1978 European Super Cup

1978 European Super Cup Anderlecht–Liverpool-1978-program.png On site program Anderlecht BEL 30px 4 Liverpool ENG 30px 3 on aggregate First leg 3 1 4 December 1978 Emile Versé Stadium Brussels Károly Palotai (Hungary) 35,000 Second leg 1 2 19 December 1978 Anfield Liverpool Nicolae Rainea (Romania) 23,598 1977 1979 The 1978 European Super Cup was a football match played over two legs between Liverpool of England and Anderlecht of Belgium. The first leg was played at the Emile Versé Stadium, Brussels on 4 December 1978 and the second leg was played on 19 December 1978 at Anfield, Liverpool. It was the annual European Super Cup contested between the winners of the European Cup and the European Cup Winners' Cup. Liverpool were the reigning champions, while Anderlecht were appearing in the competition for the second time after winning the 1976 edition. The teams qualified for the competition by winning the European Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup. Anderlecht won the 1977–78 European Cup Winners' Cup beating Austrian team Austria Wien 4–0 in the final. Liverpool qualified by winning the 1977–78 European Cup. They beat Belgian team Club Brugge 1–0 in the final. Watched by a crowd of 35,000 at the Emile Versé Stadium, Anderlecht took an early lead in the first half of the first leg when Franky Vercauteren and François Van der Elst scored. Liverpool midfielder Jimmy Case scored in between the Anderlecht goals. Anderlecht extended their lead in the second half courtesy of a Rob Rensenbrink goal to secure a 3–1 victory. A crowd of 23,598 saw Liverpool take the lead in the second leg at Anfield, when Emlyn Hughes scored. Anderlecht equalised in the second half when Van der Elst scored. A late goal by David Fairclough meant Liverpool won the second leg 2–1. Thus, Anderlecht won the tie 4–3 on aggregate to secure their second Super Cup triumph. Background The European Super Cup was founded in the early 1970s, as a means to determine the best team in Europe and serve as a challenge to Ajax, the strongest club side of its day.https://www.uefa.com/uefasupercup/history/ Club competition winners do battle UEFA 24 November 2015 The proposal by Dutch journalist Anton Witkamp, a football match between the holders of the European Cup and Cup Winners' Cup, failed to receive UEFA's backing, given the recent Cup Winners' Cup winners Rangers had been banned from European competition.In 1972, Rangers was banned from European competition for two years after fans clashed with Spanish police while celebrating the club's victory over Dynamo Moscow in the European Cup Winners' Cup Final. The ban was later reduced to one year on appeal.Jonathan Wilson 'The behaviour of the Scottish fans was shocking and ugly' https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2008/may/13/thebehaviourofthescottish The Observer London 13 May 2008 24 November 2015 "n" Witkamp nonetheless proceeded with his vision, a two-legged match played between Ajax and Rangers in January 1973. The competition was endorsed and recognised by UEFA a year later. Anderlecht qualified for the Super Cup by winning the 1977–78 European Cup Winners' Cup. They beat Austrian team Austria Wien 4–0 in the final. The result meant Anderlecht won the competition for the second time after the first victory in 1976.http://en.archive.uefa.com/competitions/ecwc/history/season=1975/intro.html 1975/76: Anderlecht win six-goal thriller UEFA 1 June 1976 15 June 2015 dead https://web.archive.org/web/20101024225144/http://en.archive.uefa.com/competitions/ecwc/history/season%3D1975/intro.html 24 October 2010 Anderlecht were appearing in the competition for the second time after they won the 1976 edition.1976: