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GALLERY '60 / 1960 Decade / 1965 European cup final tickets
1965
European Cup Final (Milan)
Internazionale 1 vs. Benfica
0
Internazionale: Sarti, Burgnich, Guameri, Picchi (capt.), Facchetti, Bedin, Suarez,
Corso, Jair, Mazzola, Peiro
Scorer: Jair
Benfica: Costa Pereira, Cavem, Germano, Raul, Cruz, Neto, Coluna (capt.), Jose
Augusto, Torres, Eusebio, Simoes
Inter’s
victory meant that they were automatically entered into the following
season’s competition alongside the Italian champions. 1964 had seen
a rare post-war championship win for Bologna, having beaten Inter in
a play-off, and so they took their place in the European Cup for the
first and, so far, only time. Unfortunately for them, their first
appearance was cut short in the cruellest of circumstances. Having
been held 2-2 on aggregate by Anderlecht, Bologna and the Belgian
champions played a deciding match in Barcelona. With neither team
able to conjure up a goal, the tie was decided by the toss of a coin
and it was Anderlecht who progressed through, ending Bologna’s
debut in the competition. Bologna were not the only team to go out in
this manner, the Poles of Gornik Zabrze met a similarly unlucky fate
after they had been held by Dukla Prague, and that would not be the
last tie to be decided in such an arbitrary way during the 1964/65
season.
The main contenders started the tournament with a
flurry of goals. Liverpool,
making the first of many appearances, put eleven past KR Reykjavik;
Benfica scored ten against Aris Bonnevoie of Luxembourg and then six
against the Swiss side La Chaux-de-Fons; Real Madrid beat the Danes
of Odense 9-2; and the holders Inter, following a first round bye,
cruised past Dinamo Bucharest 7-0. But the big names were all
overshadowed by Nikola Kotkov. Playing for Bulgarian side Lokomotiv
Sofia, Kotkov followed two goals in the first ten minutes by scoring
on 28, 47 and 59 minutes. His incredible five goals in less than an
hour helped his side to an 8-3 first leg win over Malmo which
virtually ensured their passage into round two. Tragically, Kotkov
was to be killed in a car crash just seven years later. Elsewhere in
the second round, the two sides who had squeaked through the first
round on the toss of a coin were dismissed with ease: Dukla Prague
beaten 6-2 by Real Madrid, and Anderlecht defeated by four goals to
nil by Liverpool.
The big match of the quarter-finals was
between two former European champions as Benfica were drawn against
Real Madrid. Real were seeking revenge for their 1962 Final defeat,
as well as being out to prove that they were not the spent force that
many critics had accused them of being after their comprehensive
beating at the hands of Inter back in the previous May. It was soon
clear, however, that they were to be disappointed yet again. By the
time the half time whistle was blown at the first leg in Lisbon,
Benfica were already three goals ahead thanks to Jose Augusto’s
tenth minute strike and a further double from Eusebio. Amancio did
give the Spaniards some hope with a goal just before the hour, but
Simoes and Coluna both went on to score for the home side and give
them a 5-1 lead that not even Real Madrid were likely to recover
from. Real did win the second game 2-1, but they had been well beaten
over the course of the tie and, with the great Di Stefano now having
left for Espanyol, their glory days now seemed to be some way behind
them.
As expected, Benfica were joined in the last four by
Internazionale, although the holders met with stiff resistance from
Glasgow Rangers before overcoming them 3-2 on aggregate. Less
expected semi-finalists were Vasas Budapest who, having previously
knocked out Nikola Kotkov and Lokomotiv Sofia, eliminated DWS
Amsterdam courtesy of a late Povazsai winner. The real drama,
however, came in the remaining quarter-final tie between Liverpool
and the Germans of Cologne. Following the merging of the old German
regional championships, Cologne were the first winners of the new
Bundesliga and had reached this stage with wins over Partizan Tirana
and Panathinaikos. The first leg in Germany saw the hosts bombard the
Liverpool goal, but despite hitting a post and having a goal
disallowed for offside, they were unable to break through and the
score sheet remained blank. The second leg looked set to be a classic
European Cup encounter, but a violent snowstorm led to the game being
called off just as the teams were about to take to the field. The
thousands that were packed into Anfield did not want to leave until
they had their voucher for the rearranged match, thus causing chaos
at the turnstiles which resulted in the last spectators not leaving
the ground until after 1 o’clock in the morning. During the long
wait to get out of the ground, many of the spectators held snowball
fights and ice skating competitions on the pitch to while away the
hours.
Two weeks later, the game did go ahead, but despite
intense Liverpool pressure, there were again no goals, forcing the
two teams to play again in Rotterdam the following week. In the
replay, Cologne found themselves roared on by an overwhelmingly
German crowd, but it was Liverpool who soon took control of the game.
Goals from Ian St John on 20 minutes and a Roger Hunt header which
hit the bar and then came down over the goal line on 37 minutes gave
the English side a 2-0 lead. But there was still more drama to come.
Just before Liverpool’s opening goal, the Cologne midfielder
Wolfgang Weber had broken his shinbone, but he bravely soldiered on
as Cologne struck back. The Germans replied almost immediately with a
Thielen header from a free kick. Then, just after half time, Muller
smashed home a long range shot to even things up again. The rest of
normal time, as well as thirty minutes of extra time failed to
produce a winning goal, and so the tie had to be decided by the
lottery of the toss of a coin.
