It
is almost impossible for any soccer fan born in the past two decades to
envision European Football Competitions predating the Champions League.
Today’s
fan has been accustomed to a steady diet of the Top teams on the continent
battling it out week in and week out for virtually the entire year.
The
Champions League, in its current format, is an unstoppable money-spinning
machine.
Despite
its Olympian heights of today, many older fans still bemoan the not too recent
past, where European Competition was a bonus to be savored.
They
miss the Magical Nights when playing in midweek European matches was a special
event that brought with it a special atmosphere and frenzy.
Fans
of more modest teams might be nostalgic of the days when their small team was
drawn against one of the bigger teams and this gave them the opportunity to
witness some of the Legends of the game on their home soil.
Today’s
young fan is probably unaware of terms such as the ‘UEFA Cup’, the ‘Fairs Cup’
or much less the ‘Cup Winners Cup’.
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Photo
From: World Soccer, March 1993
(The
Champions Cup, Cup Winners Cup and UEFA Cup)
|
In
a world before Social Media and Cable Television, these European Competitions
would revolutionize the game and change the landscape of Football forever.
To
get a full appreciation of this phenomenon one must go back to its early
beginnings.
Many
have traced the roots of these competitions to the 'Mitropa Cup'. This was a
competition that started in the 1920s and featured Central European clubs.
By
the 1950s, the World Cup was already established as the Premier Tournament of
World Football. However an equivalent Tournament for European clubs was still
non-existent.
The
main contact between clubs from different Nations was restricted to mostly
friendly exhibition matches.
It
is difficult to imagine that the spark that gave rise to all of this was due to
a simple friendly match between two clubs.
The
Friendly match in question was between English club Wolverhampton Wanderers and
Hungary’s Honved Budapest (featuring Ferenc Puskas and Sandor Koscis among
others) on December 13, 1954, that Wolves 3 to 2.
The
English Press hyped the victory by declaring Wolves as the best team in Europe.
This led Former French International and now journalist
Gabriel Hanot writing in ‘L’Equipe’ to propose the idea of a European Cup where
champions from each country would compete and thus the Champions Cup was
created.
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Photo
From: Coupe Du Monde 1938-La Coupe du Monde Oubliee, Author Victor Sinet
(Gabriel
Hanot)
|
Many
teams and players would become legends of the game because of their success in
these Continental Competitions in the ensuing decades.
This
was also the era where the Television age came to prominence further
highlighting the exploits.
Starting
the Fall of 1955, the Champions Cup was created, whereby League Champions from
the various European Nations faced one another in a knock-out elimination
series (home and away).
Real
Madrid were the primary beneficiaries of this new Competition and cemented
their legendary status (to date) after winning the first five competitions.
Alfredo
Di Stefano became a legend of the game primarily because of Real Madrid’s
domination, as did others in the team such as Francisco Gento.
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Photo
From: Miroir du Football , Issue 21, September 1961
(Alfredo
Di Stefano)
|
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Photo
From: Onze-Mondial, Issue 30, July 1991
(Alfredo
Di Stefano)
|
It
is worth noting that Chelsea, the English League Champions in 1955, had snubbed
the Inaugural Champions Cup due to the urgings of the English FA.
Manchester
United would ignore this request and create their own legend in this new
competition.
At
first, they faced tragedy as Munich Air Disaster on February 6, 1958, took the
lives of many players (as the team was returning from a Champions Cup match in
Belgrade).
An
undeterred Manchester United, under the guidance of Matt Busby, and Bobby
Charlton (one of the survivors) would claw their way back and themselves earned
their iconic status by becoming the First English club to win the Champions Cup
in 1968 (ten years after the Munich Tragedy).
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Photo
From: World Soccer, May 1997
(Nobby
Stiles, May 29, 1968, Champions Cup, Manchester United 4-Benfica 1)
|
Benfica
put Portuguese Football on the map for its successes and also helped to
introduce Eusebio to the continental public.
Dynasties
were built on the strength of success in Europe.
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Photo from:
World Soccer, August 1963
(Eusebio
on the cover of World Soccer Magazine with Giovanni Trapattoni, May 22, 1963,
Champions Cup, AC Milan 2-Benfica 1)
|
Internazionale
Milano owes its status to its victories (despite the negative Catenaccio) in
the Champions Cup of 1964 and 1965. This is how they became ‘Grande Inter’.
