 On site program | |||||||
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| on aggregate | |||||||
| First leg | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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| Date | 4 December 1978 | ||||||
| Venue | Emile Versé Stadium,Brussels | ||||||
| Referee | Károly Palotai (Hungary) | ||||||
| Attendance | 35,000 | ||||||
| Second leg | |||||||
| |||||||
| Date | 19 December 1978 | ||||||
| Venue | Anfield,Liverpool | ||||||
| Referee | Nicolae Rainea (Romania) | ||||||
| Attendance | 23,598 | ||||||
←1977 1979 → | |||||||
The1978 European Super Cup was afootball match played over two legs betweenLiverpool ofEngland andAnderlecht ofBelgium. The first leg was played at theEmile Versé Stadium,Brussels on 4 December 1978 and the second leg was played on 19 December 1978 atAnfield, Liverpool. It was the annualEuropean Super Cup contested between the winners of theEuropean Cup and theEuropean Cup Winners' Cup. Liverpool were the reigning champions, while Anderlecht were appearing in the competition for the second time after winning the1976 edition.
The teams qualified for the competition by winning the European Cup and European Cup Winners' Cup. Anderlecht won the1977–78 European Cup Winners' Cup beating Austrian teamAustria Wien 4–0 in thefinal. Liverpool qualified by winning the1977–78 European Cup. They beat Belgian teamClub Brugge 1–0 in thefinal.
Watched by a crowd of 35,000 at theEmile Versé Stadium, Anderlecht took an early lead in the first half of the first leg whenFranky Vercauteren andFrançois Van der Elst scored. Liverpool midfielderJimmy Case scored in between the Anderlecht goals. Anderlecht extended their lead in the second half courtesy of aRob Rensenbrink goal to secure a 3–1 victory. A crowd of 23,598 saw Liverpool take the lead in the second leg atAnfield, whenEmlyn Hughes scored. Anderlecht equalised in the second half when Van der Elst scored. A late goal byDavid Fairclough meant Liverpool won the second leg 2–1. Thus, Anderlecht won the tie 4–3 on aggregate to secure their second Super Cup triumph.
TheEuropean Super Cup was founded in the early 1970s, as a means to determine the best team in Europe and serve as a challenge toAjax, the strongest club side of its day.[1] The proposal by Dutch journalistAnton Witkamp, a football match between the holders of theEuropean Cup andCup Winners' Cup, failed to receiveUEFA's backing,[1] given the recent Cup Winners' Cup winnersRangers had been banned from European competition.[n 1] Witkamp nonetheless proceeded with his vision, a two-legged match played between Ajax and Rangers in January 1973.[1] The competition was endorsed and recognised by UEFA a year later.[1]
Anderlecht qualified for the Super Cup by winning the1977–78 European Cup Winners' Cup. They beat Austrian teamAustria Wien 4–0 in thefinal. The result meant Anderlecht won the competition for the second time after the first victory in1976.[3] Anderlecht were appearing in the competition for the second time after they won the1976 edition.[4]
Liverpool qualified for the competition as winners of the1977–78 European Cup. They defeated Belgian teamClub Brugge 1–0 in the1978 to win theEuropean Cup for the second consecutive season.[5] They were the current holders of the Super Cup after beating German teamHamburger SV in theprevious season's competition.[6]
Both teams had exited the respective European competitions they were competing in before the competition. Anderlecht were eliminated in the second round of the1978–79 European Cup Winners' Cup by eventual winnersBarcelona. Anderlecht won the first leg 3–0, but a 3–0 victory by Barcelona in the second leg meant the tie went toextra-time and a subsequentpenalty shootout, which they lost 4–1.[7] Liverpool were competing in the1978–79 European Cup and were eliminated in the first round by the eventual winnersNottingham Forest of England in the first round. Forest won the first leg 2–0 and a 0–0 draw in the second leg saw them progress at Liverpool's expense.[8]
The first leg was held at theEmile Versé Stadium, the home ground of Anderlecht. It was the home side that opened the scoring in the 17th minute. StrikerRob Rensenbrink advanced down the right-hand side of the pitch and passed the ball across the Liverpool penalty area towards midfielderFranky Vercauteren who headed the ball into the Liverpool goal. Five minutes later, Anderlecht came close to extending their lead, butBenny Nielsen's shot was saved by Liverpool goalkeeperRay Clemence. Liverpool started to exert themselves upon the match following this and equalised in the 27th minute when midfielderJimmy Case scored from the edge of the Anderlecht penalty area. Five minutes before half-time Anderlecht extended their lead. DefenderFrançois Van der Elst found space in the Liverpool defence and his shot beat Clemence in the Liverpool goal to give Anderlecht a 2–1 lead. Anderlecht defenderJean Thissen was shown a yellow card before the end of the half for a late tackle on Liverpool strikerKenny Dalglish.[9]
