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GALLERY '60 / 1960 Decade / 1968 European cup final tickets
1968
European Cup Final (London)
Manchester United 4 vs. Benfica 1
Manchester
United: Stepney, Brennan, Foulkes, Crerand, Dunne, Charlton (capt), Stiles,
Best, Kidd, Sadler, Aston
Scorers: Charlton 2, Best, Kidd
Benfica: Henrique, Adolfo, Humberto, Jacinto, Cruz, Graca, Coluna (capt), Jose
Augusto, Torres, Eusebio, Simoes
Scorer: Graca
Since
the Munich Air Disaster of 1958, Manchester United had slowly rebuilt
their side as they attempted to win the European Cup trophy that they
had seemed destined to claim before tragedy had struck on that
fateful icy German night. Matt Busby, who had only just survived the
crash himself, had the onerous task of creating yet another side that
could compete with the best in Europe. The recovery had begun with an
F.A.Cup win in 1963 followed by a championship victory in 1965.
Having despatched Benfica so ruthlessly in the following seasons
European Cup, United had seemed destined to realise their European
dream in 1966, but their unexpected defeat by Partizan Belgrade had
put paid to that. Undaunted, Busby’s side won back the championship
in 1967 and prepared for what was possibly their last chance to
become champions of Europe. With those that were left from Munich –
Busby, Charlton and Foulkes – coming to the end of their respective
careers, it was thought by many that yet another rebuilding process
would soon be necessary at Old Trafford and that it could be many
years before a new manager could create another side capable of
succeeding at such a high level. The 1967/68 European Cup campaign,
therefore, was probably the last chance that Busby and Charlton would
have to finally become European champions, and possibly the last
opportunity that Manchester United would have for many years to
come.
The 1967/68 competition saw the introduction of two
new regulations.
Firstly, a seeding system would ensure that the teams from countries
that had already supplied finalists would be kept apart until the
later stages of the competition. Secondly, a new ruling that sought
to separate two evenly matched teams without the need for playing a
replay was introduced. It was decided by UEFA that ties in the first
round that finished level after two legs would be decided by doubling
the value of goals scored away from home.
In other words, the team that had scored the most away goals would go
through. One of the teams to benefit immediately was a former winner
of the competition. Benfica were considered overwhelming favourites
to dispose of the Belfast club Glentoran in the opening round, but it
took a late Eusebio equaliser in Northern Ireland to salvage a 1-1
draw in the first leg and the return game remained goalless – thus
Benfica sneaked through to the second round courtesy of the new away
goals rule.
But if the first round had provided the former
winners with a scare, things were even worse for the new holders of
the trophy. Having thrilled the world with their swashbuckling
victory over Inter in the 1967 final, much was expected of Celtic as
they attempted to defend their title, but sadly for them, they went
crashing out at the first hurdle. Having been drawn against the
Russians of Dynamo Kiev, Celtic went on all out attack at home in an
attempt to build up a sizeable first leg lead, but up against the
massed defence and swift counter attacks of Dynamo, they were undone
by conceding two early goals and could only muster one Lennox goal in
response. With the new away goals rule in force, it was a deficit
that was even harder to recover from than before. Their task was made
even more difficult after 55 minutes in Kiev when Bobby Murdoch was
booked for throwing the ball away in disgust following a free kick
decision. As he had been booked in the first half for disputing
another free kick award, he was ordered from the pitch. Murdoch
appeared stunned and refused to move until his manager ran to the
touchline and told him to come off. The Celtic man walked off,
tearfully holding his head in his hands. Bobby Lennox did pull a goal
back just four minutes later to give Celtic a chance, but their exit
was confirmed by a last minute Kiev goal, and just over four months
after that glorious night in Portugal when the ‘Lisbon Lions’ had
snatched the European Cup from Inter’s grasp, Celtic were
out.
There was drama elsewhere as the old masters of Real
Madrid were drawn against Europe’s up and coming stars from Ajax
Amsterdam. Johan Cruyff gave Ajax the lead in Holland before Pirri equalised to earn the Spaniards a
1-1 draw. After 90 minutes in Madrid the two teams were still locked
together after another 1-1 stalemate and it was not until nine
minutes from the end of extra time that Veloso dribbled through the
Ajax defence and scored for Real to send them through to the second
round.