Anderlecht leave Bayern blushing https://www.uefa.com/uefasupercup/history/1976/ UEFA 15 June 2015 Liverpool qualified for the competition as winners of the 1977–78 European Cup. They defeated Belgian team Club Brugge 1–0 in the 1978 to win the European Cup for the second consecutive season.https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2013/may/23/liverpool-great-european-cup-teams The great European Cup teams: Liverpool 1977–84 The Guardian London 23 May 2013 3 June 2015 Paul Wilson They were the current holders of the Super Cup after beating German team Hamburger SV in the previous season's competition.1977: McDermott treble lifts Liverpool https://www.uefa.com/uefasupercup/history/1977/ UEFA 15 June 2015 Both teams had exited the respective European competitions they were competing in before the competition. Anderlecht were eliminated in the second round of the 1978–79 European Cup Winners' Cup by eventual winners Barcelona. Anderlecht won the first leg 3–0, but a 3–0 victory by Barcelona in the second leg meant the tie went to extra-time and a subsequent penalty shootout, which they lost 4–1.https://www.rsssf.org/ec/ec197879.html Cup Winners' Cup 1978–79 Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) 4 June 2015 16 June 2015 Karel Stokkermans Liverpool were competing in the 1978–79 European Cup and were eliminated in the first round by the eventual winners Nottingham Forest of England in the first round. Forest won the first leg 2–0 and a 0–0 draw in the second leg saw them progress at Liverpool's expense.https://www.rsssf.org/ec/ec197879.html Champions' Cup 1978–79 Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) 4 June 2015 16 June 2015 Karel Stokkermans live https://web.archive.org/web/20150611025021/http://www.rsssf.com/ec/ec197879.html 11 June 2015 First leg Summary thumb|upright|François Van der Elst, who scored Anderlecht's second goal in the first leg. The first leg was held at the Emile Versé Stadium, the home ground of Anderlecht. It was the home side that opened the scoring in the 17th minute. Striker Rob Rensenbrink advanced down the right-hand side of the pitch and passed the ball across the Liverpool penalty area towards midfielder Franky Vercauteren who headed the ball into the Liverpool goal. Five minutes later, Anderlecht came close to extending their lead, but Benny Nielsen's shot was saved by Liverpool goalkeeper Ray Clemence. Liverpool started to exert themselves upon the match following this and equalised in the 27th minute when midfielder Jimmy Case scored from the edge of the Anderlecht penalty area. Five minutes before half-time Anderlecht extended their lead. Defender François Van der Elst found space in the Liverpool defence and his shot beat Clemence in the Liverpool goal to give Anderlecht a 2–1 lead. Anderlecht defender Jean Thissen was shown a yellow card before the end of the half for a late tackle on Liverpool striker Kenny Dalglish.https://www.lfchistory.net/Images/newspapers/echo/1978-12-04-anderlecht-1063.jpg Now those Reds need a Super comeback Liverpool Daily Post 5 December 1978 Anderlecht began the second half the better of the two sides as they pushed forward in an attempt to extend their lead. Rensenbrink, in particular, was in good form as he caused numerous problems for Liverpool defender Emlyn Hughes, who started because of an injury to Phil Thompson after being absent himself for a lengthy period. Liverpool replaced David Johnson with midfielder Steve Heighway in an attempt to get back into the match but it was to no avail as Anderlecht extended their lead late in the second half when Rensenbrink scored. No further goals were scored and the referee Károly Palotai blew for full-time with the