1975 European Cup Final

Lore & Background

As defending champions of the European Cup, Bayern Munich received a bye in the first round, while Leeds progressed through four rounds to reach the final. Bayern's matches were generally close affairs. They beat Soviet team Ararat Yerevan 2–1 on aggregate in the quarter-finals and won their semi-final tie against French team Saint-Étienne 2–0 on aggregate. Leeds matches ranged from close affairs to comfortable victories. They beat Hungarian team Újpest 5–1 on aggregate in the second round, while they beat Barcelona of Spain 3–2 on aggregate in the semi-final. Watched by a crowd of 48,374, Leeds had the best of the opening exchanges of the match and had two appeals for a penalty kick turned down by the referee Michel Kitabdjian. Bayern suffered two injuries in the first half, to defender Björn Andersson and striker Uli Hoeneß, following strong tackles by Leeds players. A Peter Lorimer goal for Leeds in the 62nd minute was disallowed, when Billy Bremner was adjudged to be offside. Franz Roth scored in the 71st minute for Bayern and Gerd Müller extended the lead ten minutes later, to secure a 2–0 victory for Bayern. It was Bayern's second consecutive victory in the competition, although they failed to retain their Bundesliga title, finishing in 10th place. Riots by the Leeds fans during the match led to UEFA banning the club from European competition for four years, although this was reduced to two years on appeal.

In Their Own Story

The rain at the Parc des Princes seemed to mirror the tension in the air. For ninety minutes, the roar of the crowd was a distant hum against the thud of boots on mud. Then, in the dying moments of extra time, the impossible happened. A loose ball fell to Müller, and with his characteristic instinct, he struck it true. The net rippled, and suddenly, the German fans were screaming as if the gates of heaven had opened. Beckenbauer, the Kaiser, raised his arms not just for a goal, but for history itself. In that moment, under the Parisian lights, Bayern Munich was no longer just a club; they were an empire.

Reader's Guide

Bayern Munich were appearing in what would be their second of three consecutive European Cup finals, all of which they would win. The Bavarian side contained many great players such as Franz Beckenbauer, Gerd Müller and Uli Hoeneß, who had featured heavily in West Germany's 1974 World Cup victory the previous season, and as such were heavy favourites. In the 1974–75 Bundesliga season, Bayern had a serious slump after winning the previous three German championships. This was said to be caused by motivational deficits, especially as six of the Bayern players also won the 1972 European Championship and the 1974 World Cup. To boot, at the start of the season Paul Breitner moved to Real Madrid. Bayern became the domestically worst-performing winner of the European Champions Cup up to then, finishing only 10th in the Bundesliga with a negative goal difference. Only Aston Villa would do domestically worse in the year of their European title win. In 1982, when they defeated Bayern 1–0 in the final, the team from Birmingham finished 11th in the First Division but a positive goal difference. For Bayern coach Dettmar Cramer, who took over from Udo Lattek early in the season, this was the first of three international club titles. He remained without domestic silverware. Franz Roth scored for the second time in a European final, after the Cup Winners' Cup final in 1967, putting Bayern ahead 1–0 in this final, and drew level with Sandro Mazzola from Italy's Inter Milan, who achieved this in the champions' finals 1964 and 1967. For Leeds United – only the second English club to reach the final after Manchester United in 1968, and the second team in history to reach the finals of all three European cup competitions after FC Barcelona – the game was the climax of the 'glory years' of the team built by former manager Don Revie. Among the stars of the team were the Scottish internationals Billy Bremner and Peter Lorimer. This would be the club's last appearance in a major cup final until they reached the 1996 League Cup final. Like Bayern Munich, Leeds also had a rather poor season domestically; the experienced, but now aging side had finished only 9th in the First Division. Thus, only the winner of the final between Bayern and Leeds would be entitled to participate in the European Cup competition the following season.

Did You Know?

• Leeds United dominated most of the match and had a number of near misses, while Bayern created few chances.
• After three minutes, Bayern's Swedish international defender Björn Andersson had his leg broken by Terry Yorath while the ball was not in play; Yorath was not sent off.
• In the 23rd minute, Bayern captain Franz Beckenbauer was in his own penalty box on the ground and rested on his left arm which subsequently came into contact with the ball; the referee denied Leeds' penalty appeal.
• In the 34th minute, the referee denied Leeds a penalty after Beckenbauer tripped Allan Clarke.
• Uli Hoeneß suffered a serious knee injury in the 37th minute after turning awkwardly on the pitch, which would ultimately bring his career to a premature end in 1979.