1973-1985: The Golden Years

If you look back at the history books, they will tell you that when Liverpool retained the European cup in 1978, they only had to play seven matches (having got a bye as holders in the first round) and that they had the advantage of playing the final at Wembley. But that shouldn't detract from the achievement of winning the giant cup again or the way they reached it by thrashing Dynamo Dresden (5-1) and Benfica (4-1) at Anfield on their way to the semi-final. Borussia switched their home leg from the small Bokelberg stadium where Liverpool had clinched the UEFA cup in 1973 to a bigger one at Dusseldorf which had almost twice the capacity.

When David Johnson headed an equaliser with just two minutes left, it looked to have given Liverpool a clear advantage for the second leg but a last-minute free-kick from Rainer Bonhof restored the Germans' lead. At Anfield Ray Kennedy's early header eased the nerves and before half-time Kenny Dalglish had put Liverpool ahead on aggregate. Jimmy Case's second-half goal turned a difficult task into a comfortable win and as the players left the field they learned that Bruges would again be their opponents in a European final. 

Having to play a final at a supposedly neutral venue when their own supporters were outnumbered 10 to 1 must have been a daunting task - but no more daunting than the task which Liverpool faced in Rome in 1984! The Belgians concentrated on defence and frustrated the Liverpool team and supporters. When Terry McDermott broke through from midfield early in the second half a goal looked likely but Jensen smothered the shot and Bruges survived until the 65th minute when Souness's clever pass and Dalglish’s neat finish gave the Reds a lead they only once looked like losing - and that was more down to bad defending than anything else!  Hansen put Clemence in all sorts of trouble with a woeful back-pass but Phil Thompson was aware of the danger and raced back to clear off the line.

That was the only clear chance Bruges had in the whole game. Perhaps nobody really expected as open a game as the one which had secured the trophy 12 months before. This was the first of six successive European cup finals which would end 1-0; five of them won by English clubs. (Liverpool 1-0 Bruges at Daily Motion)

Nottingham Forest had surprised the football world by taking the First Division championship only 12 months after they came out of the Second Division. It was very much against the odds that the two English clubs would be drawn together in the first round of 1978-79 but it still happened! Probably Liverpool would have been better off playing a continental side. Maybe they wouldn't have chased the game as much as they did in Nottingham after going a goal behind? Barrett's second goal for the Midlanders in the last minute made Liverpool's task even more difficult and despite showing a lot of passion on the night they just couldn't find a way past Peter Shilton in either game.

There was a first round defeat a year later too. Dynamo Tbilisi survived the expected Anfield onslaught and returned to Georgia with a 1-2 deficit but scored three times in the second half at their own stadium to put the Reds out. After winning the coveted European trophy two years running, those early exits were hard to take but there was ample compensation domestically when perhaps the best Liverpool team ever won the championship in 1979 and then retained it a year later.

In 1980 it was Forest who found themselves in the same position as Liverpool in 1978, trying to win the European cup for the third year in a row. But they were knocked out by CSKA Sofia, the club that Liverpool would meet in the quarter-final after comfortably disposing of Oulu and Aberdeen in the first two rounds.

Graeme Souness's hat-trick at Anfield in a convincing 5-1 victory made the trip to Bulgaria an easy one and David Johnson actually increased Liverpool's aggregate lead with the only goal of the game in Sofia. Bayern Munich frustrated Liverpool at Anfield and seemed to have one foot in the Paris final after getting a 0-0 draw. They were even complacent enough to print details of how to get to the French capital by the time the second leg was played in Munich - but Liverpool had other ideas! A weakened team was weakened even more when a horrible challenge put Dalglish out of the game early on but his substitute, Howard Gayle, ran the Bayern defence ragged for an hour before he was in turn replaced by Jimmy Case.

Colin Irwin and Richard Money, two men with very little experience of such an important game, were superb at the back but with David Johnson hobbling out on the wing it seemed unlikely that Liverpool would make the first, important breakthrough. But Johnson found the space and the composure to pick out Ray Kennedy 7 minutes from time and his low right-foot shot put Liverpool into the lead. A late Bayern equaliser couldn't hide the fact that this was a truly memorable performance against all the odds.

There were five weeks between the second leg of the semi-final and the final itself, time enough for experienced players like Thompson, Dalglish and Alan Kennedy to recover from their injuries. A dour final with Real Madrid was settled near the end when Alan Kennedy raced on to a throw-in and drove the ball past Agustin from a narrow angle, the Spanish 'keeper having come slightly off his line to anticipate a cross which never came!  Liverpool had regained their crown as the continent’s premier club. (Liverpool 1-0 Real Madrid at Daily Motion)