Category: 1983

The Golden Shoe was awarded to the Portuguese striker Fernando Gomes (FC Porto), coming on top with 36 goals and followed by Peter Houtman (Feyenoord, Holland) with 30 goals and Anastopoulos (Olympiakos, Greece), 29.

It was formidable achievement, for Gomes scored 36 goals in 30 championship games – more than goal per match average,which happens rarely and is a real sign of natural scorer. As is often the case with such players, Gomes was not outstanding player, but in front of the net he always found the way to put the ball in. Born in 1956, he was still young, but his reputation was already high and he was also in the right club – FC Porto was ascending and Gomes started his career with them in 1972, which excatly corresponded with the rise of the club. However, he was just starting his second spell with his home club – after scoring 125 goals in 158 appearances, he moved to Sporting (Gijon, Spain) in 1980. It was a mistake, for apparently he did not fit and after scoring 12 goals in 27 games, he returned home in 1982. And became the top European scorer right away. Naturally, his talent was not unnoticed and he was national team player since 1975, thus becoming integral part of the Portuguese revival in the 1980s and playing at the European finals in 1984 and the 1986 World Cup. One of the most prolific scorers of the 1980s.

Fernando Gomes in action.

 

The Supercup. Hamburger SV vs Aberdeen. It was played in November and December of 1983, with a whole month between the two legs. If it was May, everybody would be certain in the victory of the Germans – but now it was different story. As usual, the Supercup itself attracted little interest – it was not just because it was at the end of the season: it was different season altogether. People were focused on the last qualification matches for the European Championship in 1984. On club level, there was the current domestic championships to worry about. Internationally – the new issue of the European cups and in them West German did not fair well at all. It looked like West German football was losing its edge and particularly Hamburger SV seemingly reached its peak and inevitable decline was beginning. On the other hand, Aberdeen, spurred by its European success was getting stronger and better. They also managed to keep the squad intact, including Alex Ferguson and Gordon Strachan. Hamburger SV was still coached by Happel, but there were changes – minor ones, on the surface, but since the team was playing no better, but worse, apparently important in the negative sense. Horst Hrubesch was out, playing now for Standard (Liege). His transfer was no secret back in May, he was getting quite old too, it did not look like big deal… now it looked the opposite. Kaltz was no longer the same and fragile Bastrup was seemingly permanently injured. The new recruits were not particularly beneficial and suddenly Hamburger SV appeared a rather ordinary squad, having problems in the attacking line. Netzer, HSV manager, was ready to throw the towel – before the second leg with Aberdeen he declared that if HSV loses again, he will quit. Alex Ferguson, cautious as before, urged that Germans are Germans – after losing so much this fall, they had their last chance to win and will be particularly dangerous. Well, he had still in mind reality – even when getting better, Aberdeen did not have the same class of players HSV had, even when weakened. Yes, the inferiority complex was seemingly broken down in the spring, but now there was something else: Aberdeen could be overconfident, arrogant and cocky – not a good idea against Germans.

However, the opening leg in Hamburg ended scoreless.

1st Leg, Volksparkstadion, Hamburg, 22 Nov 1983, att n/a

 

Hamburger SV (0) 0 Aberdeen (0) 0

 

Hamburger SV: Stein, Jakobs, Hieronymus, Wehmeyer, Groh, Schröder, Hartwig (Wuttke 46),

Magath, Rolff, Schatzschneider, von Heesen

Aberdeen: Leighton, Cooper, Rougvie, Simpson, McLeish, Miller, Strachan, Hewitt,

McGhee, Bell, Weir

Referee: Christov (Czechoslovakia)

The devil was not all that bad, but still was the devil… Smiling… There was no much to smile about after the referee started the second leg. Aberdeen was better, they pushed forward from the first moment and never stopped.

Aberdeen in control most of the time, Hamburger SV had mostly defending to do,

and in the second half was down on its knees twice – Aberdeen scored 2 unanswered goals. And it was absolutely fair – they were the better team, it would have been a travesty if Hamburger SV managed even a tie. As it was, though, HSV was rather toothless and was outplayed.

Aberdeen celebrated its goals and won the Supercup.

2nd Leg, Pittodrie Stadium, Aberdeen, 20 Dec 1983, att n/a

 

Aberdeen (0) 2 Hamburger SV (0) 0

47′ 1-0 A: Simpson

65′ 2-0 A: McGhee

Aberdeen won 2-0 on aggregate

 

Aberdeen: Leighton, McKimmie, Simpson, McLeish, Miller, McMaster, Strachan, Hewitt

(Black 65), McGhee, Bell, Weir

Hamburger SV: Stein, Kaltz (Hansen 68), Jakobs, Hieronymus, Wehmeyer, Groh, Schröder,

Hartwig, Magath, Rolff, Schatzschneider (Wuttke 41)

Referee: Brummeier (Austria)

Kings of Europe! As usual, the Supercup matters little and hardly ever inspire some analytic observations, but this time was impossible to brush over the whole affair with often made excuses: the losing team did not care for this trophy, too tired, too busy, already in holiday mood – Hamburger SV needed victory if only to restore confidence. And they were outplayed. Aberdeen was in great from, looked stronger than half a year ago, even when handling multiple tasks at the moment – championship, Scottish cups, European tournament, plus providing players for the national team of Scotland. It was important victory for the club – winning it, asserted the place of Aberdeen among the best at the moment. Best in Europe – not a laughing matter in Scotland. As for the team, it was the same as in the spring, so it will redundant to evaluate strength and weaknesses – they were the same, the biggest problem: keeping players and coach with the club. But much was achieved – ‘France Football’ voted Aberdeen the best European club if the year. As for local pride, Aberdeen was not only at par with Celtic and Glasgow Rangers now, but ahead of them – Celtic had one European Champions Cup and Rangers – one Cup Winners Cup. Aberdeen had two – Cup Winners Cup and Supercup.