Giacinto
Facchetti and many others such as their Spanish star Luis Suarez’s memories are
tied to these victories.
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Photo From:
Guerin Sportivo, April 120-27, 1983
(Internazionale
Milano squad 1964/65)
|
These
victories even made Legends of Managers such as Inter Manager Helenio Herrera
and his counter part at AC Milan, Nereo Rocco, not to mention Bela Guttmann at
Benfica.
Ajax
Amsterdam and Bayern Munich’s successes in the 70s also marked their era in
history.
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Photo From:
Azzurri, Storia della Nazionale di calcio tre volte campioni del Mondo,
1910-1983
(1960s AC Milan Manager
Nereo Rocco and Internazionale’s Helenio Herrera) |
Ajax’s
Johann Cruyff was launched on the International scene due to Ajax’s victories.
These
European Competitions also enabled the entire continent to witness the birth of
new tactical movements.
In
terms of Inter’s Catenaccio it was negative, but in the case of Ajax and Bayern
Munich it was ‘Total Football’ that captivated the continent in a positive way
to signal a rebirth.
 |
Photo From: LIBRO DEL FUTBOL, Fasciculo
12, 1974
(Johann
Cruyff)
|
 |
Photo From:
(Magazine Source unknown) / Contribution From a blog viewer
(Ajax Amsterdam squad, Top,
left to right: Barry Hulshoff, Heinz Stuy, Wim Suurbier, Gerrie Muhren, Dick
van Dijk, , Bottom, left to right: Piet
Keizer, Sjaak Swart, Nico Rijnders, Velibor Vasovic, Johann Cruyff, Johann
Neeskens , June 2, 1971, Champions Cup, Ajax Amsterdam 2-Panathinaikos 0) |
 |
Photo
From: World Soccer, April 1995
(May 17, 1974, Champions Cup, Bayern Munich 4-Atletico Madrid 0) |
Arrigo
Sacchi’s AC Milan is also not only remembered for its victories but for
signaling a new tactical innovation in introducing a pressing attacking style
that is remembered to this day.
 |
Photo From: Onze-Mondial, Issue 26,
March 1991
(Arrigo Sacchi) |
After
a few years it was obvious that these competitions were just too attractive
(and lucrative) to be just restricted to League Champions.
The
‘Inter-Cities Fairs Cup’ was established in the 1950s as well. This was a
competition where clubs were invited from cities holding trade fairs. This
morphed into the current ‘UEFA Cup’ at the start of (1971/72) season, whereby
the top finishers in their respective Leagues qualified.
Starting
1960, the domestic Cup winners also got their own competition, the ‘Cup Winners
Cup’. This competition would always stand out as the weakest of the three, but
was a nevertheless an extra source of competition and revenue for clubs.
It
was not only the winners that have benefited from these competitions.
Even
teams that failed to win trophies lived in the Public’s memory because of these
competitions.
French
club Stade de Reims is remembered for the early days of this competition in the
50s, when they reached the Final twice (both times losing to Real Madrid).
Another
French Club Saint Etienne won the hearts of the French through its European Cup
Adventures during the period of 1974-1977.
Another
less fashionable French Club Bastia is remembered for its UEFA Cup adventure
during the (1977/78) season where they reached the Final (losing to PSV
Eindhoven).
Many
fans remember Scottish side Dundee United’s UEFA Cup adventure of 1987 where
they reached the Final by eliminating the likes of Barcelona and Borussia
Moenchengladbach.
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Photo
From: Onze, Issue 29, May 1978
(Bastia
squad, 1977/78)
|
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Photo From:
Guerin Sportivo, Issue 640 (Number 18), April 29-May 5, 1987
(Dundee
United squad, 1986/87)
|
Hungarian
side Videoton had its moment of glory by reaching the Final of the 1985 UEFA
Cup succumbing only to Real Madrid.
Swedish
club Malmo is remembered for reaching the Champions Cup Final in 1979.
In
the not too distant past, small Spanish club Alaves reached the UEFA Cup final
in 2001.
The
European Competitions coincided with the advent of France Football’s ‘Ballon
d’Or’ award and many players owed their award due to their performances in
Europe. These include Alfredo Di Stefano, George Best, Gianni Rivera, Johann
Cruyff, Oleg Blokhin and Allan Simonsen just to name a few.
