1968/69: Slovan shine despite political clouds

CF Barcelona 2-3 Slovan Bratislava CHZJD
St-Jakob Park, Basle

Slovan Bratislava CHZJD became the first Eastern European side to win a continental trophy, beating the red-hot favourites CF Barcelona (the club reverted to FC Barcelona in 1974) in a cracker of a final. The campaign was marked by the events of August 1968, when Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia. As a result, many Western teams refused to play teams from the Soviet bloc and the first round draw had to be reshuffled on a regional basis by UEFA's Emergency Committee. Once CS Dinamo Bucuresti had been eliminated in the second round, Slovan were the only Eastern survivors.

Super effort
But nothing should be detracted from the Slovakian side’s achievement. They beat FC Porto and Torino Calcio en route to Basel and eliminated Scottish outsiders Dunfermline Athletic FC in the semi-finals. Barcelona's only major hurdle was a semi-final against 1. FC Köln and they surmounted this with a handsome 6-3 aggregate.

20,000 fans saw a wonderful display by the Slovakian side coached by Michal Vican and built around giant defender Alexander Horváth. Ludovit Cvetler gave them a second-minute lead, only for José António Zaldúa to level the scores 14 minutes later. But further goals by Vladimir Hrivnak (30) and Jan Capkovic (42), fruit of total supremacy, gave Slovan a 3-1 half-time lead. Immediately after the restart, Carles Rexach reduced arrears direct from a corner – goalkeeper Alexander Vencel claimed he had been dazzled by the lights – but Slovan clung on to their 3-2 lead and provided Czechoslovakia with a ray of footballing light at a time of political darkness.