The European Supercup. The usual troubles with scheduling… the first leg was played in November 1987 and the second – in January 1988. It was different season and different squads – to a point. Motivation was hard to evaluate – Ajax won the Supercup twice, but the first time the cup was inofficial and the second time the tam already plunged into decline and it was rather pirric victory and the last international trophy the club won for a very long time. So, it would have been great to reaffirm its comeback and win it properly – that is, when the team was going up. FC Porto, as a newcomer to international success, would have been even more motivated, for they needed trophies in order to firmly establish themselves among the top European clubs. But the clash was scheduled during season with its own demands and importance. FC Porto also had to play for the Intercontinental Cup between the two legs of the Supercup – more important and valuable trophy. As for the clash between the two best teams in 1987… both squads differed from the ones winning in later spring of 1987. Paulo Futre was transferred to Atletico Madrid and Artur Jorge left FC Porto too – they were replaced by Tomislav Ivic, one of most respected European coaches for many years already, and Rui Barros, a bit lesser version of Futre, who arrived from Varzim. Ajax lost Marco van Basten, sold to Milan, and Frank Rijkaard, transferred to Sporting Lisbon, but immediately loaned to Real Zaragoza. Looks like Cruijff thought of Frank Stapleton for replacement of Rijkaard, but the famed Irish was loaned to Anderlecht after only 3 games for Ajax. Peter Larsson was brought instead from the UEFA Cup winners IFK Goteborg. As good as the Swede was, Rijkaard he was not. As for van Basten, replacement was already at hand – Dennis Bergkamp. Still too young to be command own place, though – Johnny Bosman was still the centre-forward, Bergkamp was placed as right-winger. There were two other changes from the regular lines from the spring of 1987: Celso, the Brazilian central defender of FC Porto, voted in the team of the year by ‘World Soccer’ magazine, was replaced by his compatriot Geraldao in FC Porto and Sonny Silooy lost his position to Danny Blind in Ajax. And veteran Fernando Gomes was back in the FC Porto line. The internal changes did not involve new arrivals, though. The last changes happened only days before the second leg in January 1988: the hero of the Champions Cup final Madjer was loaned to Valencia (where he failed to impress and did not last long) and Cruijff left Ajax once again for Barcelona, but this time to coach it. Barry Hulshoff was appointed interim coach, thus creating a bit of novelty: a bit over decade ago Tomislav Ivic coached Ajax and, thus, Hulshoff and hi assistant Pim van Dord. No current Ajax player was coached by Ivic – Arnold Muhren went to Twente before the arrival of the Yugoslav and the rest were mere children back then. No matter what the clubs felt, the final did not attract large interest – for instance, a photo of FC Porto could be discovered with considerable difficulty, but not at all a picture of Ajax. De Meer was not full at the first leg either. And Ajax started the first leg with their very rarely used Scottish import Alistair Dick.
1st Leg, De Meer Stadium, Amsterdam, 24 Nov 1987, att 27000
Ajax (0) 0 FC Porto (1) 1
5′ 0-1 P: Rui Barros
Ajax: Menzo; Blind, Verlaat, Winter, Rob Witschge, Van ‘t Schip, Bergkamp,
Wouters (R. de Boer 68), Bosman, Muhren (Richard Witschge 46), Dick
FC Porto: Mlynarczyk; Joao Pinto, Inacio, Geraldao, Lima Pereira, Frasco (Quim 84),
Jaime Magalhaes, Rui Barros, Gomes, Sousa, Andre
Referee: Valentine (Scotland)
2nd Leg, Estadio Das Antas, Porto, 13 Jan 1988, att 50000
FC Porto (0) 1 Ajax (0) 0
70’ 1-0 P: Sousa
Porto won 2-0 on aggregate
FC Porto: Mlynarczyk; Joao Pinto, Lima Pereira, Gerladao, Inacio, Bandeirinha (Semedo 83),
Jaime Magalhaes, Rui Barros, Sousa, Andre, Gomes (Jorge Placido 89)
Ajax: Menzo; Blind, Larsson, Wouters, Hesp, Van ‘t Schip, Muhren, Winter, Bergkamp
(Meijer 81), Bosman, Rob Witschge (Roy 64)
Referee: Schmidhuber (West Germany)
One cannot say the games were exceptional – there was desire, they were not boring, there were interesting moments, yet nothing truly memorable.
