The Balkan clubs once stunned the world by snatching
the European Cup title, the old UCL, twice before UEFA rebranded the
competition.
Winning the UEFA Champions League is probably the
ultimate achievement for a European club, even more prestigious than the FIFA
Club World Cup, at least in the current version. The prize and prestige of
lifting the UCL trophy are simply incomparable. Today, it is highly unthinkable
to see clubs outside the top five leagues snatch the title.
Since its rebranding in 1992, Jose Mourinho’s FC
Porto became the only club outside the major European league to win the
competition back in 2004. Thus, hoping Turkish, Belgian, Swiss, or even the duo
Old Firm rivals, Glasgow Celtic and Rangers, to clinch the title is rather
preposterous in the modern era, let alone the Balkan sides such as those from
Eastern Europe.
However, things were different in the past.
Having an unlikely champion was more plausible. Two Balkan clubs, Steaua
Bucharest and Red Star Belgrade, were living proof that winning UEFA’s
top-flight competition was not as challenging as it is today. So, how did they
manage to lift the trophy?
The Limited Participants
Prior to 1997, the UEFA Champions League was an
exclusive club competition. The participants were limited to the domestic
league winners. Therefore, only five to seven or eight elite sides played in
the competition from the first edition in the 1955–56 season to 1996–97. Only
five or six of them came from the top five major leagues, plus the reigning
champions.
The Tournament’s Format
The competition format in the old UCL was
entirely different from what we have today. In the past, teams started off with
the knockout stage instantly instead of the group stage. It meant the opponents
would only be decided through a draw. The minnows, or non-elite sides, could
avoid taking on the big teams if they were lucky.
The group stage itself was only introduced in the
1994–95 season as a preliminary round. Previously, it was included in the
competition format from 1991 to 1994 but as a final-four-in-a-round-robin
system to determine the finalists.
The Advantage of Early Finals
Such a format inevitably led to the early finals,
the matches between elite clubs in the earlier stage before the final or even
semifinal. It gave the non-elite sides an extra advantage, allowing them to
pass without difficulty. Both Steaua Bucharest and Red Star Belgrade happened
to enjoy such ‘luxury’ while winning their silverware.
The Continental Ban
The continental ban was imposed on all English clubs between
1986 and 1990 due to the Heysel tragedy, which involved Liverpool fans
during the 1985 European Cup final. The Reds were even suspended for another
year in the 1990–91 season. Such a ban came at the wrong time since English
clubs were at the peak of their European dominance. Except in 1983, they always
sent one club to the summit from 1977 to 1985 and lifted the trophy in seven
editions.
Moreover, Ajax Amsterdam had to serve a one-yearban too in the 1990–91 season due to acts of violence by their fans in the previous season. They reportedly threw an iron bar at Franz Wohlfahrt, Austria’s goalie,
when their team was trailing on goal aggregate in the 1990 UEFA Cup first
round. The game was abandoned, and the Amsterdammers suffered a 3-0 loss as a
sanction for their fans.
Unsurprisingly, there were four unlikely
champions during the same period of the ban. Steaua and Red Star were not the
only teams who optimised their advantage from the English clubs’ absence. FC
Porto and PSV Eindhoven were touted as the unexpected winners as well.
In regard to the Balkan clubs’ surprising
victorious campaign, check out how they went all the way to the final and
clinched the Big Ears trophy for the first time and probably the last time.
Steaua Bucharest in the 1986 European Cup
Marius Lacatus and Co. began their campaign with
a convincing 5-2 win on aggregate against Danish Vejle in the first round,
followed by an emphatic 4-1 win over Budapest Honved at their home turf in the
second leg to avenge their 1-0 defeat in the reverse fixture.
In the round of 8, Emerich Jenei’s men had to
struggle to see off Finland’s Kuusysi. They could only muster a goalless draw
at home in the first leg. Thanks to Vitor Piturca’s goal in the 86th
minute in the Helsinki Olympic Stadium, which sent them to the semifinal. This
time, they were lucky not to face off against Bayern Munich, which was sent
home earlier by Anderlecht. Yet they did not grab the win easily. In fact, they
were stunned by Enzo Scifo’s goal in the first leg away from home. Fortunately,
there was only one goal deficit as the Romanian champions managed to dismantle
the Belgian side 3-0 at home. Vitor Piturca’s brace helped them secure the
final berth.
In the summit, Steaua met Terry Venables' Barcelona, the
favourite, who had a home advantage too, as the final was staged at the Estadio
Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan. Both deployed a 4-4-2 formation. It was a tight affair,
but Blaugrana should have ended the game without penalties, as they had at
least six chances from Bernd Schuster, Angel Pedraza, Gerardo, and two from the
Scottish frontman, Steve Archibald. Unfortunately, none had a clinical finish,
plus one goal almost at the end of the extra time was ruled out. Meanwhile, the
Romanian side tended to count on long-range shots to break the deadlock.
Finally, there came the shootout. The Catalan
sides were quite confident at first, but their shot stopper, Javier
Urruticoechea, managed to deny the first two attempts. However, it was their
executors who were to blame, since none of them successfully found the back of
the net. What was worse, all were saved by Helmuth Duckadam, Steaua’s unlikely
hero, while the Romanian champion succeeded in their last two penalties.
Red Star Belgrade in the 1991 European
Cup
The Yugoslavian side had a better campaign on the
way to the final. In the first two rounds, Robert Prosinecki and Co. eased past
Grashopper and Glasgow Rangers with a 5-2 and 4-1 win on aggregate,
respectively.
In the quarterfinal, Ljupko Petrovic’s men edged
out East Germany’s Dynamo Dresden in a 6-0 win on aggregate. In the semifinal,
Red Star was able to pick up a 2-1 win on the road against Bayern in the first
leg, whereas in the second leg, they shared spoils in a 2-2 draw.
In the summit, Red Star faced off against
Olympique Marseille, which was held in San Nicola, Bari. The game was
relatively even, although it was the French side that had more golden
opportunities, one from Jean Pierre Papin and two from Chris Waddle. The match
had to be decided in a shootout after a stalemate for 120 minutes. Red Star was handed the advantage on penalties as they had done in on regular basis because back then in Yugoslavian league all ties must be decided in a shootout. OM’s first
executor, Manuel Amoros, was the only one who failed to score. The Big Ears
finally went to the Balkans once again after five years.
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