The Valencia File – Cork, Tipperary and the Kidnapped Valencianista

The Valencia file – Cork, Tipperary and the kidnapped Valencianista…

Following the first meeting of the clubs in the autumn of 1962, it would be nearly forty years before Celtic and Valencia would be drawn together again. With a few notable exceptions, both had struggled to emulate their successes of the sixties, Valencia’s three consecutive Inter-Cities Fairs Cup Finals from 1962, the first two of which were successful, and Celtic’s European Cup triumph of Lisbon 1967, after going close in the Cup-Winners’ Cup, twice reaching the last four only to lose out by a single goal.

The duopoly enjoyed by Real Madrid and Barcelona in Spanish domestic football meant that European Cup appearances would be few and far between for Valencia until competition format changes in the late nineties allowed additional sides to qualify from the major leagues. Los Che would be national champions on just three further occasions by the end of the millennium.

In 1970, the legendary Alfredo Di Stéfano was appointed as Head Coach at the Mestalla, leading Valencia to the title in his debut season, their first since 1947. They would come close to meeting Jock Stein’s Celtic in the following season’s European Cup, eliminating Union Luxembourg and Yugoslavs, Hajduk Split, before losing both legs to Újpest Dózsa, the Hungarian champions then crashing out to Celtic in the next round, the Quarter-final, in March 1972. It would be three decades before Valencia would win La Liga again.

They finally enjoyed a third European trophy win in 1980, with Di Stefano back in charge for a second spell, when they lifted the Cup-Winners’ Cup. His side, spearheaded by Argentina’s World Cup hero, Mario Kempes, and driven forward by German midfielder, Rainer Bonhof, beat Denmark’s BK1903, Rangers, Barcelona and Nantes, before a 5-4 penalty shoot-out win over Arsenal in Brussels. Future Celtic manager, Liam Brady, playing one of his last games for the Gunners, missed from the spot that evening, as indeed did Kempes. The Irishman signed shortly afterwards for Juventus, against whom he had impressed greatly in the Semi-final clashes.

In 1999, Claudio Ranieri enjoyed success at the Mestalla, in his final season at the club, finishing in a fourth-spot which allowed access to the Champions League and beating Atletico Madrid to lift the Copa del Rey. The Italian then left Valencia to join the club he had just defeated in the Final, before moving on to manage Chelsea.

Argentinian, Hector Cuper then picked up the reins, having achieved phenomenal success with Real Mallorca, taking them to the European Cup-Winners’ Cup Final and qualifying for the Champions League with a third-place La Liga finish. He would also lead Valencia into new territory, coming desperately close to winning the Big Cup by reaching the next two Finals.

In the 1999/2000 Champions League campaign, Valencia topped a tough First Stage group including Bayern, PSV and Rangers, before finishing second to Manchester United in the next sectional stage, Fiorentina and Bordeaux dropping out. They then eliminated Lazio and Barcelona, before losing 3-0 to Real Madrid in the Stade de France, in the first-ever European Cup/Champions League Final between two clubs from the same country.

The following year was even more heart-breaking for Cuper’s side. Once again, they topped their initial Group, finishing ahead of Lyon, Olympiacos and Heerenven. In the next stage, they swapped places with Manchester United, winning a group which also included Sturm Graz and Panathinaikos. The knockout phase saw Valencia beat two English sides, old foes Arsenal and Leeds United, setting up a San Siro showpiece with Bayern, a 1-1 draw in a match of three spot kicks followed by a 5-4 shootout defeat from the Germans. They, thus, have a rather unique record, both winning and losing a penalty decider in a European final by the same 5-4 score.

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Celtic’s fortunes had also soared and dived over the years following their all-conquering 1966/67 season. They had continued to dominate in Scotland under Jock Stein, the two initial titles becoming an incredible nine-in-a-row, before finally conceding the 1974/75 flag to Rangers. The last continental campaign of the sixties had ended in a second European Cup Final appearance, this time in Milan against Dutch champions, Feyenoord.

The Rotterdam side had eliminated the holders, AC Milan, and were the second successive side from the Netherlands to appear in the Final, following bitter rivals Ajax, who had lost to the Rossoneri in Madrid the year before. Surprisingly, for a side managed by Stein, there was a popular feeling that Celtic had under-estimated them, after enjoying their own thrilling route to the San Siro, which included victories over Benfica via a coin-toss, Italian champions, Fiorentina and then Leeds United, in the so-called, ‘final before the final’.

Despite Celts opening the scoring, a second European Cup Final goal from left-back Tommy Gemmell, with the referee bizarrely appearing to run across the flight of his shot, Feyenoord equalised minutes later, with a looping header from their skipper, Rinus Israel, then deservedly going on to win the Cup with an extra-time goal from Swedish striker, Ove Kindvall, with Celtic just seconds away from securing a replay. On such fine margins is history won and lost.

The next three years would further illustrate just how misplaced Celtic’s over-confidence had been, Cruyff and co destroying the Bhoys in Amsterdam in the 1971 Quarter-final, on their way to a victory over Panathinaikos at Wembley. And the following year, Ajax made the short trip to Rotterdam, for a Final meeting with Inter-Milan, Semi-final conquerors of Celtic on the night of Dixie’s agonising penalty miss.

Two goals from Cruyff gave the Dutch side a second successive trophy win, one which must have tasted even sweeter, having been achieved at De Kuip, the home of Feyenoord. In 1973, a header from Johnny Rep in Belgrade sealed a 1-0 victory over Juventus, Ajax becoming the first team to win Europe’s premier competition three seasons running since Real Madrid in the late 50s. As an aside, Rep would later leave Amsterdam to spend two seasons plying his trade in La Liga with Valencia.