It was a battle of equals,
rough at moments, as it was 1980s football, but it was more or less not a clash of tactics, but of experience and one thing became quickly obvious – FC Porto was more experienced, which could be also extended to the coaching stuff: Hulshoff seemingly was unable to find magic touch with which to break FC Porto. Some injuries also played a role, particularly in the second leg, when on few occasions Hulshoff was almost forced to look for substitutes (luckily, Menzo and Larsson were able to continue, but on both occasions Hulshoff’s plans were probably messed up by what looked like forced substitution). The winter conditions did not help football either – the games were lively, but with very few scoring opportunities.
Rui Barros scored the only goal in Amsterdam – very early, in the 5th minute, and in January it looked like that would be the only goal.
But sloppy Dutch defense after not particularly dangerous free kick find Sousa in perfect position and he scored the only goal in Porto in the 70 minutes. A few minutes later the wet muddy grass played a trick on Menzo and the ball almost went in the net again, but did not and the second leg ended as the first one: 1-0 FC Porot.
FC Porto triumphed – great, because it was also in front of their own fans. A new name was added to the list of the Supercup winners and it was now very memorable and proud moment in the history of FC Porto, for between the legs of the Supercup they managed to win the Intercontinental Cup and rapped the 1987 with the 3 greatest trophies.
As photo of the squad playing for the Supercup cannot be found, a substitution… wrong kit, but almost the same team – only Scholten did not appear against FC Porto at all. Ajax lost the Supercup minimally and the prime reason was lack of experience: the squad was bursting with talent, but the players were very young yet. Incredible talent – a proof of it is that Ronald Spelbos, Peter Boeve, and Edo Ophof were sitting mostly on the bench now and in the same time Ronald de Boer and Bryan Roy were not even included in the first team roster in the summer. But still too young… Dennis Bergkamp, for instance, was quite lame in the second leg and was substitute. Rob Witschge lacked stamina and was also substituted. Lack of experience extends to Barry Hulshoff as well, who was hastily appointed caretaker coach after Cruijff’s leave – of course, he was Cruijff’s asistent before that, but at the helm he was still new. Ajax was a team for the future, that was sure, but at the moment – not ripe yet, not at at its peak.
Supercup winners! Standing from left: Mlynarczyk, Geraldão, Inácio, Jaime Magalhães, Lima Pereira, João Pinto.
First row: André, Fernando Gomes, Sousa, Rui Barros, Bandeirinha.
This was probably the best season ever of FC Porto – they won 3 international Cups and it was a testimony not only of great work already done, but of a cool heads running the club and looking ahead. A very strong team was already made and was coached by a coach who made his name along with the international emergence of the team. During the summer, the club did not falter – replaced exiting Futre with similarly classy Rui Barros; replaced already famous Artur Jorge with famous Tomislav Ivic, got rid of the Brazilian World Cup striker Walter Casagrande, who failed to impress. There was talent at the bench – Vitor Baia was already backing up Mlynarczik, for example. Even their foreign players were reliable – it was quite clear that FC Porto could hardly afford World class stars, but relatively unknown Brazilians Celso and Geraldao, and second-tier star Juary were more than dependable. Madjer also shined before going to Spain. So, success came and the team was at its peak.
The final started as expected – both teams were well fortified at the back, the Portuguese were sharper and more technical, but German defense did not let them come into the penalty area. The Germans pressed hard and their approach was to try lure FC Porto going ahead, but going into attacks as well.
The German pressure kind of worked at first, at least to the eye – they seemed more active and dangerous, they seemingly controlled the game. FC Porto, as expected, preferred counter-attacks and they were more creative and pleasant than the repetitious German runs on the wings ending with long high balls in hope to find the head of Dieter Hoeness, but German defenders always killed Portuguese attacks well before approaching the penalty area, which forced the Portuguese to try long shots at the net – not a big danger for Pfaff.
Beating the Germans was difficult task, bordering to the impossible: they were always too many of them around and Futre was able to beat one or two, but not the third coming. And as usual the Germans hacked as a matter of business – Futre was the prime receiver of hard kicks, which, again as usual, were not bookable.
At least in the first 20 minutes Bayern appeared more dangerous – not particularly effective, but persistent, so may be once they could beat the Portuguese defense and it will be all over. And they succeeded in most bizarre manner: a weird decision by the referee, later much criticized (Jorge said after the game that the referee created a new rule, but failed to inform the teams of it), led to the ball bouncing from the head of Portuguese defender to the head of Kogl and from there in the net. 1-0 Bayern, game over…in the 24th minute.
And eventually they did in the 78th minute, when Madjer equalized.