European Champions Cup. No major upsets until the ¼ finals. Ideology and politics played a role in the second round – Albanian 17 Nentori (Tirana) and Dinamo (Kiev) were paired together by the draw and the Albanians refused to play, the Soviet team qualified for the next round. And there they were eliminated by Hamburger SV – the first leg decided the clash: the Germans won 3-0 away. But here Polish Widzew (Lodz) met Liverpool and the unexpected happened – the Poles won 2-0 the home leg and managed to preserve their lead in hostile Liverpool. The hosts won, but only 3-2 and Widzew qualified. It seemed that English domination came to end – Aston Villa was also eliminated at the ¼ finals after losing both legs to Juventus. No English club reached semi-finals in any European tournament this year. However, the draw was easy on the big clubs this year too, so at the ½ finals the pairs were Real Sociedad vs Hamburger SV and Widzew vs Juventus. To a point, in both cases it was enthusiasm vs class and class prevailed. Hamburger SV tied the first leg 1-1 and then won in Hamburg 2-1.

The extraordinary run of Widzew ended here too – and in amusing way as well. To a large degree Widzew came out of obscurity thanks to Zbigniew Boniek However, the biggest European success of the club came without him- he was already sold to Juventus. And it was Boniek and Juventus ending preventing Widzew to reach the final. A rather ironic twist, but objectively Widzew was no match for Juventus. They had a few strong players, this time lead by Smolarek, but were especially strong squad. The fairly tale ended after 0-2 loss in Turin and 2-2 tie at home.

And the big final – Juventus vs Hamburger SV. The established powerhouse of Europe, West Germany vs rapidly recovering lost ground Italy. Neither club won this cup before, so both were eager and hungry. Both teams were mighty on paper, but no paper tigers here – both opponents were really strong, full of national teams players, world and European champions, some of the top stars of the recent years – it was even difficult to start making a list for who would be on top? Platini? Magath? It was a clash of coaches too – old fox Happel, who made nothing but champions, and already reputed Trapattoni, still young and very hungry for success. In fact, when the foes stepped on the pitch, only one thing was easy – to name those, who were not famous and even wonder why they were there: Brio and Groh. No favorite here, a clash of giants and expectations were very high. The clash was there alright, but, as often is the case when highly praised teams meet, expectations did not materialize.

The smiles were wiped out as soon as captain Hrubesch and Zoff moved a step away from the photographs.

The final was a battle

Tough and merciless, with bodies on the ground – bodies not outplayed, but rather failing in their attempt to tackle the opponent.

At first Juventus pushed forward and since Italians were not known for such adventures, it looked like that Juventus was stronger this day. However, Hamburger SV was unruffled and defense is no mystery for the Germans. The initial assault ended in the 7th minute, when Magath surprisingly turned and shoot from big distance.

It was surprise kick out of the blue and on target.

It stopped in the net. Magnificent goal, exciting, even magical moment, but… instant replay was common feature on television. Beautiful as it was, this goal should not have happened – it was typical Zoff’s goal. It was a weakness known for years – Zoff was vulnerable to long shots, he often missed them and reacted late, if at all. It was a surprise shot, surely, but a world champion keeper with over 20 years of experience and considered among the best keepers in the world for about 10 years straight should not be caught like that. It shows even on the picture – Zoff is hesitating, awkward, late… one should think that Happel instructed his players to try precisely such shots and Magath followed the advice.

The early goal turned the table around – Hamburger SV usual the Italian shock to its advantage, pushed and pressed, and dominated the first half. As a whole, Hamburger SV was in control and more effective – even when the roles were reversed in the second half and Juventus looked more dangerous and possessing the ball, the Germans were together, cool, not falling apart, and absolutely sure what they were doing. Defense was what they were doing for the most time of the second half.

If the first half was German,

most of the second half was Italian – but still there was difference. Felix Magath, above, was the key German figure, a playmaker often able to organize attacks, Roberto Bettega was somewhat isolated – he appeared the most dangerous Italian striker, but when he had the ball it was more likely not to be a result of a well organized attack, but his own individual effort. Small differences, but telling…

Scoring opportunities were few and actual shots even fewer,

but the Germans were better in getting the ball first and at least able to finish the attack.

For all its push in the second half, Juventus displayed rather chaotic play and some deficiencies became painfully visible – Rossi was entirely lost. It was not very clear what his role to be – the prime striker, for whom scoring opportunities should have been created and the ball passed to him. If that was the idea, it was understandable why Bettega was moved a bit back and given secondary role. However, nobody was creating opportunities and no ball was passed to Rossi. Platini failed as playmaker, if it was his role for the day, which was also unclear. Bettega was the better option in front against tough physical German defenders – and Juventus was more dangerous when he moved in front, but… that was obviously not the game plan. Rossi roamed aimlessly this way and that way, the Italians passing to him, instead to Bettega, Platini passing to midfielders instead to strikers and what was Boniek role was a pure mystery first of all to him. The whole push ahead in the second half was largely a result of individuals efforts – Platini took clearly attacking role, but Boniek, when the ball went to him simply dribbled alone, trying to do it alone – thus Bettega and Rossi were practically out of the game. It was quite disjointed play, the key stars seemingly convinced that no partner will give them the ball, so why even searching for a scoring position – it was better just to get the ball and try to reach the German net alone. It almost worked… in the 72nd minute it looked like Stein brought down Platini, but the referee did not whistle. The Italians protested, but no call. And that was their best opportunity.. right after that the Germans gained control of the game again, missed two scoring opportunities, but in any case it was their game to the end. As a whole, a great battle, but unattractive… Four yellow cards, a lot of running and tackling, few scoring opportunities, few shots at the nets and defenders, including defensive midfielders more impressive than superstar strikers and attacking midfielders.

