For March 6th I'm going back 36 years to 1985 and Tottenham's UEFA Cup Quarter Final 1st Leg against Real Madrid.
Tottenham were the holders of the UEFA Cup having famously won the Final on penalties against Anderlecht the previous year on a famous night at White Hart Lane that I couldn't attend thanks to my accountancy exams taking place that same day. By their own high standards, Real Madrid were having a difficult season and ended up finishing fifth, a full 17 points behind Champions and bitter rivals FC Barcelona. Such a poor league performance simply ratchets up the pressure on clubs like Real Madrid and they needed to make progress in the UEFA Cup to buy themselves more time to perfect their team formula.
I recall Madrid being very effective on the night and worthy winners of the game. Uli Stielike certainly had a good game. Played in front of 39,914, Madrid's goal came after 15 minutes when Emilio Butragueno crossed and Steve Perryman, straining to stop the ball reaching Jorge Valdano, accidentally deflected the ball into his own net. This was the first time Spurs had ever lost a home European game and the first time in all those home games, 44 ties spread over 24 years, that they had failed to score (at the right end). Apparently this was also Real's first competitive victory in England.
Perryman's own goal proved to be even more crucial since the 2nd leg ended up goalless to take Real through to the Semi-Finals in front of 95,000 at the Estadio Santiago Bernabeu - top of my list of football grounds that I'd like to visit. Madrid beat Italy's Internazionale in the Semi-Final and won the UEFA Cup with victory over Hungary's Videoton that May.
CRB Match No. 358
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