ImagesGetty ImagesA DRAMATIC n IGHT In MADRID
Manchester United reached their first-ever European Cup final
by coming from behind to draw against the mighty Real Madrid
Below Pat
Crerand, Matt
Busby and
George Best
hold the
European Cup
during their
celebrations at
a London hotel
after the finalthe final, which was goalless at half-time after both teams, seemingly
gripped with tension, cancelled each other out.
“We were a bit down at half-time,” Best has recalled. “We hadn’t
played near our best, but Matt told us, ‘Let’s keep playing it around
and get at them a bit more. Let’s frighten them.’”
It took only seven minutes for United to take the lead when Bobby
Charlton met David Sadler’s cross with a looping header that evaded
the Benfica keeper José Henrique.
United protected their lead until ten minutes from the end when
Jaime Graça scored with a low shot across Alex Stepney, and soon
after, Benfica had the chance to win the game when Eusébio found
himself free and advanced on United’s goal.
“I was horrified to see Eusébio bearing down on us,” Charlton has
recalled. But Stepney came out to narrow the angle and Eusébio
opted to beat him with power instead of placement, with a shot the
United keeper managed to hold on to. “It thudded into my chest,”
Stepney has said. “We played with a Mitre ball and I said the make of
the ball was imprinted backwards on my shirt! I admit it did hurt me.”
Minutes later the referee blew for the end of normal time and
United’s exhausted players sat on the Wembley turf as Busby spoke
to them. “They’re getting tired, they’re not used to this pitch,” he said
pointing to the Benfica players. “Let’s go back to what we were doing
before. Let’s keep the ball and make them do all the running.”
Two minutes in to extra time a long clearance from Stepney was
flicked on by Brian Kidd to Best, who beat Fernando Cruz before going
around the keeper and knocking the ball into an empty net to give
United a lead they would not lose.
The goal would deflate the Portuguese and inspire United, who
scored twice more in the next seven minutes with a header from
Brian Kidd on his 19th birthday and another expertly taken goal
from Charlton.
For Charlton, the victory represented the completion of a long and
painful journey that had driven him and his manager for ten years.
“At the final whistle, I felt more relief than joy,” Charlton once told
me. “I was so very, very tired. It was an emotional night. We had won
it for Matt Busby and all the boys who should have been there. The
one thing I remember is how heavy the European Cup was when I
lifted it, I nearly dropped it. But despite the tiredness, I think it was
the best I had ever felt after a match, even better than winning the
World Cup, as for me it was more important.”Being so close to reaching their first-ever
final appeared to overwhelm United and by
half-time they found themselves trailing 3-1
in the second leg of their semi-final.
The Spanish side had been majestic and
completely dominated United with goals
from Pirri, Gento and Armancio. “Real had
been running past us as if we didn’t exist,”
admitted John Aston.
“Anyone would have thought it was all
over [at half-time], but Matt wasn’t giving up
that easily,” Best has recalled. “On that night
he showed he was one of the greats. He
sprung his master plan on us by saying, ‘Let’s
give them something to think about in the
second half. He pointed at David Sadler.
‘David, you move up front.’”
United were a different team after the
interval but had to wait until 15 minutesbefore the end to score when Sadler,
acting on these instructions, stole in to the
area and poked a shot past the Madrid
keeper Antonio Betancort to make the tie
3-3 on aggregate.
Three minutes later it was the turn of
central defender Bill Foulkes to become
United’s unlikely hero when he strode
forward to join an attack. “Where the hell
are you going?” shouted Nobby Stiles, as the
United bench also told him to stay back.
Foulkes did not listen to them but instead
was there to tap in a cross from Best to win
the tie.
Afterwards, inside a jubilant United
dressing room, Busby and Charlton were
both in tears. Later Busby would collect
himself enough to say, “We are on the last
rung of the staircase to the sky.”CHAMPIOn S
OF EUROPE