Final, Olympiakos Stadium – Spiros Louis, Athens, 25 May 1983, att 75000

Hamburger SV (1) 1 Juventus (0) 0

7′ 1-0 H: Magath

 

Hamburger SV (trainer Happel): Stein; Kaltz, Hieronymus, Jakobs, Wehmeyer; Groh, Rolff, Magath, Milewski; Bastrup (Von Heesen 55), Hrubesch

Juventus (trainer Trapattoni): Zoff; Gentile, Brio, Scirea, Cabrini; Bonini, Tardelli, Bettega; Platini, Rossi (Marocchino 55), Boniek

Referee: Rainea (Romania)

Familiar, but new for Hamburger SV picture – the winners making their round with the trophy. The moment of glory. Particularly sweet after prevailing in a great battle.

Juventus lost a second European Champions Cup final with the same result as the first time – 0-1. It was unfair, to Italian eyes – they were robbed of a penalty. Fuel was added by Happel’s answer to the question – he did not see what happened, TV cameramen blocked his view. The typical evasion of the truth… no coached ever saw the obvious,when robbery benefited him. Was it a penalty or not, was not clear at all – careful watching of the moment rather shows the referee was right. Yet, it could have been called… but even if it was called, so what? If scored, it would have been a tie. And a tie was pretty much the most Juventus deserved – they were much weaker than Hamburger SV, had more trouble reaching the German penalty area, fewer shots, and were quite unable to create scoring opportunities. Juventus was to blame for something obvious – Platini, Boniek, Rossi, and Bettega were unable to work together. Their teammates seemed often lost as of whom to give the ball – by habit, it seemed, the Italians chose to pass to either Rossi or Bettega instead of Boniek or Platini. But the strikers, told to get the ball from Platini, were simply not in the right position – or not at the expected place at all – for a pass from Italian defender. Rossi in particular was quite uncertain of his position and lost for the most of the game, reduced to nothing, and finally substituted – although, the reason given was injury. Absolutely ineffective. As a whole, the combination Rossi-Bettega was rather weak and perhaps it was just fine that Bettega was leaving. But with them in front, it was entirely unclear what position Boniek was playing – a pure striker he was obviously not and playmaker was supposed to be Platini. In limbo, Boniek was more or less out of the game in the first half. In the second he decided to take all in his hands, trying to get some result individually – and competed with Platini,who decided the same. There was sense of desperation… Bettega also tried to play alone – and what else, since nobody was trying to play with him and for him. It was quite obvious that Bettega was more dangerous in front of the net, when he was the typical center-forward – but apparently that was not the game plan, so instead of seeking him, the ball was passed back to Rossi. If at all passed to a striker. And passed not by Platini, but from some of those with supportive roles. Perhaps it should have been organized differently – Platini as dispatcher in midfield, passing the ball in open space at the flanks to Rossi as a winger, and he crossing to the front of the net, creating opportunity for Bettega and coming from back Boniek. Something like that… or even Boniek used as a winger. Easy to gibe advice after the fact… and the fact was Juventus was rather disappointing.

Nobody criticizes winners – particularly in the heat of the moment: then they are praised to the skies, they are great, outstanding, the best ever. No denying – it was the finest moment of the finest year of Hamburger SV. Happel did it again, whatever he touched ended a champion. It was also a culmination of steady rise of the club, which started in 1975 – coaches and players changed, so only Manfred Kaltz remained from that first team. No longer young… Was it the best vintage is hard to say – there were players like Keegan before – but without a doubt this was the most successful vintage. And since so far the transformations of the squad were successful, there was every reason to believe that Hamburger SV was building a dynasty and joining the small number of the greatest and mightiest European clubs. There was already a tread of continuity – Happel and Hrubesch would be gone, it was already certain – but before them other coaches and players of similar caliber were gone and the team only became stronger. However, there was something else… by now, German football was no longer attractive – only strong, disciplined, competent, and physical. And Hamburger SV was no exception – earlier vintages were more attractive to the eye. These guys were exactly outplaying the opposition – they only prevailed over opponents. They fought and extracted victory – 1-0 was a victory. Magath scored wonderful goal, but it was also a lucky goal… and it was enough. And it was quite telling that the goal was practically the only bright and memorable moment – the rest was just battle, nobody really shined, it was a victory remembered just because it was victory – the football was easily forgettable, a match nothing to talk about. Hardly to blame Happel for that – he played the football the players at hand were able to play: he had Germans, he made competent sturdy team. Winners – that was what he always made. It is always difficult and suspect to judge harshly teams playing against Italians – for chances for entertaining football were slim on such occasions – but Hamburger SV did not particularly excited viewers and… did not build a dynasty. In fact, this victory was their finest moment, their peak. It was May and everything looked great, the future even greater. Comes November… so let stay in May. Brand new European champions. An excellent result of good work, started years ago. German football is still the European leader. Hamburger SV joined the ranks of the greatest. Magath is more effective than Platini.

The Cup Winners Cup. Given the current state of affairs – lots of lowly teams – upsetting results were practically impossible. Unless there was a joke, played by Lady Luck, pairing strong teams early, results were easily predictable. And so they were until the ¼ finals. Even there the surprises spoke more of the short-comings of big clubs than particularly inspired playing of the underdog. Paris SG was eliminated by Belgian Waterschei Thor. A lesson: by now, most teams were pretty much equal in terms of physical condition and basic contemporary tactics (run, tackle, cover the whole field). Three aging experienced players prevailed over studded with stars, but mismatched and rather clueless team. Austria (Vienna) eliminated Barcelona. Similar story… Schuster, Maradona… out. Bayern was kicked out by Aberdeen. Same thing. Aberdeen were not playing better football than Breitner, Rummenigge, and company… neither team showed interesting football – it was just heavy battle, in which Aberdeen had more guts. The fixtures displayed more of the troubles Bayern had than possible class of Aberdeen. But it was psychologically important victory, reminding the rise of Ajax ten years ago: back then Cruijff and company considered their victory over Arsenal most important: they overcome the sense of inferiority and after beating revered representative of British football felt that they can beat anybody. Which they did. Now Alex Ferguson spelled out the same: eliminating mighty Bayern brought confidence and everything was possible. It was not a matter of skill – it was a matter of the mindset. Inter and Real Madrid were unlucky to play against each other, but here surprise was impossible – one team had to be eliminated, one goal decided which – Inter was out.

