35 years ago that we played the first leg of the UEFA Cup final

Videoton were preparing for a big celebration with two matches in 1985, the first leg of which took place exactly 35 years ago in Székesfehérvár.

Dukla Praha, PSG, Partizan Belgrade, Manchester United, FK Zseljeznicsar. We Defeated these five teams, as our club reached the UEFA Cup final 35 years ago, where the Spanish star team, Real Madrid, were our opponents.. 

"Two days before the Videoton - Real Madrid UEFA Cup final, an epidemic of tickets broke out in Székesfehérvár; with happy and unhappy people running around trying to gain entry."- read the introductory article of the Fejér County Newspaper on the day of the first leg of the final.

Videoton manager Ferenc Kovács spoke to the journalist of the county daily. Outraged, he complained that just before the match, the players still did not receive the tickets ordered for their relatives, although they did not want it for free. The unfortunate case was solved later, but Kovács was right, in the last hours these minor problems should not be bigger than this, because there is enough trouble anyway ... The biggest worry was that because of picking up yellow cards, Szabó could not play either and the performance of Végh, who was injured against Honvéd, was also in doubt.

"If we would have our strongest line-up, we would have an equal chance against Real, "said Ferenc Kovács, after watching recordings of the matches of the six-time European Cup winning Spanish team." Our three key players will certainly be missing, and that’s a massive setback. Our only hope, our spark of chance, is that those that I can send out onto the pitch will have confidence in the success and bordering on the miracle as in previous matches. If they are able to surpass themselves again, maybe we can win. The crowd, as before, can help a lot. Trust, and the backing of 30,000 people can give players a lift. I urge the fans, if we should end up losing the final in the end, not to see this as a failure. Even so, he wrote the most beautiful chapter in his history with Videoton with this cup final appearance. With a slightly weakened team, we are not the favourites, but we will try again, to get a surprise in the final. "​​​​​​​

Béla Varga, the correspondent of the sports daily, emphasized in an article: “The most prestigious Spanish sports magazine unreservedly praises Videoton, its spiritual strength, the fact that it was able to come back from being behind in games. It is commendable that the second goal of the Yugoslavs did not break the team either. The author of the newspaper showed Ferenc Kovács with a surprising but definitely deserving mood, namely: he is "the best defensive coach in Europe".

The first leg of the UEFA Cup final in Székesfehérvár, the match between the stars of Real Madrid and the rather reserved Videoton kicked off in front of almost forty thousand people.

In the first half of the first leg, the game was played mainly in the middle of the pitch, with neither of the goals in danger. The first chance arrived in the 28th minute for those sitting inside the stadium and the rest in front of the television, when Burcsa fired from 14 meters, with his left towards the top right corner. Unfortunately, the reply came four minutes later, in the form of a goal: Novath lost the ball inside his own half, Chendo passed from the right to Butragueno, and the ball bounced in front of Gallego, who arched in front of Michel, and Real's number 8 cut the ball back from the left, and from 12 meters, found the bottom corner. (0-1). It was an early set back for Vidi with the Spaniards scoring the early goal. 

In the 34th minute Burcsa headed wide, but then in the 36th minute Butragueno was in a good position, taking the ball next to Disztl, before shooting crosswise from a sharp angle in front of the goal. The first 45 minutes was fairly equal, but it was Real who went in at the break with the lead.

The second half of the game started with a chance for the visiting side: Gallego got the ball in an offside suspicious position on the left, and then went towards Péter Disztl, before passing in to the middle, but Csuhay was well placed to clear the danger. In the 50th minute, Disztl saved from Butragueno, then Vidi's minutes followed: first László Disztl headed over Wittmann's pass. Vadász shot just wide of the right post. In the 65th minute, Vadasz was the main player again, this time from 15 meters, with Miguel Ángel attempting to tip the ball away. In the 77th minute, the Blancos doubled their advantage: Michel found Butragueno, who played it on to Santillana, and he easily headed into the goal from 5 meters. (0-2).

Before the end, Csuhay's header was caught by Real's keeper. With everyone thinking the final score would be 0-2, it became 0-3: Míchel played in Juanito, who passed the ball low to the other side, and Valdano shot from 9 meters to the left of the goal. (0-3).

Real Madrid won confidently in Székesfehérvár, but considering the whole run, there was plenty of praise and applause from Vidi after the Cup final first leg.

After the match, Ferenc Kovács assessed the first leg of the final as follows: “Before the first match, I thought more than usual about how we should play. I couldn’t analyse Real Madrid as usual, and the videos did not provide a realistic view. I was unaware, and without Májer, Csongrádi and Szabó I couldn't expect too much good from our attacking game. I thought about perhaps being smart and playing for the 0-0 and see if we could find another goal in the meantime. In the end, I dismissed this opportunity. It is appropriate to play in the final, at home."

Real Madrid manager Luis Molowny said after the game: "I think we were better than Videoton tonight. We won mainly by building on our counter attacks. Nevertheless, they made a very good impression, they played football in style, and did well. We will welcome them to Madrid. "

Author: David Rechnitzer

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