Thursday, May 23, 2024

European Cup Final 1976-1977

Liverpool FC 3-1 VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach European Cup Final - 1976-1977

Spain, Portugal, Italy, Holland and Germany. All had dominated the European Champion Clubs' Cup. But now it was the turn of English football, starting with Liverpool FC in 1976/77. In a repeat of the 1973 UEFA Cup final, the Anfield club defeated VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 with goals from Terry McDermott, Tommy Smith and Phil Neal.

How Mönchengladbach, who had revived briefly with Allan Simonsen's equaliser, must have hated the sight of Bob Paisley's men. For everything had been in place for them to succeed holders FC Bayern München as the 1. Bundesliga's chief flag-bearer, Udo Lattek's team had restored German pride by knocking out Bayern's quarter-final nemesis, FC Dynamo Kyiv, 2-1 on aggregate in the semis. That was their last stop on the road to Rome after earlier wins over FK Austria Wien, Torino Calcio and Club Brugge KV.

Liverpool, meanwhile, had been going places all season, chasing an English first division/FA Cup double (though they would eventually have to settle for the former). Their claim to the main prize, however, materialised only in the round of eight, when after routine wins against Crusaders FC and Trabzonspor they ousted the previous year's runner-up, AS Saint-Etienne. Liverpool's 3-1 home success made up for a 1-0 loss on French soil, and set up a 6-1 semi-final thumping of FC Zürich. The final itself belonged to the inspirational Kevin Keegan, the English international outshining European footballer of the year Simonsen on his farewell appearance for the Reds.


Liverpool:   Clemence, Neal, Jones, Smith, Kennedy, Hughes, Keegan, Case, Heighway, Callaghan, McDermott
Unused Subs:   Fairclough, McDonnell, Johnson, Waddle, Lindsay
Goal's:   McDermott (27), Smith (64), Neal (pen 82)
Borussia Moenchengladbach:   Kneib, Vogts, Schaefer, Wittkamp, Klinkhammer, Wohlers (Hannes 79), Wimmer (Kulik 24), Stielike, Bonhof, Simonsen, Heynckes
Unused Subs:   Kieff, Del Haye, Heidenrich
Goal's:   Simonsen (51)
Booking:   Stielike
Referee:   Robert Wurtz
Att:   56,000
Venue:   Stadio Olimpico, Rome
Kick Off:   19:15

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Liverpool FC 2024-2025 Season Summary
Competition Pos P W D L CS FtS F A GD
Premier League 1st 14 11 2 1 7 1 29 11 18
Champions League Phase One 6 6 0 0 5 0 13 1 12
FA Cup   0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
League Cup Quarter-Final 2 2 0 0 0 0 8 3 5
22 19 2 1 12 1 39 15 +24

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