The semi-finals hold no mystery – Aberdeen walked over Waterschei Thor 5-1 and the second leg did not matter at all. Austria (Vienna) did their best, which amounted to 2-2 tie at home. In Madrid there was no contest – Real won 3-1.

So, Real Madird vs Aberdeen. Real was the favorite – not just tradition and money were in their favour: the Spaniards simply had much stronger squad. Alex Ferguson again emphasized psychology and the need to fight inferiority complex, but here perhaps the opponents were pretty much in the same boat: if the Scots had to overcome respect and fear of arguably the mightiest club in the world, consider the pressure Real had – the club did not won anything internationally after 1966. The 1970s were pretty lean. Scottish fans perhaps would not be very harsh on their team, if Real won, but in Madrid the reaction was surely to be violent, if the trophy went to Scotland – the opponent was not leading European club, no excuse. Fear of losing is no joke, especially when the team was not all that great in the domestic championship.

Still, the finalists were quite mismatched and Real was seen as big favourite – Aberdeen gained some points in his favour, though: 12 000 out of 17 000 attendees in Goteborg were Scots, so Aberdeen was practically playing at home. The weather smiled at Aberdeen too – three hours before the game heavy rain started and mercilessly poured down until the end of the final: once again, it was just like at home,

Aberdeen was used to play in such conditions, Real was not. Even if it was perfect dry evening, football would have been the same, I am afraid – both teams were determined to fight, driven by their predicament. Aberdeen was not going to play some fancy football, even if they capable of such – they had to compensate for the fact that Real was much classier squad with fighting spirit, tight covering, tackles, hunting and destroying any Spanish attempt for creativity. On the other side, long tradition made Real predictable – what was ugly about Spanish football in general, was the quick replacement of football with war. If the opponent was of similar mind – and the simple straight-forward British approach to the game looked like war to Spaniards – football left Spanish mind at about 5th minute of the game.

That is why little could be said for the match – it was ‘masculine’. Muscular. A battle. In this battle Aberdeen looked preferable just for the lovely spirit they showed. Real was increasingly outrun and, frankly, when one sees players like Stielike unable to organize even simple attack, one prefers relatively anonymous guys, who, unlike the superstar, can reach the penalty area and shoot towards the net.

Black scored in the 4th minute and Real managed to equalize in the 15th, but it a goal, for which the stars could hardly credit themselves: a defensive mistake gave no choice to Jim Leighton, but to bring down Santillana. Juanito scored the penalty. To the end of the regular time Aberdeen did not look better, but only hungrier and somewhat prevailed, yet, no third goal was scored. Everything was decided in the extra time – the substitute Hewitt, who replaced goalscorer Black in the 88th minute, was the first to reach a cross and scored the proverbial British goal, a header. And that was that.

The moment worth remembering of otherwise unmemorable match. Well, depending on standpoint, but unless one is Scottish and Aberdeen fan, nothing all that special – on the contrary, just another nail in the building of the coffin of the Cup Winners Cup. Small attendance, decreasing interest to the whole tournament, nothing new and exciting about the football played. People were getting tired of battles, getting tired to see big stars appearing pretty much dull and similar to countless anonymous players, who had little skills, but run and tackle just the same as the stars and often beating them with just that. Yet, it was preferable to see the likes of Aberdeen winning spoiled brats like Real.

Final, Nya Ullevi, Göteborg, 11 May 1983, att 17804

 

Aberdeen (1) 2 Real Madrid (1) 1 aet

4′ 1-0 A: Black

15′ 1-1 RM: Juanito (pen)

112′ 2-1 A: Hewitt

 

Aberdeen: Leighton; Rougvie, McLeish, Miller, McMaster; Cooper, Strachan, Simpson; McGhee, Black (Hewitt 87), Weir

Real Madrid: Agustin; Juan Jose, Metgod, Bonet, Camacho (San Jose 91); Angel, Gallego, Stielike, Isidro (Salguero 103); Juanito, Santillana

Referee: Menegali (Italy)

The rest belonged to the victors.

Naturally, they were happy – the biggest success of Aberdeen ever.

This is not the squad Real fielded at the final and the relative difficulty of finding a photo of the Goteborg losers speaks loud enough. Less said about Real, the better. Spanish football had this special ‘quality’ for arresting the development of players – Stielike was not first, nor the last. True, he was no Beckenbauer on the field, but one of the leading liberos in the world reduced to rather aimless running around… In the same time one should think twice when evaluating Real of this period: Johhny Metgod. Sturdy defender, but Real seeking the services of quite ordinary player? And these two were still the best Real showed in Goteborg… One thing was certain: pretty much this was the end of Alfredo Di Stefano as a coach – magical player, but not magic coach.

The new Cup Winners Cup winners. First row from left: John McMaster, Stuart Kennedy, Doug Rougvie, Willie Miller.

Standing: Neale Cooper, Alex McLeish, John Hewitt, Peter Weir, Ian Angus, Mark McGhee, Eric Black, Jim Leighton, Gordon Strachan, Bryan Gunn, Andy Watson.

