Aberdeen enjoyed an extraordinary European campaign in 1983, progressing through an 11-1 aggregate win over Sion, away trips to Albania and Poland, and a quarter-final comeback against Bayern Munich. The young, predominantly Scottish squad, managed by Alex Ferguson, demolished Waterschei Thor and reached the Cup Winners' Cup final in Gothenburg. An early Eric Black goal was equalised by Juanito before John Hewitt scored the extra-time winner to beat Real Madrid, coached by Alfredo Di Stefano. Gordon Strachan earned domestic and international honours during his career, later winning the English title with Leeds United and representing Scotland as player and manager.
Gordon Strachan has achieved many things during his career in football. The midfielder played 50 times for Scotland and managed them on another 40 occasions, won the Scottish Premier Division twice, the old English First Division and the FA Cup. But there are few players that are able to boast that they have beaten Real Madrid in a major European final.
By the time Aberdeen had reached the final of the 1983 Cup Winners' Cup in Gothenburg, it had already been a remarkable run of matches. After an 11-1 aggregate win against Swiss side Sion in the Preliminary round, the young Scots faced trips beyond the Iron Curtain to Albania and Poland before a mouthwatering quarter-final tie against Bayern Munich. Gordon Strachan would later go on to win the title with Leeds United (Image credit: Getty Images)
An early Eric Black opener was soon cancelled out by a Juanito penalty, before John Hewitt's extra-time winner. That game is still the last time that Real Madrid lost a major European final, Strachan tells FourFourTwo. The oldest player in our team was only 28 and we all came from Scotland, which was phenomenal, led by Sir Alex Ferguson, arguably the best manager of all time, who just scared you into winning!
Collection
[
|
...
]