Spain the Cup

The Cup final opposed Barcelona to Real Zaragoza. Naturally, Barcelona was seen as the obvious favourite and even playing the final in Madrid was not going to be big problem – at least in imagination. In reality, the tough final produced one goal only – Sosa scored it in the 35th minute and he was not playing for Barcelona. At the end, Real Zaragoza lifted the Cup.

For another club finishing 2nd in championship and playing 2 cup finals – one domestic and one European – would be a great season. For Barcelona was a disaster… ending a season empty-handed, beaten in every tournament and it was hard to tell which loss was the worst. Perhaps the realization that once again Real Madrid superior squad – Barcelona’s somewhat did not measure when compared to the new Real. It was thinner, somewhat older, and there were problems – Venables was somewhat not right and his English inclinations did not work. Schuster was becoming more of a problem than a valuable contributor, Archibald clearly was not going to be a superstar. Relatively small things, but things making sturdy enough squad like Zaragoza not just able to hold its ground, but even prevail.

May be Real Zaragoza would have been satisfied even if they lost the final – they were still the underdog, although having great season. It was a triumph of the working man in a sense, because Real had no famous stars and perhaps was even wise enough to build relatively anonymous squad instead to hire some big names and thus attract the unhealthy interest of Real Madrid and Barcelona. Winning the Cup was fantastic – and even better: the team remained relatively uninteresting and no players were going to the big clubs. Positive final of the season in every aspect, the future was secured. And winning a trophy was priceless: this was the first trophy they won since 1966 in the first final they played since 1976. Altogether, their 3rd Cup.