A photo for posterity. Still reproduced often – in Great Britain and North America. Negative side first: there is no escape – Aberdeen was not ground-braking team. Rather limited and very British in its play. Which meant it was not a team to influence football culture and it was not to stay on top long. Given the Scottish predicament, it would be very difficult to remain strong even domestically – a victory instantly meant exodus of key players. Since Gordon Strachan was practically the only truly outstanding player, he was to be first to go – and rightly so, for a star naturally wants to play for big club on one hand and on the other – both club and player need money.

Positive side – and there is no denying it: Aberdeen was carefully build and on ascend for 6 years already. Winning Cup Winners Cup was the culmination. It was heroic task, for Aberdeen had limited choice – facing the constant competition of English clubs, Celtic and Rangers, Aberdeen was not exactly able to tap on the best talent. So, it was a work of keen eye – selecting, developing and molding undiscovered talent into strong players and into a strong team. By now a number of them were Scottish national players, Gordon Strachan was a star, and Alex McLeish almost a star. All this was home work – a testimony of great work of young and ambitious coach. More or less, Alex Ferguson became internationally known after this victory.

He deserves the biggest credit for the triumph, it was his work. And it was also inevitable that Aberdeen was getting too narrow for him. One thing which can be pointed out – if one looks back to his early years pragmatism was immediately noticeable. No innovation, nothing radical, but very keen ability to get the best of what he has – what he had at this point was team with simple skills, so he did not try to introduce some fancy technical or tactical football. Aberdeen played typical British football, only Ferguson kept the boys motivated and at the best of their condition at all times. As for his methods, he was Fergie then, just he was ever – when a few years later he joined Manchester United, Gordon Strachan, already there, was not happy at all. Speaking of the coach, who made Strachan a star… But in 1983 the work was seemingly done – Aberdeen achieved what only two Scottish clubs achieved before: winning an European cup. Fantastic achievement, no matter what.

The UEFA Cup. Of course, there were surprising upsets (the demolition of Arsenal by Spatak Moscow in the first round – 2-3 and 2-5) and unlucky draws, eliminating early strong teams (Manchester United losing to Valencia also in the first round), but more interesting was the new trend – the early elimination of the English clubs, all gone after the first round, and the decline of the West German clubs – half of them were eliminated in the opening round, the rest struggled against not so strong opponents, only 1. FC Kaiserslautern reached the ¼ finals and was eliminated there by unlikely foe – Romanian Universitatea (Craiova). On the other side were teams, which performed surprisingly well – Bohemians (Prague), Universitatea (Craiova), and Benfica (Lisbon) reached the semi-finals. Bohemians stood alone somewhat – it was just the strongest period of the club ever, but the other two represented more than club football – both Romanian and Portuguese football recovered from disastrous 1970s and rapidly were coming back to the spotlight. The club’s good performance was early sign, but in the case of Benfica it was great recovery and finally playing really strong football after years of mediocrity. At the semi-finals everything came back to normal, though – Anderlecht was simply too strong for Bohemians and after winning twice reached the final. Benfica had real difficulties and was unable to beat Universitatea – both legs ended in draw, but Benfica benefited from scoring away goal and went to the final.

The final, to most pundits, was between quite equal opponents and could go either way, but Anderlecht was considered slightly stronger. The reason were both historic and contemporary – Benfica was going to play its 5th European final, but the last one was in 1968. Anderlecht on the other hand reached its 4th final and all were recent. However, neither finalist played UEFA Cup final before and if Anderlecht maintained its strong European position successfully since 1975, Benfica rapidly improved just recently and finally had a team somewhat close to their great squads in the 1960s. On one hand, solid and reliable class, on the other – ascending squad,which must be hungrier. But it was to be a clash of equal opponents: Benfica had 7 current national team players, Anderlecht – 5. Benfica had exciting Yugoslav striker – Filipovic and rising Swede Stromberg, Anderlecht its own Yugoslav – Peruzovic – and talented, but erratic Dane Brylle. Both teams had good coaches – Paul van Himst and Sven-Goran Eriksson. Benfica perhaps the edge at the helm, but overall Anderlecht looked a bit stronger. But only a bit.

The opening leg in Brussels proved predictions right – it was tough, but not dirty, fairly equal match, in which Anderlecht was slightly stronger and more aggressive. Both teams displayed modern football, covering the whole field and swarming at the opponents. Benfica was quite surprising, for they were at last at the same level the top European clubs were.

The only goal was scored by Kenneth Brylle in the 29th minute – classy goal, finishing entertaining attack, which moved from the centre to the right flank, from where excellent cross was delivered. Benfica finished the game with 10 men, but this did affect their play.

Final 1st Leg, Heysel Stadium, Bruxelles, 4 May 1983, att 55000

 

RSC Anderlecht (1) 1 SL Benfica (0) 0

29′ 1-0 A: Brylle

 

RSC Anderlecht: Munaron; Hofkens, Peruzovic, Olsen, De Groote; Frimann, Coeck, Vercauteren, Lozano; Vandenbergh (Czernatynski 78), Brylle

SL Benfica: Bento; Pietra, Alvaro, Humberto Coelho, José Luis; Sheu, Frederico (Bastos Lopes 78),

Carlos Manuel, Chalana; Filipovic (Nene 68), Diamantino

Referee: Dotchev (Bulgaria)

Red card: José Luis 75

Before the second leg both sides were cautious – van Himst commented only that 1-0 was better than nothing. The match was pretty much the same as the first one: fast, pushing forward, well organized defenses, rapid counter-attacks at the first opporutnity. Anderlecht was still a bit better, more aggressive and dangerous, but Benfica scored first and equalized the result, thanks to Sheu in the 36th minute. It was short lived relieve – Lozano scored for Anderlecht two minutes later. And no more goals were scored to the end, although both teams had their chances.

