1970/71: Replay joy for Chelsea

Real Madrid CF 1-1 Chelsea FC (aet)
Karaiskakis Stadium, Athens

Replay: Real Madrid CF 1-2 Chelsea FC
Karaiskakis Stadium, Athens

Chelsea FC kept the trophy in England after knocking out the holders, Manchester City FC, in the semi-finals and surprising favourites Real Madrid CF in a replayed final in Athens. Curiously, the 1970 finalists met in the 1971 quarter-finals and Manchester City needed three matches to repeat their victory over KS Górnik Zabrze. But they were then beaten 1-0 in both legs against the Chelsea FC side shrewdly coached by Dave Sexton.

Madrid struggle through
Despite their array of talent, Real Madrid CF scraped into the final with one-goal aggregate wins against FC Wacker Innsbruck, Cardiff City AFC and PSV Eindhoven. Before 42,000 fans in the Karaiskakis Stadium, they had the upper hand but fell behind after 55 minutes when Peter Osgood scored. The Spaniards pressed even harder but the English defence, marshalled by John Dempsey and David Webb, stood firm until the last minute when midfielder Ignacio Zoco equalised.

First-half foundations
With penalty shoot-outs unheard-of, the teams reconvened at the Karaiskakis Stadium 48 hours later. The foundations for Chelsea’s success were laid by Peter Bonetti’s goalkeeping, Charlie Cooke’s creative skills and John Baldwin’s endeavour. Dempsey, from a corner, put them ahead just after the half-hour and Osgood doubled the advantage shortly before half-time, leaving the Spaniards a mountain to climb on a warm evening. Their only reward for a stirring second-half reaction was a goal by Sebastián Fleitas 15 minutes before the end and Chelsea hung on to become the third London club to lift the trophy.