Anderlecht began the second half the better of the two sides as they pushed forward in an attempt to extend their lead. Rensenbrink, in particular, was in good form as he caused numerous problems for Liverpool defenderEmlyn Hughes, who started because of an injury toPhil Thompson after being absent himself for a lengthy period. Liverpool replacedDavid Johnson with midfielderSteve Heighway in an attempt to get back into the match but it was to no avail as Anderlecht extended their lead late in the second half when Rensenbrink scored. No further goals were scored and the refereeKároly Palotai blew for full-time with the final score 3–1 to Anderlecht.[9]
Liverpool managerBob Paisley was critical of his team's performance in the first leg: "We threw it away, our attitude was wrong and we were careless. Anderlecht are a great team going forward, but we never attacked them as we should. Our approach seems to have gone a bit wrong and we've lost our scoring touch where earlier in the season our finishing was great."[10]
Anderlecht | 3–1 |  Liverpool |
|---|---|---|
Vercauteren 17'Van der Elst 38'Rensenbrink 87' | Report | Case 27' |
          Anderlecht |    Liverpool |
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Anderlecht's 3–1 victory in the first leg meant that Liverpool needed to score two goals to force the tie into extra-time. Despite heavy fog atAnfield, the match went ahead and Liverpool opened the scoring in the 13th minute. A shot by midfielderJimmy Case was saved by Anderlecht goalkeeperNico de Bree, but the ball rebounded toEmlyn Hughes who scored to give Liverpool a 1–0 lead. Following the goal, the Liverpool fans chanted "Oggy, Oggy tell us who scored" towards goalkeeper Ogrizovic, as the heavy fog made it difficult to identify players. Ogrizovic made a number of vital saves to keep Liverpool's hopes alive, saving fromFrançois Van der Elst andRob Rensenbrink.[12]
Liverpool continued to attack to try to score the goal they needed to level the tie, but they were unable to do so with chances not being converted, including a shot byKenny Dalglish, which was saved by de Bree. Liverpool were made to pay for their missed chances in the 71st minute when Van der Elst scored. A series of passes between him and Rensenbrink saw him in space in the Liverpool penalty area and his shot went into the Liverpool goal to level the score at 1–1 and extend Anderlecht's lead in the tie to 4–2. Liverpool scored in the 87th minute when a pass by defenderPhil Thompson was headed down by Dalglish to substituteDavid Fairclough who scored to make the score 2–1. However, Liverpool were unable to find the third goal they needed to send the match into extra time.[12] Thus, despite losing the match 2–1, Anderlecht won the Super Cup 4–3 on aggregate to become the first club to win the Super Cup for the second time.[13]
Following the match, refereeNicolae Rainea explained his decision to play the match despite heavy fog: "When I went out there before kick-off I decided I could see well enough and so I decided to play. I am afraid many spectators would not get a very clear view but there was no time I had any thoughts of abandoning the game." Liverpool manager Bob Paisley was critical of the decision to play the match: "You can't play football in conditions like that, it's ridiculous." Paisley suggested the competition should be played in April when the weather was better: "I think a match like this, between two leading team should be played in better weather, say in April. I know it's difficult, but it's farcical when good players like these have to slither about in fog and can't see each other."[14]
| Liverpool | 2–1 | Anderlecht |
|---|---|---|
| Hughes 13' Fairclough 87' | Report | Van der Elst 71' |
Liverpool | Anderlecht |
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Anderlecht finished the1978–79 Belgian First Division in second place, four points behind championsBeveren. Thus, they would compete in the1979–80 UEFA Cup.[16] Liverpool finished the1978–79 First Division in first place, eight points clear of second-placedNottingham Forest. Their domestic championship triumph meant they would compete in theEuropean Cup the following season.[17]