Final 2nd Leg, Estádio da Luz, Lisboa, 18 May 1983, att 80000

 

SL Benfica (1) 1 RSC Anderlecht (1) 1

36′ 1-0 B: Sheu

38′ 1-1 A: Lozano

SL Benfica: Bento; Pietra, Humberto Coelho, Bastos Lopes, Veloso (Alves 62); Carlos Manuel,

Stromberg, Sheu (Filipovic 50), Chalana; Nene, Diamantino

RSC Anderlecht: Munaron; Peruzovic, De Greef, Broos, Olsen, De Groote; Frimann, Lozano, Coeck,

Vercauteren; Vandenbergh (Brylle 78)

Referee: Corver (Netherlands)

Anderlecht won 2-1 on aggregate and became the only 2nd clubs which won both the Cup Winners Cup and the UEFA Cup – the first was Tottenham Hotspur.

Vercauteren and Peruzovic proudly display the Cup after well deserved victory.

Losing in front of home crowd is usually more devastating… Standing from left: Sheu, Alvaro, Humberto Coelho, Diamantino, Zoran Filipovic, Bento.

First row: Jose Luis, Frederico, Pietra, Chalana, Carlos Manuel.

Benfica played well, but lost and that unfortunately is all that counts. It was just a tiny difference between them and Anderlecht and that difference was not in their favour. Benfica would have been unblemished winner, if they won – but they did not and instantly the reason was found: old curse was remembered. Years ago, when Benfica sacked Bella Gutmann, the angry Hungarian cursed the club to never win again. And they did not…

Anderlecht had nor trouble with mystic powers working against them – concerned only with the real, they extracted difficult victory. Standing from left: Luka Peruzovic, Walter de Greef, Ludo Coeck, Hugo Broos, Michel de Groote, Jean Munaron.

First row: Morten Olsen, Juan Lozano, Frank Vercauteren, Per Frimann, Erwin Vanderbergh.

Wonderful squad, managing to keep its strength year after year. To a point, it was similar to Benfica – deep team, well balanced, with various options, but a bit better, for Anderlecht’s players were may be a notch classier than Benfica’s and used to winning. Strong members of the great Belgian national team at the time, perhaps the best current Brlgian player – Juan Lozano – among them, vastly experienced foreigners, who were also regulars in their countries’ national teams – Luka Peruzovic and Morten Olsen. If Peruzovic was well known name for many years (key player of the strong Hajduk Split squad of the 1970s and member of the national team at the 1974 World Cup), but slowly and gradually became a starter in the talented and competitive Yugoslav national team, Morten Olsen, pretty much of the same age as Peruzovic, was just getting to the point of fame – along with the national team of Denmark. Anderlecht mastered well transitions, thus able to avoid the painful crisis of changing generations – only Coeck and Vercauteren remained from the squad, which excited Europe in the second half of the 1970s. Back then Vercauteren was talented reserve, pushing his way to the regular team and Coeck was fresh discovery, excellently keeping pace with stars like Rensenbrink. Now both were veterans and leaders. Van Himst also seemingly made well the transition from player to coach and now was able not only to inspire the team with his legendary status, but actually to keep them playing on contemporary level. Anderlecht won its 3rd European trophy in four finals – few clubs were able to do that. No Champions Cup for them, but numerically they surpassed Benfica this year – 3 cups vs 2.

The Cup final opposed Juventus to Verona – normally, such a final would not bring any questions about the outcome. But not this year – Juventus was shaky and Verona was rising. The clash mirrored the current state of both clubs – Verona won the opening leg 2-0. In the second match Juventus won in front of home crowd 2-0. Home support and classier squad eventually prevailed in the overtime – Juventus scored one more goal and triumphed.

No doubt about it – Verona had its best season in their history so far. Up and coming team, for sure. Lacking experience, but that was understandable – Verona was even a fairly regular member of first division, they were quite the newcomer. And because of that they were a bit overlooked – wonderful season, yes, but most likely not to be repeated. Just enjoy and remember when you were almost equal to Juventus. That was proved wrong soon enough, but something of the initial predictions for quick end of Verona remained and lingered until 21st century: the name. Verona was just Verona… until their neighbors Chievo Verona reached first division and suddenly was revealed that this club here is named Hellas Verona. Who would know of care in 1983?

Juventus won the Cup, which was just fine – there were problems this season and even prevailing over practically anonymous Verona was difficult, but this victory was very important, for confidence was restored. Giovanni Trapattoni was no full and certainly saw the problems – the team was formidable on paper. In reality, Zoff and Bettega were at the very end of their careers. Platini and Boniek had to adapt and adjust and it was not easy, because they had similarities in their football on one hand, on the other Paolo Rossi and Bettega had to change as well, and the team as whole had to orient itself toward Platini and not Rossi and Bettega. One thing bringing strong confidence to Trapattoni was the club itself – Juventus was going to get worthy new replacements of the key veterans, money was not an issue. To a point, not this season, but the next one was really important – and if so, the next season practically started with the winning of the Cup.

Serie A. When Spain opened its league for foreign players in 1973, there was outcry that the Spanish clubs were scooping the best players in the world. The same criticism was applied to Italy – and it was much more justified. There were big differences between Spain and Italy – generally, 4-5 Spanish clubs made big purchases and the rest bought mostly cheaper South American and Yugoslavian players – not even big stars, but reliable professionals. Also, the Spanish clubs often kept three foreigners, one permanently benched, for the rules permitted only two to play in a game. The Italians never saw any reason to keep on payroll three expensive imports, since only two could play. They spent money, but expected the foreigners to be outstanding, played them a lot, and never hesitated to replace them with bigger current talent – already Liam Brady was sold by Juventus to smaller club, for Platini and Boniek were coming, already Inter sold Herbert Prohaska to make room for Hansi Muller. But in Italy even small clubs were ready and willing to pay a lot for the services of world class stars, so the league was quickly saturated with big names – Krol in Napoli, Trevor Francis in Sampdoria, Falcao in Roma, Edinho and Ivica Surjak in Udinese, Dirceu and Zmuda in Verona, Schachner in Cesena, Passarela and Bertoni in Fiorentina, to name some of the greatest stars. With them, the Italian championship was rapidly becoming not only more competitive, but also more attractive and foreign players wanted to join. Especially when money was also very good. Now smaller clubs, wise enough to get top talent ahead of bigger clubs, were becoming quite even and traditional status quo was disturbed – already Milan, Lazio, and Bologna were in second division. This season brought another casualty of the new relative equality. Meantime, there were rapidly rising teams. Yet, tradition was not giving up at all – scoring continued to be low, defense ruled, and everybody was generally playing for a tie. Only three teams finished with less than 10 ties this year and at the other end was Udinese – they tied 20 out of 30 championship games! Not surprisingly just 6 clubs managed to win more than 10 matches. Seven teams less than a goal-per-game average and the highest scoring team, Juventus, achieved only 1.6 goals-per-game average. There was one hopeless outsider and one superior and almost unchalanged leader – despite the parity, there was no race for the title.

