TalkSport.co.uk: Liverpool: Greatest team to win UEFA Cup

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.

The Europa League is dimissed by many as a second rate tournament, but in the old days of the UEFA Cup it was anything but.

In fact, before the European Cup expanded to become the Champions League and allowed second, third and sometimes fourth placed teams to enter, the UEFA Cup was arguably the strongest continental tournament around.

In those days, teams only the champions of each country qualified for the European Cup, with runners-up and teams in third, fourth and so on playing in the UEFA Cup. In practice, this often meant that teams emerging as a force domestically were playing in the UEFA Cup and that there was more strength in depth in that tournament.

That was certainly the case in 1975-76, when a Liverpool side maturing into one of the finest club teams of all-time took part in the UEFA Cup, having finished narrowly behind Derby in the 1974-75 First Division title race.

The following year, they began flourishing as the finished article, completing a brilliant double under Bob Paisley of league title and UEFA Cup. Keegan, Hughes, Clemence and co. pipped QPR to the league title and reached the UEFA Cup final, beating Johan Cruyff's Barcelona in the last four to set up a final against Club Brugge, who were managed themselves by legendary Austrian coach Ernst Happel (one of only three men, along with Jose Mourinho and Otmar Hitzfeld, to win the European Cup with two different clubs, and the same man who would take the Netherlands to the 1978 World Cup final).

Like Liverpool, the Belgians had also claimed their domestic league title in 1976, the first of three in succession under Happel. For Paisley, it was the first of three First Division crowns in four years at Anfield. This was a final showdown between two sides capable of defeating anyone on their day and, to further illustrate the strength of this final, the two sides would meet again two years later, this time in the 1978 European Cup final.

Paisley triumphed on both occasions, the first courtesy of a thrilling two-leg tie which started off with a stunning comeback for Liverpool at Anfield. Ray Kennedy, Jimmy Case and Kevin Keegan scored second half goals to secure a 3-2 victory over Club Brugge, having trailed the Belgians 2-0 at half-time.

In the return leg, the Reds again came from behind, this time Keegan cancelling out an early penalty after 15 minutes. The game finished 1-1, captain Emlyn Hughes lifted the UEFA Cup and Liverpool had their second piece of European silverware, having won the 1973 UEFA Cup. They were Europe's finest side and went on to prove it, winning the following year's European Cup final against Borussia Moenchengladbach - their opponents in the '73 UEFA Cup final, which again showed the strength of that tournament.

Source: TalkSport.co.uk

This story has been reproduced from today's media. It does not necessarily represent the position of Liverpool Football Club.