Lesser-known
players are also remembered for their exploits in Europe. In France, Paris St.
Germain’s Antoine Kombouare is largely remembered for his last minute header
that eliminated Real Madrid from the UEFA Cup in 1993.
1970s
Liverpool player David Fairclough is remembered as a super-sub after many
efficient match winning appearances after coming on as a substitute during
Liverpool’s European matches in the 1970s.
The
Algerian Rabah Madjer will always be remembered for his back heel goal for
Porto against Bayern Munich in 1987.
 |
Photo From:
France Football, Issue 2450, March 23, 1993
(Antoine
Kombouare after scoring, March
18, 1993, UEFA Cup, Paris Saint-Germain 4-Real Madrid 1)
|
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Photo From: Onze, Issue 138, June 1987
(Rabah Madjer scoring with a backheel, May 27,
1987, Champions Cup, Porto 2-Bayern Munich 1) |
In
time, the Competitions would also expose some of the rising African talent to
the continent. Players such as Salif Keita, Abedi Pele and George Weah would be
introduced to a larger audience via their performances in European
competitions.
The
early Home and away format of the competition made the matches more exciting as
teams would go all out to achieve results. This also led to remarkable comeback
stories of overturning deficits.
Many
remember small French club FC Metz overturning a (2-4) deficit to eliminate the
mighty Barcelona at Camp Nou in 1984.
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Photo From:
Onze, Hors serie 23, 1985
(Metz’s
Toni Kurbos, who scored a hat trick in this match vs. Barcelona, October 3,
1984, Cup Winners Cup, Barcelona 1-Metz 4)
|
In
1996, a struggling Bordeaux side eliminated AC Milan (3-0), overturning a (0-2)
deficit. This match-up launched Zinedine Zidane on the European stage.
West
German Club Bayer Leverkusen overcame a (0-3) deficit against Spanish club RCD
Espanol to level the match (3-0) and win on a penalty kick shoot-out in the
Second Leg Final of the 1988 UEFA Cup.
English
club Queens Park Rangers had appeared to have all but settled the tie after
defeating Yugoslavia’s Partizan Belgrade (6-2) in the (1984/85) UEFA Cup, but
Partizan stormed back to win (4-0) in the return leg and qualify with the away
goals rule.
Real
Madrid in the 1980s made a specialty of overturning seemingly lost deficits to
further highlight the importance of a home crowd atmosphere to galvanize teams.
In
just a few years, the European Competitions had been so successful, that many
players would pick their future destinations based upon the prospect of playing
in Europe for the upcoming season. Playing under the ‘lights’ in Europe in
midweek had become an ambition that players strived for.
European
Qualification was in some cases the minimum objective set by the owners when
hiring Managers. Many Managers were sacked for “failing to qualify for Europe.”
The
barometer to measure a team’s true worth would be based upon their success in
Europe.
This
was also extended to certain players. Some players would be criticized for
being good at the domestic club level, but ‘too fragile’ for the tough away
European battles in far off places.
The
majority of European matches were battles (physically and mentally). Certain
atmospheres at away matches would freeze certain teams and players.
These
early decades were during the height of the ‘Cold war’ and European encounters
between East and West were at times used as Propaganda tools to incite the
fans.
In
fact at times these were the only opportunities that some teams from East and
West would actually have any contact.
This
was not only important in a cultural sense, but the teams would be exposed to
foreign styles of play that would have bearing on the evolution of tactics.
In
those days, even the best Western European teams could never take for granted
any tie in Eastern Europe.
There
were trepidations about visits to Belgrade to face Red Star or Sofia to face
CSKA, not to mention a trip to Kiev to take on Dinamo Kiev.
It
was not just the difficult opponents that the top teams took no delight from,
but it was also trips to unfancied venues such as small stadiums in Cyprus and
Luxembourg.
After
retirement, Michel Platini would often lament the then current format of the
Champions League by pointing out that someone of his caliber had to play in
places like Luxembourg and Malta, but that was no longer the case and unfair to
smaller nations.
It
is hard to imagine Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo having ever played in
venues in Cyprus or Faroe Islands.
The
European Competitions also exposed England’s growing fan violence onto the rest
of the continent. The problems started in the 70s with and ended with the
Tragedy of Heysel in 1985. This led to the ban of English Teams for five years.
