Cup Winners Cup – the easiest to predict tournament. Anderlecht, Barcelona, Inter Milano, may be Ipswich Town. May be Fortuna Dusseldorf. A very short list of favourites and the draw was good for them. Anderlecht, the current holders of the cup, had a bye in the first round. No surprises at all – only Fortuna had difficulties against Universitatea Craiova – they won 4-3 away, but the home match ended 1-1. Close call, but the West Germans advanced. The second round had two tough pairs: Fortuna vs Aberdeen was the one, but the other was really bad luck – Barcelona vs Anderlecht. Both teams were potential winners of the tournament, a final between them was fair, but mere 1/8 final? It cane to penalty shoot-out: Amderlecht won 3-0 in Brussels, then Barcelona won 3-0 at home, extra time did not change anything and the drama of the shoot-out benefited Barcelona – 4:1. Meantime Fortuna won 3-0 at home and lost 0-2 in Aberdeen – again, they advanced. The only real surprise happened in the ¼ finals – Inter vs Beveren. The Belgians were clear outsiders, good as they were this season. The first match in Milano ended 0-0 – not a worry sign, for everybody was used to minimal and devious Ialian performance. 1-1 was the likeliest result in Belgium… instead it was 1-0 Beveren and Inter was out. Barcelona once again had the toughest draw – against Ipswich Town. They lost 1-2 away, but won 1-0 at home and advanced thanks to their away goal. Fortuna had great difficulties – Servette was the outsider, but they managed a 0-0 tie in Dusseldorf. In Geneva nobody won too, but at least goals were scored – 1-1. The away goal propelled Fortuna to the semi-finals. In the last pair Banik Ostrava eliminated 1.FC Magdeburg. And before the ½ finals Barcelona and Fortuna were seen as finalists – the draw played no tricks. Barcelona won both legs against Beveren, however minimally – 1-0 in each match. Fortuna again had difficulties – they won 3-1 in Dusseldorf, bot lost the second match in Ostrava. Luckilt, only 1-2. Once again, a single goal qualified them. Neither finalist played overwhelming football so far, but Fortuna was the underdog. Barcelona was superior as a squad, or so it appeared. The final in Basel, Switzerland, was attended by much more Barcelona supporters, than Germans – another advantage. It was dramatic final – and even more so today, when one looks at dry statistics. But names and numbers mislead.
Friendliness ended with the initial greetings between captains Asensi and Zewe. Once the match started, there were no smiles – Fortuna went into attacks, pressuring Barca everywhere in the pitch. The Spaniard looked uninspired in attack, losing the ball quickly, and forced into at moments desperate defending. To the last whistle nothing changed… Fortuna was dominant. Barcelona played the usual dirty Spanish football. But the shortcomings of Fortuna quickly became obvious too – they dominated, but lacked quality, especially in creating real danger in front of the Spanish net. Experience no-nonsense defenders did not shy away from ant trick in the book – they fouled mercilessly the Germans, they simply cleared the ball as far away as possible, simulated on occasion, and when a German was down in pain never stopped the match by kicking the ball outside, so the injured player to get medical help. Barcelona did not look good at all, but Fortuna was a bit naïve – it became very clear that Barcelona hopes only on counter-attacks and they could be lethal, yet, Fortuna did not change their approach. They kept attacking, kept possessing the ball, kept high tempo… as a result, Barca got their chances when there were almost no German players in their own half. In the 5th minute Sanchez finished a counter-attack with a goal – 1-0 Barca. Fortuna equalized quickly – in the 8th minute.
Klaus Allofs kicks the ball into the Spanish net – 1-1.
Then Barca got a penalty – and missed it! Rexach kicked a ball, which was not a problem at all for the German keeper Daniel. Fortuna continued their relentless attacks – and again a counter-attack gave the lead to Barca.