final score 3–1 to Anderlecht. Liverpool manager Bob Paisley was critical of his team's performance in the first leg: "We threw it away, our attitude was wrong and we were careless. Anderlecht are a great team going forward, but we never attacked them as we should. Our approach seems to have gone a bit wrong and we've lost our scoring touch where earlier in the season our finishing was great."https://www.lfchistory.net/Images/newspapers/echo/1978-12-04-anderlecht-1063-postmatch.jpg Aftermath Liverpool Echo 5 May 1978 Michael Charters Details 4 December 1978 20:00 CET Anderlecht BEL 3–1 https://www.uefa.com/uefasupercup/match/53336/ ENG Liverpool Vercauteren 17Van der Elst 38Rensenbrink 87 Case 27 Emile Versé Stadium, Brussels 35,000https://www.lfchistory.net/SeasonArchive/Game/1063 Anderlecht 3–1 Liverpool LFCHistory 15 December 2011 Károly Palotai (Hungary) _shoulder_stripes_white_shirt_alt _shoulder_stripes_white_shirt _shoulder_stripes_white_shirt_alt _adidasonwhite _color_3_stripes_on_white 4A15B9 4A15B9 4A15B9 4A15B9 4A15B9 Anderlecht _whiteborder _vneckwhite _whiteborder DD0000 DD0000 DD0000 DD0000 DD0000 Liverpool GK 1 NED Nico de BreeDF 2 BEL François Van der Elst DF 3 BEL Hugo BroosDF 4 NED Johnny DusbabaDF 5 BEL Jean Thissen 45MF 6 BEL Franky VercauterenFW 7 DEN Benny NielsenMF 8 NED Ruud Geels MF 9 NED Arie HaanMF 10BEL Ludo CoeckFW 11NED Rob Rensenbrink (c)Substitutes:GK 12BEL Jacky MunaronFW 13BEL Ronny MartensDF 14BEL Gilbert Van BinstMF 15NED Matty van ToornManager:BEL Raymond Goethals GK 1 ENG Ray ClemenceRB 2 ENG Phil Neal LB 3 ENG Alan KennedyCB 4 ENG Emlyn Hughes (c)LM 5 ENG Ray KennedyCB 6 SCO Alan HansenCF 7 SCO Kenny Dalglish RM 8 ENG Jimmy CaseCF 9 ENG David Johnson 54CM 10ENG Terry McDermottCM 11SCO Graeme SounessSubstitutes: MF 12IRL Steve Heighway 54GK 13ENG Steve OgrizovicFW 14ENG David FaircloughMF 15ENG Sammy LeeDF 16ENG Brian KettleManager: ENG Bob Paisley Second leg Summary thumb|upright|David Fairclough (pictured in 2008), who scored the last goal in the second leg. Anderlecht's 3–1 victory in the first leg meant that Liverpool needed to score two goals to force the tie into extra-time. Despite heavy fog at Anfield, the match went ahead and Liverpool opened the scoring in the 13th minute. A shot by midfielder Jimmy Case was saved by Anderlecht goalkeeper Nico de Bree, but the ball rebounded to Emlyn Hughes who scored to give Liverpool a 1–0 lead. Following the goal, the Liverpool fans chanted "Oggy, Oggy tell us who scored" towards goalkeeper Ogrizovic, as the heavy fog made it difficult to identify players. Ogrizovic made a number of vital saves to keep Liverpool's hopes alive, saving from François Van der Elst and Rob Rensenbrink. https://www.lfchistory.net/Images/newspapers/echo/1978-12-19-anderlecht-1066.jpg Reds lose with style Liverpool Echo 20 December 1978 Ian Hargraves Liverpool continued to attack to try to score the goal they needed to level the tie, but they were unable to do so with chances not being converted, including a shot by Kenny Dalglish, which was saved by de Bree. Liverpool were made to pay for their missed chances in the 71st minute when Van der Elst scored. A series of passes between him and Rensenbrink saw him in space in the Liverpool penalty area and his shot went into the Liverpool goal to level the score at 1–1 and extend Anderlecht's lead in the tie to 4–2. Liverpool scored in the 87th minute when a pass by defender Phil Thompson was headed down by Dalglish to substitute David Fairclough who scored to make the score 2–1. However, Liverpool were unable to find the third goal they needed to send the match into extra time. Thus, despite losing the match 2–1, Anderlecht won the Super Cup 4–3 on aggregate to become