These
five years were detrimental for English teams as not only were they punished
financially, but also were cut off from exposure to other playing
styles/Football cultures, etc.
It
would take some time for some of the English teams to have an impact in Europe.
Success
in the Champions Cup was also a motivator in the rise of ambitions Club
Presidents. Olympique Marseille’s Bernard Tapie took over Marseille with the
intent of winning the Champions Cup. He would call it the Cup with ‘Big Ears’.
Vast sums of money on players would be spent to achieve this goal and many
memorable ‘European Nights’ would follow.
By
the mid-to-late 1980s many questions were already being raised about the
uncertain nature of the competitions due to its home and away elimination
format.
Some
of the best teams could potentially be eliminated after only one round.
Given
the sums invested many clubs felt more revenue could be generated with more
matches.
The
first step in ‘protecting’ the bigger clubs was seeding the top teams in the
first round of the (1989/90) edition of the Champions Cup.
However,
this was not enough to quench the ambitions of the bigger clubs who were eyeing
an even more financially satisfying system.
AC
Milan President Silvio Berlusconi was one of the vocal proponents of a
Champions Cup to be played in a League format.
The
idea would take hold and eventually give rise to a mini-League format for the
(1991/92) edition of the Champions Cup.
This
consisted of two early rounds (knockout home and away series) just like before.
Afterwards the surviving eight teams would be placed in two groups and would
play one another in a round robin format. This guaranteed an extra three home
matches and extra revenue. Afterwards only the winners of these Groups would
play one another in the Final.
In
the next season (1992/93), the competition would be officially named the
‘Champions League’ with its won logo and ultimately even its pre-match music.
 |
Photo
From: World Soccer, March 1993
(The
Champions League Logo, 1992/93)
|
The
next edition (1993/94) would feature one more twist. The Group winners would face the opposing Group’s runner-ups
for an extra semifinal round.
The
next season (1994/95), the competition would be reformatted. The two first rounds
would be eliminated and the competition would start with Group phases.
After
a preliminary round, the 16 teams would be placed in four groups of four teams,
followed by the springtime quarterfinals and onwards.
This
system stayed in place until the (1997/98) season where a new modification was
put in place that essentially was the biggest break from tradition. Starting
that edition, League Runner-ups were also now invited to the Champions League.
This
new expanded Champions League would now consist of a first round Group phase of
six groups of four with the top teams and two of the best runner-ups
qualifying.
In
1999, Manchester United became the first League runner-up from a previous
season to triumph in the Champions League.
In
that Fall of 1999, the Champions League was once again reformatted and
resembled closer to what the early proponents had envisioned.
From
that season (1999/2000) not only the runner-ups were invited but even third and
fourth place finishers (the number of participants varied from Nation to Nation
according to different factors).
This
necessitated two Group phases (First phase of 8 groups and the second phase of
4 groups) followed by the quarterfinals, Semis and the Final.
The
two teams that reached the Final would have played 17 matches during the
season. This was virtually half of a regular domestic League campaign.
Meanwhile
the gradual expansions had weakened the two other Competitions. The ‘Cup
Winners Cup’ was altogether scrapped in 1999. The ‘UEFA Cup’ lingered on but it
was not as highly rated, as before as now the Champions League was the most
enticing prospect of any club.
This
Champions League was now restricted to Europe’s elite and teams from ‘smaller’
nations were locked out.
This
new format of the Champions League stayed in place until 2003. As teams felt
two group phases was overkill and detrimental to the physical fitness of the
players. It was decided to scrap the second Group phase, to be replaced with an
extra round of Home and Away series for the Final 16.
This
system has largely remained in place since and appears to be the long-term
‘permanent’ format.
At
the same time the weakening UEFA Cup, tried to rebrand itself by calling itself
the ‘Europa League’ in 2008. However, it was viewed as just that, a name
change, the quality was still draining and dwarfed by the Champions League.
The
‘Europa League’ has slowly devolved into a state of insignificance. Whereas,
decades ago a Manchester United-Ajax matchup would have been enticing, by this
year (2017) it was viewed with disinterest.
The
Champions League may have strengthened the top leagues, however, it has had a
negative effect on some of the other mid-level Leagues.