Catanzaro was last with 13 points, winning only 2 matches during the campaign. Expected outsider, though.

Cesena finished 15th with 22 points. Also expected.

Cagliari was 14th with 26 points. They were going downhill for quite some time, but still it was disturbing to see them relegated.

Ascoli, one of the prime candidates for relegation, survived – 13th with 27 points. With difficulties, but survived.

Genoa, with Belgian Vandereycken and Dutch striker Peters, also survived – 12th with 27 points.

Pisa, one more club seen as likely candidate for relegation, also escaped with the help of Swedish star Bergreen – 11th with 27 points.

Napoli, with Ruud Krol, managed 10th place with 28 points. The team was not great and even with the help of one of the best central defenders in the world they were fighting to avoid relegation than anything else.

Avellino, also with 28 points, took 9th place. Yes, they largely fought to survive, having been among the prime candidates for relegation, but all ended more than well – rarely they finished that high in the table.

Torino was starting losing ground, they finished 8th with 30 points, but there was no mistake: they missed the moment to stars rebuilding, failed to replace players when the going was fine, and may be buying the Dutch defender van der Korput was not the best idea – he was good, but not great. Not inspirational enough.

Sampdoria ended 7th with 31 points, but they were going in the opposite direction of Torino – improving, although this was still early stage of development. They placed their bet on British feet and what those were! Trevor Francis and Liam Brady.

Udinese – another team climbing up. 6th this year with 32 points, but they were not afraid to spend money on big stars – and soon to get arguably the best attacking midfielder in the world between 1975 and 1985.

Fiorentina – 5th with 34 points. Already very strong team, which evidently was going to stay strong. Yet, a team made of Antognoni, Passarella, Daniel Bertoni, Graziani, Patrico Sala, Cuccureddu should have played larger role…

Perhaps the most surprising team was Verona – they finished 4th with 35 points. Top, left to right:  Alberto Torresin, Antonio Di Gennaro, Pietro Fanna, Roberto Tricella, Luciano Spinosi, Wladyslaw Zmuda, Claudio Garella.

Middle, left to right:  Luigi Manueli, Dirceu, Mario Guidetti, Sacchetti, Emidio Oddi, Luciano Marangon.

Bottom, left to right:  Mauro Gibellini, Domenico Penzo, Guglielmi, Domenico Volpati, Adriano Fedele.

Coming out of the blue and may be just running on good luck – most players here were yet unknown (Di Gennaro, Fanna, Tricella, to name those who were national team players a few years later), and it was even felt that good foreign purchase was the reason for the unlikely success, but it will short lived, for both Polish defender Zmuda and Brazilian midfielder Dirceu were getting dangerously old. As it turned out, Verona was not even close to their biggest success.

Inter – 3rd with 38 points. There was big effort made to reinforce the team, but in the same time it was strange effort: getting Hansi Muller immediately made Herbert Prohaska redundand and he was sold. But Juary – good, but not fantastic striker, remained. Perhaps would have been better to sell Juary, keep Prohaska, and add world class striker… but apparently Inter made its mind, deciding to depend on Germans and Hansi Muller was just the stepping stone. Was it really wise… Inter won practically nothing during the long German reign.

Juventus – 2nd with 39 points. A bit shaky and displaying some problems, which amply presented themselves in Europe. So, not exactly losing the title in really tough battle, but simply number two this year – and 4 points distance from the champions testifies to that.

Roma – unlikely, but more than deserving champions. 16 wins, 11 ties, 3 losses, 47-24 goal-difference, 43 points. A fine reward for the good work Nils Liedholm did at the helm. Wonderfully well-balanced squad of just the right mix of current stars (Bruno Conti, Pietro Vierchowod), great foreigners (Falcao, Robert Prohaska), overlooked late bloomers (Di Bartolomei, Pruzzo), eager to prove their worth former players of other clubs (Tancredi, Turone), and bright young talent (Anchelotti, Nela). Roma was ascending for a few years already and evidently reached its peak this season. Of course, the joy was endless – so far, Roma had only one title and this was won in the very distant 1941-42 season. Outside Italy – and may be even in most of Italy – almost nobody knew that Roma won a title before. It was rare, it was fantastic, it was achieved in superior manner. However, there was already a risk at hand – both the coach and half of the regulars were getting old and without quick and strong reinforcement Roma would not last long at the top. Tricky moment, urgent moment, but how to deal with future possible trouble at the moment of glory? Should have been worked on, though – Roma was on the verge of becoming really great club. Unfortunately, the moment was missed.

Serie B – second division. 20 teams, 4 going down, three – up. Tickling season… Milan, Lazio, and Bologna were here and what different fates they had: Milan had no rival at all, Lazio had to battle hard with 4 other teams for 2 promotional spots, and Bologna sinking further down. As if we are talking top flight, not second level. As for the proverbial ties… there was no team with less than 10 at the end of the season and going as high as 20 – which Pistoiese and Reggiana did. No team managed to win 20 matches, even mighty Milan.