The second round set few problems for the fancied teams
left in the competition, and the quarter-finals also produced the
expected results, although a couple of the major sides had to battle
hard to reach the semi-finals. Benfica and Real Madrid may have
despatched Vasas Budapest and Sparta Prague respectively with
relative ease, but Manchester United and Juventus both endured
tighter contests. The Italians, having lost 3-2 to Eintracht
Brunswick in Germany needed a Bercellino penalty just two minutes
from time to earn a replay in Berne which they won by another
Bercellino spot kick, while United’s 2-0 home win over Gornik
Zarbrze – conquerors of Kiev - came courtesy of an own goal and a
last minute Brian Kidd strike. In the return, on a hard snow covered
pitch, the English champions had to hold on for the last twenty
minutes after Gornik made the aggregate score 2-1 on aggregate. But
in the end it was Manchester United who joined Juventus, Benfica and
Real Madrid in the mouth watering semi-finals.
Since bursting
onto the scene in Benfica’s European Cup triumph over Barcelona in
1961, Eusebio had gone on to become one of the pre-eminent stars of
world football. Benfica were on course to win their seventh
Portuguese championship in nine years and had played in four of the
previous seven European Cup finals. Eusebio had played a major role
in his sides success and had been rewarded with the European
Footballer of the Year award in 1965. ‘The Black Pearl’ had also
been one of the best players in the 1966 World Cup as he led Portugal
to the semi-finals. Now, with four European Cup goals already under
his belt for the season, he was the driving force behind Benfica’s
qualification for yet another final as they eliminated Juventus in
the semi-final. Second half goals from the six foot six inch Torres
and the graceful Eusebio gave the home side a 2-0 lead after the
first leg in Lisbon, and a 66th minute goal thanks to a 30 yard
free-kick from a hobbling Eusebio in the return game was enough to
see Benfica through to their fifth European Cup Final.
Before
the other semi-final between Manchester United and Real Madrid,
United manager Matt Busby forecast that: ‘If the tension does not
become too great, this could be a classic match. The old Real Madrid
had a touch of magic about them. Now, after rebuilding, they are
moving back towards greatness.’ He was certainly proved correct
about the encounter turning out to be a classic, although it began
relatively quietly at Old Trafford where the first leg was played.
There was only one goal in the match as Best pounced on Aston’s low
cross on 37 minutes to hammer the ball into the net. Most observers
felt that a single goal lead was not enough for Manchester United to
take to Spain for the return game.
For the first half hour in
the Bernabeu it looked as though Real would be unable to break
through the United rearguard. With the visitors playing a defensive
4-4-2 formation, the Spaniards were struggling to get past the two
banks of four players that stood between them and the goal. Amancio
had been well shepherded by United’s midfield terrier Nobby Stiles,
but on 32 minutes he was finally able to escape from his opponents
attentions as he prepared to take a free kick just outside the
penalty area. As Amancio chipped the ball in towards the goal, Pirri
appeared from nowhere to head it powerfully into the net and even up
the aggregate scores.
Real then took over the game and
produced the sort of football that they had played when ruling over
the continent in past years. Amancio was now leaving Stiles trailing
in his wake and was running the game. Within ten minutes of the
opening goal, Real struck again. The veteran Gento, still playing on
the wing for Real nearly twelve years after appearing for them in the
first European Cup Final, seized on a long clearance just inside
United’s half , swept past the defender, sped into the penalty area
and hammered the ball into the corner of the net to score a
spectacular and crucial goal. It looked as though that would be the
end for United as Real were now completely on top, but the English
side were about to be thrown a lifeline as Real’s Zoco sliced the
ball into his own net just three minutes after his side had taken an
overall lead. Within two minutes, however, Real were back in front as
Amancio got free once more and shot his side into a 3-1 lead.
The
Spaniards continued to dominate the match as it entered the second
half, but gradually they began to tire and Manchester United started
to claw their way back into the tie. The aggregate scores were
levelled once again on 72 minutes when Best headed on a free kick and
Sadler flicked the ball inside the post with his knee. With their
tails up, the English side continued to press forward looking now for
the winning goal. The crucial strike came just six minutes later and
it was fitting that Bill Foulkes should be the man to finally put
Manchester United into a European Cup Final. A survivor of the Munich
Air Crash, Foulkes had played in three losing European Cup semi-finals for United and
was now the oldest member of the side. On a draining and emotional
night it was Foulkes who ran forward to latch onto a perfect pass
from Best and side foot the ball into the corner of the net to level
the scores on the night, and put his team on the brink of the final.
This time Real could not come back and Manchester United had finally
made it to the European Cup Final, and to cap it all, the final that
year was to be played at Wembley Stadium where they would be roared
on by tens of thousands of their own supporters.