It was a goal well remembered – a cheeky back heel, daring and beautiful, which was something like triumph pf football over 1980s robotics. A reminder there was beauty in this sport, something instantly justifying the risk of watching the final. It was also extremely risky, in a sense, a matter of life and death – if Madjer did not score for whatever reason, it was really over. For all attacks and domination in the second half, FC Porto had little scoring opportunities. Missing this one would have been surely demoralizing. Scoring it in such manner, however, demoralized Bayern – FC Porto pushed again, Bayern cracked and two minutes later substitute Juary scored second goal.
This was different goal – powerful, confident, a show of skillful strength. Not a rare beauty like Madjer’s, but ‘manly’ goal – it was the final blow, Germans were killed by mightier team. Stronger team. Heavier team. The last ten minutes Bayern had no friends – apart from their fans, practically everybody else cheered for FC Porto. Not that much for the team as such, but for the victory of football over mechanic dullness. It was great to see German machine down at last.
And it was great to see FC Porto with the European Champions Cup! It is great to look at the winners even now, for it was an end of Artur Jorge’s era – he coached the team from 1984 to 1987 and this Cup was his final and highest success. With him FC Porto won the Portuguese championship twice, the Portuguese Supercup twice, and finally – the European Champions Cup. This was the second time FC Porto reached European final, but they lost to Juventus the 1984 Cup Winners Cup final.
To almost universal relief, Bayern lost the final. There was little to say in their favour – Udo Lattek had nothing at all. He was even unusually critical, unleashing uncharacteristic anger: ‘I can only congratulate myself for leaving this club’, he said after the final, ‘That is because I would not have to answer for players who do not follow my instructions, ignore the tactical scheme, and do not bother to play up to their own abilities any more’. He accused the whole team and when pressed by journalists singled out Lothar Matthaus as the biggest disappointment. And most observers supported Lattek – about Matthaus, particularly, it was observed in the past that he underperfoms at key games. Not a leader, but one fading away against strong opponents. That was lack of character, coming with heavy cost. Not a great vintage of Bayern, surely, but lack of character, bending under pressure, and undisciplined attitude was something alarmingly new and dangerous – German football was losing its basic assets. Lack of skills, lack of great players were compensated with discipline, character, and determination – without that, there was nothing left, a crisis.
FC Porto at its finest moment – winning European trophy for the first time. Winning the biggest European trophy! It was the culmination of Artur Jorge’s fine work, but also the fine work of the club, which steadily elevated itself to top of European football – a process started around mid-1970s. Of course, this squad became instant legend for Porto fans, but it is also well remembered elsewhere, largely for the iconic goal scored by Madjer. Beating hateful German football was also endearing to many and for that this vintage is also well remembered. But it was good squad too – plenty of talent, well balanced, and even with enough depth, which is always a sign that the team is not one-time wonder, coming today and gone tomorrow. Of course, as Portuguese club, FC Porto could not have the money to buy superstars, but they did great with what they had: dependable experienced foreigners (Mlynarczyk, Juary, Celso and Madjer), a plethora of local talent and a player already becoming a superstar – Futre. At the back was another great star – Fernando Gomes. He was aging and nearing retirement, but continuity was assured – he was there from the beginning of the building process, there were current top players, and Futre was the future, taking the torch from Gomes. That is how clubs build a dynasty, that is how they become strong internationally and stay that way. FC Porto practically confirmed its place among the top European clubs with this victory – it was successful and going to stay with the best.
The game proved to be tough and far from perfect. Equal, to a point – both teams were fighters in more than good physical condition.
Ajax controlled the game somewhat, although Lokomotive was not really outplayed. Such was the legend of the old great Ajax, that automatically even commentators decided it was not very impressive match – not really true: it was fast game and neither team fell apart, it was interesting match with dramatic moments, but… Mark Barton from UPI wrote that there were only occasional sparks of the great total football of the past and the fans were rather disappointed from what they saw. Of course, journalists and fans would be disappointed if expected to sea performance by Cruijff and company in 1987 – impossibility hurts and makes one blind to what goes on presently.
What was going on was great goal by Marco van Basten in the 21st minute. A spark – to those trapped in the past. In that past the greats did not shine every time, even did not shine a full match sometimes – the current vintage suffered mainly from Arnold Muhren’s injury. The key playmaker of the team was reduced to playing long balls from far back and eventually unable to finish the game.
In the second half Lokomotive increased the tempo and went into aggressive attacks, even fielding the injured Kuhn and Leitzke. Ajax managed to survive the assault and had chances for dangerous counter-attacks, coming close to second goal, but Rene Muller made a good save. May be the game was not great, but it was dramatic and entertaining and the critics apparently forgot that times had changed: the great Ajax played entirely new kind of football, which nobody else played and its supremacy came largely from that difference. Now everybody was playing total football, the element of surprise was no longer there, there was no obvious advantage taming the opposition. The new Ajax faced opponents practicing the same approach. No more goals were scored to the end – and if one would be still grumbling that these new boys barely win, let remind him that the legends at their peak barely won over Juventus 1-0 in 1973.