Asensi scored the second goal in the 34th minute. One should learn… counter-attacks were the only weapon the Spaniards had and Fortuna was willingly helping them, by constantly going full force ahead. Barcelona was not much as a team, but left one on one, the Spaniards were superior – they had the skills and were cool enough to use any opportunity. Fortuna did not change their approach – and, frankly, the team was bellow such sophistication. They only knew to run, to press, to fight for the ball, and to attack… it paid off to a point: Seel equalized 4 minutes before half-time. A big handicap of Barcelona was revealed: their goalkeeper Artola was big liability. He was guilty for both German goals and it was clear what to do: shoots towards his net. And keep alert striker nearby – Artola was shaky, he was not able to clear the ball well. Keep him under pressure… but Fortuna did not. The Germans had the ball and attacked, but very rarely managed to strike the ball towards the net. Barcelona’s defense, well aware of the weaknesses of their goalie kept clearing the ball away, but really the Germans helped them – they never tried a long distance shoots for instance. Half-time came, the result was 2-2, promising more goals in the second-half. Which ended scoreless… Fortuna attacked, Barcelona defended… and it was the same to the very end of extra-time. Only now Barcelona used German naivete fully, scoring two more goals from counter-attacks. Krankl scored the third goal in the 104th minute. Seven minutes later Rexach scored the 4th – 4-2 with only 9 minutes left. Both extra-time goals were organized by Neeskens – who was entirely invisible otherwise. But he was quick when really mattered, the real touch of a grand master. Fortuna continued their attacks and again scored – Seel, in 114th minute. Nothing changed after that. Barcelona won.
Final, St. Jakob Stadium, Basle, 16 May 1979, att 58000
FC Barcelona (2) 4 Fortuna Dusseldorf (2) 3 aet
5′ 1-0 Bar: Sanchez
8′ 1-1 For: Th.Allofs
34′ 2-1 Bar: Asensi
41′ 2-2 For: Seel
104′ 3-2 Bar: Krankl
111′ 4-2 Bar: Rexach
114′ 4-3 For: Seel
FC Barcelona
Artola; Zuviria, Migueli, Costas (Martinez), Albaladejo (De la Cruz);
Sanchez, Neeskens, Asensi; Rexach, Krankl, Carrasco
Fortuna Dusseldorf
Daniel; Baltes, Zewe, Zimmermann (Lund), Brei (Weikl); Köhnen, Schmitz,
Bommer; Th.Allofs, K.Allofs, Seel
Both teams posed with the cup, but Barcelona got it.
Asensi kept it for more than fleeting polite photo.
Brave Fortuna. Strong season for them – winning the West German cup and playing the Cup Winners Cup final. And nothing to be ashamed of at the final – coming as underdogs, they dominated the match. They were more entertaining and, to many, they should have won. Unfortunately, Fortuna was no great team – they depended largely on 4 players, three of them strikers. The rest were middle of the road professionals. Naively attacking 120 minutes was there undoing – foxy Spaniards used the predictable and repetitive German tactics to their advantage, punishing every mistake.
Of course, Barcelona was not just disinterested finalists, satisfied with lucky win. It was very important moment for Barca, the club and the team wanted the cup badly, they were highly motivated and tough. As far as final result counts for everything, they got what they came for. Nobody can blame them for winning.
And here they are: standing, from left: Artola, Albaladejo, Neeskens, Costas, Zuviria, Migueli.
First row: Rexach, Sanchez, Krankl, Asensi, Carrasco.
A lot was at stake for this team: so far Bracelona had three European trophies, but they were Fairs Cups, won in the days when the tournament was young, limited to clubs from cities organizing fairs. 1966 was the last year Barcelona won international trophy – and the Fairs Cup was somewhat insignificant version of the UEFA Cup. Twice Barcelona lost finals – the Fairs Cup final in 1962 and the Cup Winners Cup final in 1969. That was the year Barcelona reached final for the last time. The arch-enemy Real had 5 European Champions Cups to their credit – it was painful to compare victories… Other things were painful too: no Spanish club reached European cup final since 1971, when Real lost the Cup Winners Cup to Chelsea. No Spanish club won this very tournament since 1962. With great Cruyff, Barcelona won a single Spanish title and nothing in Europe. Victory was very important, indeed. At last, coming ahead of Real Madrid – Barcelona was the only Spanish club with European trophy in the 1970s (so far). A difficult and unconvincing victory of not so great team, but victory. It was not a memorable squad… goalkeeping problems were nothing new and Artola’s mistakes were costly. Neeskens was a shadow of himself by now. Krankl needed somewhat more creative midfielders than Asensi and Rexach. Carrasco and Sanchez were great in counter-attacks, but not very effective when they had to attack and create opportunities. Migieli was getting old and he was never outstanding star. But, by hook or crook, they won… Migueli, Rexach, and Asensi were the pillars this day. The rest of the team was not very noticeable, but delivered at crucial moments – Neeskens provided two passes leading to goals, Krankl scored the only opportunity he had. Victory at last! And as a bit of trivia, Neeskens won one European trophy more than Cruyff.