On a hot and
humid May night in London, Wembley was packed to the rafters as
Manchester United sought to become the first English side to win the
European Cup. They were without star striker Denis Law, missing
through injury, but they still had Best and Charlton in their ranks
while Benfica looked to Eusebio, the giant Torres and Jose Augusto to
provide the stroke of genius that might just win the match. With both
sides normally wearing red shirts, they both wore a change kit with
United in blue and Benfica in white.
The early stages of the
game were dominated by the fear that each side had for their
principle opponents. Following George
Best’s performance in United’s thrashing of Benfica in Lisbon some two
years earlier, it was understandable that one of coach Otto Gloria’s
main priorities was to mark ‘El Beatle’ out of the game. Equally,
Matt Busby knew that Eusebio was the man most likely to cause his
side problems, so the hard tackling Nobby Stiles was instructed to
keep ‘The Black Pearl’ quiet. With the two most skilful players
being so tightly marked, the first half of the game was dull and
uninspiring with brutal tackles being committed all over the pitch
and neither side taking command, although Eusebio did escape Stiles
once when he hit the bar. Eight minutes into the second half,
however, the deadlock was broken. With the Benfica defence keeping so
tight on Best, Bobby Charlton found himself in more space and it was
he who rose to head a Sadler cross into the top corner of the
net.
United had the lead, but Benfica were not broken, indeed
as the game wore on they appeared to get stronger as they put more
and more pressure on the United defence. Eventually, with just ten
minutes remaining, the Portuguese side got their reward as Torres
headed the ball across the area to the feet of Jaime Graca who beat
Stepney in the United goal to level the scores. Benfica now showed
the skill and poise that had seen them win two European titles in the
past, and in the final moments of the game they almost scored the
goal that would have won them their third European Cup. The game was
in its dying moments when finally Eusebio broke free of Stiles and
the rest of the English defence and found himself through on goal
with just Stepney the goalkeeper to beat. It looked as though the
most famous player in Portugal and Benfica’s history was about to
seal a famous victory, but Stepney gambled on Eusebio wanting to
blast the ball spectacularly into the net, so he stayed on his feet
as long as possible. Sure enough, Eusebio smashed the ball as hard as
he could, but saw it go straight into Stepney’s chest and away.
Eusebio turned and patted Stepney on the shoulder to acknowledge the
save, but he should have won the game for Benfica.
The final
whistle that followed soon afterwards meant that the game was to go
into extra time and, despite having just missed a glorious chance,
Benfica still looked the stronger side as the United players slumped
wearily on the Wembley turf. Appearances, however, were deceptive as
Manchester United would take only ten more minutes to win the game.
Two minutes into extra time it was George Best finally breaking free
of the Benfica shackles, but unlike Eusebio moments earlier, he would
take his chance. Latching onto a header from Kidd, Best skipped past
one tackle, rounded Henrique in the Benfica goal and calmly slotted
the ball into an empty net. A minute later and it was 3-1 as a
penalty box free for all ended with Kidd heading into the goal. On 99
minutes, Bobby Charlton scored another headed goal as he guided a
Kidd cross past Henrique, and the cup was United’s at last.
On
the final whistle there were emotional scenes as survivors of the
Munich disaster embraced tearfully. Twelve years on from that fateful
night, Matt Busby’s dream of bringing the European Cup to Old
Trafford had finally been realised. Many would argue that this team
was not as good as the one destroyed in the snow and ice of Munich,
but they had finished what those Busby Babes had started all those
years ago and finally achieved the European ‘Holy Grail.’ Otto
Gloria commented after the match: ‘Manchester United are very good
and they had a big advantage at Wembley. Some of the Benfica players
like Torres and Coluna felt some difficulty early on with knocks and
could not produce the football they normally would. The title is in
very good hands.’
It was fitting that Bobby Charlton, one of
the Busby Babes who had survived to see this glorious night for
Manchester United, should be the man to lift the European Cup. After
Busby refused a request from some of his senior players to collect
the cup himself, it was Charlton who held the trophy aloft to the
roar of the tens of thousands of United fans squeezed into Wembley,
including the relatives of those who had died at Munich and the
survivors of the crash. United
had finally achieved their dream, but they had also followed Celtic’s
win for Scotland by bringing the European Cup to England for the
first time.
With the World Cup also residing in England, it seemed that the
balance of footballing power in Europe had moved to the British
Isles. Come the start of the next season, however, both Manchester
United and Celtic would come up against the likes of Real Madrid,
Benfica and AC Milan who would be anxious to reclaim Latin dominance.
But for now United could bask in their glory and celebrate the final
achievement of a dream begun by the legendary Busby Babes all those
years ago.