And for the first since 1973 lifted European cup.
And once again there was victorious run of guys in white and red with cup in their hands.
1. FC Lokomotive (Leipzig) apparently reached their maximum – losing Cup Winners Cup finalists. After the game their coach was not very upset – perhaps he assessed reality well: having his key players injured was too much. He was eventually fielded both Kuhn and Leitzke, but it a desperate act and going into all-attack storm in the second half was major risk, also taken out of desperation. Ajax had slightly better argument and won.
The winners were still criticized and a bit downplayed, but that was largely because they were young squad – a few years later it would be unthinkable to say they were not great: who was not great? Van Basten (whose goal at the final may be convinced Milan to buy him after the end of this season), Rijkard, Wouters, Winter, Witschge? Not great? The young brooms were already national team players in 1987 – in fact, the whole starting eleven played for Holland in this period. Plus substitute Bergkamp. Plus some not playing at this final… this was the second coming of Ajax, a great generation and team at last, which – just like in the early 70s – was not afraid of selling a player or two, for there was more to come. Ajax finally had its second great team, well linked with the first one via Cruijff coaching and Arnold Muhren playing. European success came back again, Ajax won its first Cup Winners Cup, adding 4th European trophy to its collection and becoming one the few clubs winning 2 of the 3 European tournaments. The new boys showed character akin to the character the first great team showed when it was a squad full of youngsters prevailing over venerated British squads.
History was repeating itself – Ajax returned to international success with great young team. Instant heroes, instant stars, a new legend stepping on the shoulders of the old one. And somewhat ironically Arnold Muhren became the most successful player of Ajax – he won 4 European cup. The humble substitute once upon a time had 4 trophies – great Cruijff only 3 as a player. And Arnold Muhren would do even better than all of his old illustrious teammates very soon.
It was a battle of practically equal teams,
both teams trying to score, but eventually the hosts prevailed 1-0 – Pettersson scored in the 38th minute.
Such result slightly favoured Dundee.
Final 2nd Leg, Tannadice Park, Dundee, att 20911
IFK Gotteborg was again the first to score – L. Nilsson made it 1-0 in the 20th minute, making Dundee’s task very hard – now they had to score 3 clean goals to win the Cup.
It proved impossible – the Swedes were tough, strong and well organized.
It was difficult to get ahead of them and find scoring opportunity.
The Cup was theirs to enjoy.
Dundee United lost by little, but there is never comfort in losing even bravely. This was the pinnacle of arguably the best period in the history of the club, they climbed up to European final. Eliminating Barcelona – the photo here is actually from that clash in the quarter-finals, before they won 2-1 in Barcelona – was great moment to remember. The team was great – for a club like Dundee United, that is – with Malpas, Narey, and McInally, but it was also a squad matched by the Swedish opponents, no better. No shame in losing… but losing is shameful moment anyway.
IFK Goteborg won the UEFA Cup for a second time. Great success, instantly making them the most successful Swedish club and placing them seriously on the European map. To a point, the the draws were relatively favourable to them this season, but one cannot argue it was just a lucky team.
Like Dundee United, IFK Goteborg enjoyed the best period in their history. To compare their first win in 1982 to this one is unpleasant task – true, in 1982 they overcome Hamburger SV, which was one the best teams in the world at the moment and it was a sensation. Now it was overcoming pretty much equal opponent, not as strong as Hamburger SV had been. It was not a sensation. But the squad in 1982 was also slightly stronger – it was up and coming team and coach, full of talent and hungry for success. Now it was a bit lesser team – some players already left for big money in the big European leagues. Sven-Goran Eriksson was no longer coaching them either. But success kept them running, the team was already experienced, there were plenty of players who won in 1982, Glen Hysen was international star and Lennart Johansson was worthy replacement of Sven-Goran Eriksson. One can say this was slightly weaker squad, compared to the one of 1982 only retrospectively and conveniently omitting the fact that in 1982 those ‘stars’ were unknowns, who made their names with the sensational victory over Hamburger SV. Now there were other players, who were becoming stars, helped by experienced guys, who already tasted success – no sensations, but rather winning as a matter of course.
It is surely a squad deserving one more look – twice UEFA Cup winners, managing to stay on top against the Swedish predicament of losing top players to big foreign leagues, the most successful Swedish team, and, regretfully, also the last time not only they, but Swedish football in general, won European trophy.