Referee Robert Schaut called
both captains to the centre circle where he showed them his disc,
coloured Liverpool red on one side and Cologne white on the other. On
the first toss, the disc landed sideways in the mud, but on the
second attempt, the sight of Liverpool captain Ron Yeats leaping in
the air left no one inside the stadium or watching on television, in
any doubt that it was Liverpool who would be taking their place in
the semi-finals.
In order to become the first British side to
reach the European Cup final, however, Liverpool would have to get
past Inter, the reigning European champions. The build up to the
semi-final was not in Liverpool’s favour. On May 1st they went to
Wembley where they won the F.A.Cup for the first time, beating Leeds
United 2-1 after extra time in the final. On May 2nd the team paraded
their newly won trophy through the streets of Liverpool on an open
topped bus. Two days later on May 4th they took the field at Anfield
against Internazionale. It was certainly not the perfect build up,
but despite this, Liverpool rose to the occasion with a thrilling 3-1
win which gave them every chance of reaching the final. It could,
however, have been an even healthier lead. With five minutes of the
first half remaining and with the score at 2-1, Lawler went on a mazy
run that left three Italian defenders trailing in his wake before he
struck a searing left foot shot that fizzed past goalkeeper Sarti and
into the top corner of the net. The crowd roared wildly as they
celebrated a 3-1 lead, but they were soon silenced by the referee who
disallowed the goal due to Hunt being in an offside position. Moments
later Hunt found himself clean through on goal with only the
goalkeeper to beat, but his shot hit Sarti on the knee and the
Liverpool forward could only hold his head in despair. But Liverpool
were well worth their 3-1 win, as Herrera admitted to his Liverpool
counterpart after the game: ’We have been beaten before, but never
defeated. Tonight we were defeated.’
Inspirational manager
Bill Shankly had transformed Liverpool from being a side languishing
in the second division into a club that challenged for and won League
Championships and F.A.Cups on a regular basis. Shankly had put
together a team containing the likes of Ian St John, Roger Hunt, Ian
Callaghan, Peter Thompson and Ronnie Yeats that would reinvigorate
the club and would win the league championship in 1964 and 1966
before going on to further glories. Had it not been for fatigue and
some controversial refereeing decisions, they might even have become
the first British side to win the ultimate prize. European glory,
however, would have to wait for it was Inter that would make their way
to the final.
Inter clawed back one goal from the first leg when, having been
awarded an indirect free-kick that was hotly disputed by their
opponents, Corso curled the ball inside Lawrence’s left post and
the goal was allowed by Spanish referee Ortiz de Mendibil. Even more
controversy was to ensue, however, just ten minutes into the second
game at the San Siro. As the ball ran to the right hand of the
Liverpool penalty area, the goalkeeper Lawrence reached it just
before the Inter forward Peiro, sending the Italian falling to the
ground as they collided. As Lawrence bounced the ball, surveying the
field ahead of him, Peiro got back to his feet and, coming from
behind the goalkeeper, flicked the ball from his hands and rolled it
into the net. The Liverpool players chased after and surrounded the
referee as they vehemently protested his decision to allow the goal
to stand, but to no avail. Seventeen minutes into the second half,
Inter took the lead overall with a beautifully created goal which saw
Corso thread the ball through to Facchetti who raced into the penalty
area to send a shot crashing past Lawrence and into the net.
Internazionale were through, while Liverpool would have to wait a few
more years before they tasted European Cup glory.
The other
semi-final had little of the drama produced by Liverpool and Inter.
Vasas Budapest were beaten by Benfica in their home leg by a single
Jose Augusto goal, and were dismissed by four first half goals to nil
in Lisbon with Eusebio and Torres grabbing a pair of goals each.
Benfica thus had the chance to avenge their 1963 final defeat against
AC Milan by taking on Milan rivals Inter at the same stage, but they
would have to do it the hard way as the final was due to take place
at the Milan clubs shared home of the San Siro.
Before the
final, Herrera spoke confidently of his teams chances: ‘We are now
more conscious of our strength. Last year we were not so sure of
ourselves. Now, with so much in our favour we know we can win well
and win attractively. We hope to lead Europe for many many years.’
With eight of the side that had so brilliantly defeated the great
Real Madrid just three years earlier still in their line-up, however,
Benfica had enough experience to know that they had every chance of
spoiling the San Siro party.
Playing the mighty Internazionale
in front of 89,000 of their fanatical supporters in a wet San Siro stadium,
however, was to prove too much, even for a team as good as Benfica.
The Portugese club had complained to UEFA beforehand at having to
play Inter on their own pitch and had even threatened to send their
youth team, but UEFA were never going to change the venue. Despite an
inspirational performance from their captain Coluna in midfield,
Benfica were undone by a single goal from Jair just before half-time
when his tame shot slipped through the arms of Costa Pereira. Only
one team had managed to score a European Cup goal against Inter at
the San Siro that season, and that had come for Rangers when they
were already three goals behind, so a solitary goal was always likely
to be enough for the holders on their home ground. As expected, the
door bolt was fixed firmly in place throughout the second half and,
with Benfica further hampered by injury to their goalkeeper Costa
Pereira which saw Germano having to take over in goal, the game
petered out with the familiar score line of 1-0 to Inter. The
European Cup stayed in Milan for another year and it looked as though
it would take something remarkable to prise it away. Catenaccio now ruled Europe and, despite what the football world may have said
about its ugliness and negativity, it was proving impossible to
overcome, with Inter now holding the championships of both Europe and
Italy. For many it was as though a dark cloud was hanging over the
continent, but for those in and around Internazionale this was a
glorious era that had no end in sight. Now
they were out to collect a hat-trick of European titles, and there
was no reason to think that Herrera and catenaccio would fail in
their quest.