute later a goal byPeter Lorimerwas disallowed, due to Bremner being in a tight passive offside position in front of the goal at the six-yard box.[2]RefereeMichel Kitabdjianinitially pointed to the centre circle (indicating a goal) before Beckenbauer pointed out that the linesman had raised his flag.[1]Thereupon, the referee indicated offside against Bremner. This decision caused riots to break out with Leeds fans believing 'they were really being cheated'.[3]
After a match interruption Roth finished off a counter-attack in the 71st minute by taking the lead for Bayern after a short pass fromConny Torstensson.10 minutes later another counter led to a second goal for Bayern throughGerd Müllerafter a cross from the right side byJupp Kapellmann.
The violence saw Leeds banned from Europe for four years, although this was reduced to two years on appeal.[2][4][5]Ultimately, this ban was never applied due to a decline in the performance of the club in the late 1970s preventing European qualification until 1979–80.
However, due to the violence, which included "skirmishes in the city and damage to private property" according to journalist Geoffrey Green, as well as damage to a £50,000 camera and a lost eye and a broken arm to German media workers, UEFA were apparently considering abandonment of the competition altogether.[3]
Details
[edit]
          Bayern Munich
|
 Leeds United
|
|
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Legacy
[edit]The controversy surrounding the final is still manifested in the chant "We are the Champions, Champions of Europe" – amid a feeling that their club was cheated of victory in this match – by fans of Leeds United.[6]
The 'luckier' Bayern, on the other hand, would remain one of Europe's top clubs and would go on to victory in the1976 final,completing a hat-trick of wins – but would ultimately have to wait until2001for their fourth title. Interestingly, Leeds could have been the other side for that final yet were eliminated in the semi-finals by eventual runners-upValencia CF.
The appearance of an English club in the final for only the second time would ultimately precede a period of dominance byFootball LeagueclubsLiverpool(1977,1978,1981and1984),Nottingham Forest(1979and1980) andAston Villa(1982) of European football.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^abHesse, Uli (2016).Bayern: Creating a global superclub.Yellow Jersey Press. p. 117.ISBN978-0-224-10011-3.
- ^abcSeason 1974-75,European Cup History.com
- ^abEdwards, Richard (5 June 2015)."Robbery, rioting and a brave Frenchman: Leeds' 1975 European Cup Final retold".FourFourTwo.
- ^"England told: more rioting and you're out".The Guardian.19 June 2000.Retrieved24 March2021.
- ^"Uniteds Euro Showdown | Unlucky Paris match for Leeds".BBC News.Retrieved24 March2021.
- ^"Why Leeds United regard themselves as 1975 European Cup champions".The Yorkshire Post.Retrieved24 March2021.
External links
[edit]