the first club to win the Super Cup for the second time.1978:Anderlecht back on top https://www.uefa.com/uefasupercup/history/1978/ UEFA 15 June 2015 Following the match, referee Nicolae Rainea explained his decision to play the match despite heavy fog: "When I went out there before kick-off I decided I could see well enough and so I decided to play. I am afraid many spectators would not get a very clear view but there was no time I had any thoughts of abandoning the game." Liverpool manager Bob Paisley was critical of the decision to play the match: "You can't play football in conditions like that, it's ridiculous." Paisley suggested the competition should be played in April when the weather was better: "I think a match like this, between two leading team should be played in better weather, say in April. I know it's difficult, but it's farcical when good players like these have to slither about in fog and can't see each other."https://www.lfchistory.net/Images/newspapers/echo/1978-12-19-anderlecht-1066.jpg Referee explains decision to let Anfield tie start Liverpool Echo 20 December 1978 Ian Hargraves Details 19 December 1978 19:30 GMT Liverpool ENG 2–1 https://www.uefa.com/uefasupercup/match/53337/ BEL Anderlecht Hughes 13Fairclough 87 Van der Elst 71 Anfield, Liverpool 23,598https://www.lfchistory.net/SeasonArchive/Game/1066 Liverpool 2–1 Anderlecht LFCHistory 15 December 2011 Nicolae Rainea (Romania) _whiteborder _vneckwhite _whiteborder DD0000 DD0000 DD0000 DD0000 DD0000 Liverpool _shoulder_stripes_white_shirt_alt _shoulder_stripes_white_shirt _shoulder_stripes_white_shirt_alt _adidasonwhite _color_3_stripes_on_white 4A15B9 4A15B9 4A15B9 4A15B9 4A15B9 Anderlecht GK 1 ENG Steve OgrizovicRB 2 ENG Phil Neal LB 3 ENG Emlyn Hughes (c)CB 4 ENG Phil ThompsonLM 5 ENG Ray KennedyCB 6 SCO Alan HansenCF 7 SCO Kenny Dalglish RM 8 ENG Jimmy CaseCF 9 ENG David FaircloughCM 10ENG Terry McDermottCM 11SCO Graeme SounessSubstitutes: FW 12 ENG David JohnsonGK 13 ENG Ray ClemenceMF 14 IRL Steve HeighwayMF 15 ENG Sammy LeeDF 16 ENG Brian KettleManager: ENG Bob Paisley GK 1 NED Nico de BreeDF 2 BEL Gilbert Van Binst DF 3 NED Matty van ToornDF 4 NED Johnny DusbabaDF 5 BEL Jean ThissenMF 6 BEL Franky VercauterenFW 7 BEL François Van der ElstMF 8 NED Ruud Geels 46MF 9 NED Arie HaanMF 10 BEL Ludo CoeckFW 11 NED Rob Rensenbrink (c)Substitutes:FW BEL Ronny Martens 46Manager:BEL Raymond Goethals Post-match Anderlecht finished the 1978–79 Belgian First Division in second place, four points behind champions Beveren. Thus, they would compete in the 1979–80 UEFA Cup.https://www.rsssf.org/tablesb/belghist.html Belgium – Final Tables 1895–2008 Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) 10 May 2013 16 June 2015 Phil Ploquin Luc Nackaerts Jereon Coolsaet Liverpool finished the 1978–79 First Division in first place, eight points clear of second-placed Nottingham Forest. Their domestic championship triumph meant they would compete in the European Cup the following season.https://www.rsssf.org/engpaul/FLA/1978-79.html Season 1978–79 Rec. Sport. Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) 16 June 2015 Paul Felton See also 1978–79 European Cup 1978–79 European Cup Winners' Cup 1978–79 Liverpool F.C. season Liverpool F.C. in international football R.S.C. Anderlecht in European football Notes n References Super Cup 1978 Category:1978–79 in Belgian football Category:1978–79 in English men's football Category:Liverpool F.C. matches Category:RSC Anderlecht matches Category:1970s in Brussels Category:1970s in Liverpool Category:Football matches in Brussels Category:Football matches in Liverpool Category:December 1978 sports events in Europe Category:Belgium–United Kingdom sports relations