Bari was last with 30 points.

Foggia, also with 30 points – 19th.

A season fans of Bologna most likely do not want to remember – terribly weak, only 32 points, 18th place and going to play third division football. Hard to believe, but fact is fact.

Reggiana – ahead of Bologna, although with the same points, 32. To be above Bologna is extremely rare for Reggiana… but there was no joy, for they were 17th and relegated too.

Lecce – 16th with 34 points. Relieve… and nothing to complain about: Bologna was relegated, they were not. Well, barely surviving is hardly something to be proud of.

Palermo, in relatively rare stripes here, took 15th place with 34 points.

Pistoiese, also with 34 points – 14th.

Campobasso – 13th with 36 points.

Arezzo – 12th with 36 points.

Perugia – 11th with 36 points.

Varese – 10th with 37 points.

Sambenedetesse – 9th with 37 points. Perhaps this club deserves a note: little known and small, they played for many years in the second level. And not bad either.

Atalanta – 8th with 37 points.

Monza – 7th with 38 points.

With Cavese entirely different group of teams begins: quite above the bulk of the league and trying to get promoted. That modest Cavese was in this group was unusual, but their predicament prevented them from playing key role: 6th with 42 points. Run out of steam eventually, but still great achievement.

Como finished 5th with 45 points. Coming very close, but missing promotion… may be next year.

Cremonese also with 45 points and also unlucky – 4th place.

Catania on the other hand was extremely happy at the end – they too had 45 points, but clinched 3rd place. They also ended with the best defensive record in the league, allowing just 21 goals – Milan received 15 more than them! However, scoring was not their forte… Anyhow, it was not goal-difference or head-to-head record at the end, but promotion tournament in Rome with the rivals – a single goal was scored in the three games, luckily Catania scored it against Como, and thus they finished first and won promotion.

Lazio clinched 2nd place with 46 points. Happy to prevail over tough competition of 4 more teams, although not challenging Milan at all – promotion was their only aim and concern. Well, returning to top flight, although how good was the squad to stay up there was another matter – and to worry about next season.

Milan won easily the championship with 54 points. No other team managed to come even remotely close, easy victory. No contest at all – Milan scored 77 goals, an enormous number in Italian football at the time. Lazio, the second best scorers, managed only 44 goals. Yet, this squad does not deserve even colour – as far as club and fans were concerned. The very thought… champions of Second division. And not expelled there, but simply relegated… Shame. Of course, the club suffered from the ‘tottonerro scandal’, was much weakened as a result, and tried hard to clean its image, but winning second division simply does not count in a club like this one. Not worth mentioning and remembering – the boys just did their job for the moment. Yet, a squad winning second division… really, nothing of a squad, by Milan’s standards.

So: Milan, Lazio, and Catania – promoted to play top league football the next season.

Serie C/1, Girone B.

Nocerina – 18th with 22 points.

Paganese – 17th with 23 points.

Reggina – 16th with 30 points.

Like Reggina, Livorno was down on their luck – head-to-head record benefited other clubs with 30 points and Livorno took 15th place and was relegated.

Ternana – lucky 14th with 30 points too.

Siena – the highest placed of the team with 30 points: 13th.

Ancona – 12th with 31 points.

Benevento – 11th with 31 points.

Rende – 10th with 31 points.

Virtus Casarano – 9th with 31 points.

Barletta – 8th with 34 points.

Salernitana – 7th with 35 points.

Cosenza – 6th with 36 points.

Casertana – 5th with 36 points.

Taranto – 4th with 45 points. Unlucky, really – fought for promotion and missed it by a point.

Campania – also unlucky: 45 points and 3rd place.

Lucky team – with 46 points, Pescara clinched 2nd place and promotion.

Empoli – third division champions on either better goal-difference (better by 1 goal than Pascara’s), or on head-to-head record. Otherwise, 46 points and practically clinching promotion. However, the best and very impressive defensive record in both third division groups this season – they allowed only 14 goals in their net in 34 games. Beating Taranto by a goal less.

Third level – Seria C/1. Two groups of 18th teams each. The last 4 relegated to 4th division, the top 2 promoted to 2nd Division.

Girone A:

Forli – last with 22 points.

Pro Patria – 17th with 30 points.

Mestre – 16th with 30 points.

Piacenza – 15th with 32 points. Head-to-head record against 4 other clubs with the same points relegated them.

Rondinella Marzocco – lucky 14th with 32 points.

Modena – 13th with 32 points.

Sanremese – 12th with 32 points. This is the team of the city famous for its pop-music festival – San Remo. However, football is entirely different matter.

Brescia – 11th, but lucky to avoid relegation further down, for they also finished with 32 points. Perhaps one of the best known clubs now in Third Division – down on their luck, surely. And dressed in red, not on their usual blue – that is, a relatively rare picture of the team in their reserve kit.

Treviso – 10th with 33 points.

SPAL – 9th with 33 points.

Trento – 8th with 33 points.

Fano – 7th with 33 points.

Parma – 6th with 34 points. Parma was still unheard of club, for which second division was somewhat of a wild dream.

Rimini – 5th with 37 points. Stella Artois is a household name today, but back in 1980s the beer makers could push their add only in third division. Different times…

L.R. Vicenza – hard to believe that ‘only yesterday’ they were running for the Italian title. Once Paolo Rossi left, it was only downhill… to 4th place in third division so far. 37 points.

Carrarese – 3rd with 40 points. Like San Remo, Carrara is not famous for its football, but for something entirely different.

Padova, advertising the famous Bata shoes, finished 2nd with 43 points and was promoted. Happy boys.

Triestina – champions of Girone A of Serie C/1 with 47 points. Going to second division and rightly so.