The
‘Bosman Ruling’ in 1996 strengthened the Top teams competing in the Champions
League and they started buying in larger quantities further weakening these
mid-level Leagues.
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Photo From:
Goal, Issue 16, January 1997
(Jean-Marc
Bosman)
|
Once
upon a time, Anderlecht, Celtic Glasgow, Ajax and Benfica could not only
compete with the teams from the top leagues but could actually from time to
time win trophies on the continental level.
This
has become nearly impossible in the Champions League of the post-Bosman era.
Once
teams like Ajax could build teams and nurture players until they were ready to
be sold once they were the finished article.
But
nowadays, the young prospects get largely bypassed at this level as the top
teams are buying them at a younger age.
A
team like PSV Eindhoven could buy efficiently over a number of years and build
a team good enough to win the Champions Cup (1988).
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Photo From:
Mondial, new series, Issue 106, January 1989
(PSV
Eindhoven squad, Top, left to right: Hans
van Breukelen, Wim Kieft, Hans Gillhaus, Jan Heintze, Ivan Nielsen, Edward
Linskens, Soren Lerby, Ronald Koeman, Gerald Vanenburg, Berry van Aerle,
Eric Gerets , May 25, 1988, Champions Cup, PSV
Eindhoven 0-Benfica 0)
|
Ajax’s
victory in the 1995 Champions League was a rare event for its day, but today it
would be virtually impossible to build a relatively homegrown team to triumph
in Europe.
Similarly,
a modest team like Nottingham Forest would not be able to build a team and win
two Champions Cup as it once did, nor the likes of Aston Villa (1982 Champions
Cup), Aberdeen (Cup Winners Cup 1983) and East Germany’s Magdeburg (Cup Winners
Cup 1974).
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Photo
From: Onze-Mondial, Issue 77, June 1995
(May
24, 1995, Champions League, Ajax Amsterdam 1-AC Milan 0)
|
There
was a time that ‘Cup Winners Cup’ and the ‘UEFA Cup’ were seen as beneficial
tournaments. Not only in generating revenue, but at times they acted as a
stepping stone for teams to later compete in the Champions Cup.
Liverpool
and Borussia Moenchengladbach had their dry runs in the early to mid 1970s in
the UEFA Cup before facing one another in the 1977 Final of the Champions Cup.
Former
1980s Liverpool defender Mark Lawrenson actually felt that facing teams in the
UEFA Cup was sometimes more difficult as the teams in the UEFA Cup were on
their growing phase and stronger and by the time they reached the Champions
Cup, they were already on the downward scale.
Barcelona
and Sampdoria faced one another in the 1989 Final of the Cup Winners Cup before
facing each other in the Final of the Champions Cup in 1992.
Manchester
United built up on its 1991 Cup Winners Cup success to claw its way to the
European elite.
The
Champions Cup and now the Champions League have impacted the game like no other
club competition in history.
The
strength of the competition has created a small elite of clubs that can afford
to spend vast sums of money to build super teams to have a tilt at this
prestigious award.
Surprises
are far and few in between as the same teams have any realistic chance of
winning. Every few seasons, a team outside of this elite confounds the critics
and does surprisingly well (ex. Porto, Monaco 2004, PSV Eindhoven 2005),
however, at the offseason all their precious assets are sold off to the highest
bidders and they are back to square one and back to rebuilding.
Much
has changed in this competition in sixty years. New generations of fans have
grown up watching men enter the field holding a child’s hand and listening to
the Champions League Music prior to kickoffs.
They
have witnessed Football at the top level involving the best of the best.
However,
these fans perhaps have never experienced the frenzied atmospheres of the
European Nights of the not too distant past.
Experiencing
exciting overturning deficits are much rare nowadays as the bulk of the
competition takes place in the Group phase.
Barcelona’s
‘Remontada’ against Paris St. Germain this past season was an anomaly.
Fans
do not get to wait in anticipation for the month of March when the Euro
competitions would resume at the Quarterfinal phase.
These
days, European Competition starts a month sooner due to fixture congestion.
In
another break with Tradition, the Final (since 2010) has been switched from the
midweek to Saturday to accommodate younger fans.
While, it is natural to be nostalgic of the
Football of one’s youth, nevertheless, one must accept that the game evolves
through the decades and perhaps today’s younger fans in two decades will look
back at these days as ‘the best era ever.’
