1973/74: Müller ends Bayern wait

FC Bayern München 1-1 Club Atlético de Madrid (aet)
(Schwarzenbeck 120; Aragonés 114)
Club Atlético de Madrid 0-4 FC Bayern München (replay)
(Hoeness 28 82, Müller 56 69)
Heysel, Brussels

The year 1974 was one to remember for German football: West Germany hosted and won the FIFA World Cup; FC Bayern München lifted the European Champion Clubs' Cup; while 1. FC Magdeburg brought home the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup. However, it was an even better 12 months for Sepp Maier, Paul Breitner, Georg Schwarzenbeck, Franz Beckenbauer, Uli Hoeness and Gerd Müller - the six Bayern players who starred for the national team as well as Udo Lattek's side.

Not that their Munich putsch was one long procession. Far from it where Bayern were concerned: the Bavarian side had needed penalties to overcome Åtvidabergs FF; they had edged past 1. FC Dynamo Dresden by the odd goal in seven; in fact, they had only really shown their class when beating AFC Ajax's conquerors, FC CSKA Sofia, and then Újpesti TE in the semi-finals. Still, they were through to the final along with Club Atlético de Madrid.

The Spanish team had won at Galatasaray SK, FC Dinamo Bucuresti and FK Crvena Zvezda to set up a semi-final clash with Celtic FC that proved to be a meeting of inexorable forces. Atlético had three players sent off in the Celtic Park stalemate which prefaced their 2-0 success back at the Vicente Calderón, and all their efforts caught up with them at Brussel's Heysel stadium. Leading through a Luis Aragonés free-kick seven minutes from the end of extra-time, they were denied the prize they craved by Schwarzenbeck's last-gasp strike. Bayern twisted the knife in the replay two days later, Hoeness and Müller sharing the goals in a 4-0 rout.