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The 1981 European Cup Final was a football match held at the Parc des Princes, Paris, on May 27, 1981, that saw Liverpool F.C. of England defeat Real Madrid of Spain 1 - 0.
[edit] Match Summary
Twenty-five years after the first European Cup Final, Europe’s showpiece occasion returned to Paris with two of the competitions most successful clubs competing to take the trophy home once more. Although Real Madrid had won the cup many more times, this was their first final in 15 years so none of their players had experience of a European Cup Final, whereas Liverpool while only having won the trophy twice before, were packed full of players who had experienced winning at this stage before. While Liverpool were able to field their first choice players, Real were without goalkeeper Reman as well as Gallego in midfield, while Laurie Cunningham was making only his first appearance following a long term injury.
The match itself was a disappointing affair as neither team managed to dominate a tight and nervous game. Real may have had the upper hand early on as Uli Stielike and Juanito impressed in the middle of the pitch and Cortes kept Kenny Dalglish quiet. Liverpool, however, did have their chances. Agustin Rodríguez in the Real goal was forced to push a low shot from Alan Kennedy wide of the goal, while Terry McDermott shot over the bar when well placed. Real, meanwhile, almost made their greater possession pay off when Juanito’s pass beat the Liverpool defence and Camacho put his shot wide with only Ray Clemence to beat.
As half-time approached, however, the English side nearly took the lead when Kenny Dalglish sent Souness clear in the Real Madrid penalty box and his shot could only be held by Agustin at the second attempt. Just after the interval it was Real who came close to scoring as they broke the Liverpool offside trap and put Camacho through on goal. Camacho lobbed the ball over Ray Clemence, but to the relief of the thousands of Liverpool fans in the stadium, the ball dropped over the crossbar.
The longer the game went on, the stronger Liverpool seemed to become with Graeme Souness increasingly wresting control of the midfield from Uli Stielike, and with just nine minutes remaining it was Liverpool who finally broke the deadlock. Ray Kennedy took a throw on the left hand side to Alan Kennedy who shook off a wesk challenge from Cortes as he surged into the penalty area, before slamming the ball high into the net from the tightest of angles.
This was a signal to Real Madrid to abandon their caution and go desperately forward in search of an equaliser, but this inevitably left them open to the counter attack and it was Liverpool who actually came closest to scoring in the games closing moments with Agustin Rodríguez being called upon to make several brave saves. Real Madrid were unable to find the goal that they so desperately needed, and it was Liverpool who celebrated as Károly Palotai of Hungary blew the final whistle. For the third time in five years, Liverpool were crowned Champions of Europe, and for the fifth year in succession the European Cup was heading back to England. On top of all that Bob Paisley had become the first manager in the competitions history to win the European Cup three times. Domestically, Liverpool had appeared to be past their best as they finished a lowly fifth , but they had shown their qualities in Europe, beating two of the biggest names in world football in Bayern Munich and Real Madrid. Liverpool were still the team to beat in England, and for the moment, Europe was finding it impossible to stop English teams in the European Cup.
[edit] Match details
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
Liverpool
Károly Palotai