There would be one final serious assault on the European Cup for Stein’s Hoops. The 1973/74 Semi-final saw a first meeting with Atlético Madrid, although, sadly, the tie will be remembered for all the wrong reasons.

The 73,000 crowd at Celtic Park watched a brutal first leg, three Madrid players seeing red, a number which could easily have been doubled. The match finished goalless, Celtic having their work cut out to reach the Brussels final even before the death threats were received. Atlético won the tie with two late goals in the Vicente Calderon but football was the real loser on this occasion. The Spaniards actually then led the Heysel Final until the dying minutes, the injury-time equaliser from Bayern and subsequent 4-0 replay hammering by the Germans can be filed under ‘karma’.

That Semi-final defeat in April ‘74 would be the last seat at the big table for Celtic for some time. Indeed, they would play European football after Christmas just twice more that century.

In 1976, East Germans, Sachsenring Zwickau knocked the Bhoys out of the Cup-Winners’ Cup in the Last Eight then four years later, victories over Albania’s Partizani Tirana and Ireland’s Dundalk took them through to a Quarter-final meeting with Real Madrid, still the only time the two clubs have played competitively. Celtic shocked the Spanish champions with a 2-0 win at Celtic Park, with goals from McCluskey and Doyle. However, it would be a different story in the Santiago Bernabeu, the 110,000 crowd willing Real to a 3-0 victory over Billy McNeill’s young Celts, thus ending our dreams of a second European Cup.

The re-match between Valencia and Celtic finally took place in November 2001, in the Third Round of the UEFA Cup, with Celts due to visit the Mestalla for the first leg. Their paths to this stage had been very different. Valencia had finished the 2000/01 La Liga season level on points with Barcelona, denied fourth-place and the accompanying Champions League qualifying slot on the basis of their head-to-head clashes with the Catalans.

In one of those fixture quirks which takes football to a different level, the final round of La Liga games saw Valencia visit the Camp Nou, only requiring to avoid defeat to finish ahead of the Catalans. Twice they fought back to equalise after stunning Rivaldo strikes and we entered the final minute at 2-2. Then came one of the most incredible goals ever seen, the great Brazilian taking a cross down on his chest then slamming it past Canazares with the perfect bicycle-kick from outside the box, for a wonderful hat-trick. It was the cruellest of endings to a season where Valencia had gone all the way to a second successive Champions League Final before the shootout misery in Milan, just three weeks earlier. Instead, they would enter the UEFA Cup at the First Round.

Their biggest challenge there would have been pronouncing or spelling the name of the opposition, the Russians of Chernomorets Novorossiysk losing both games, including a 5-0 defeat in Valencia. There was another huge home win in the next tie, Valencia securing a 1-1 draw in Warsaw before Legia were put to the sword at the Mestalla, by the 6-1 scoreline which would become infamous in a later era with the Spanish club’s next opponents, Celtic.

Hector Cuper had joined Inter Milan during the close-season, to be replaced by Rafael Benitez. With a star-studded line-up, including Canizares, Carew, Ayala and Aimar, the Spaniard would be confident of going further in the tournament.

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Celtic had qualified for a first-ever Champions League Group stage campaign, following Martin O’Neill’s glorious debut season in charge at Parkhead, the Bhoys bridging a 32-year gap by winning the domestic Treble. A tough qualifying tie with Ajax was negotiated in some style with a 3-1 win in Amsterdam, my favourite European performance and trip, despite the single-goal loss in the return.

Seeded fourth in a strong Group behind Juventus, Porto and Rosenborg, it would be a perfect home record which would see Celts finish ahead of the Norwegians in third place, three Hoops defeats on the road, the first due to a sickening refereeing decision in Turin, allowing Porto to join the Italians in the knockout stages, despite a thrilling 4-3 victory over La Vecchia Signora in the final match.

I headed out to Valencia on a day-trip with my good pal, Roy from Milngavie. We had travelled to see Celtic down south and abroad on a number of occasions previously, memorably to Manchester, Zurich and Lyon. The script was always the same…wear minimal colours and head away from the main square madness, find a decent place for food and a few beers, then go to the game. Happy days.

On this occasion, however, the plan failed somewhat, as we pitched camp in an Irish bar, wall-to-wall Celtic videos and Wolfe Tones. Total Bhoy heaven. As you do, we got talking to some fellow Celts, a couple of lovely guys from Ireland. As the drinks flowed, for whatever reason, Roy had decided to call the guys by their respective Counties, rather than names. So we spent a brilliant day in the company of Cork and Tipperary. I often think back on that and chuckle. Like many of the things that happen on these trips, it makes no sense whatsoever when you’re sober. Having drank the pub dry with C and T, it was time for the match. The pre-match preparations had not included checking out where the stadium was relative to the pub, so it was back to the tried and tested, “Och, we’ll just ask someone.”

There was just one flaw in the masterplan. I spoke no Spanish at that time and Roy’s grasp of their language is best summed up by his comment to a waitress in Florida, when we were holidaying with the kids a few years later, complimenting the waitress that her English was better than his Colombian!

This being the case, the day was about to take a turn for the unexpected for one unsuspecting Valencianista. Having stopped him on the street and failing miserably to communicate or understand directions, there was only thing for it, “You’re coming with us! We’ll buy you a few beers!” An indeterminate amount of time later, we arrived at the Mestalla, where, helpfully, they had arranged for another bar to be open where we could pay our ransom fee in cervejas. The Spanish chap, by now resigned to his fate, was actually starting to enjoy himself, and in no hurry whatsoever to leave.

I did make a brief escape, walking through a war zone outside the stadium to reach the sanctity of the Valencia club shop, where I bought home tops for the kids. Then it was back through the conflict to meet up again with Roy the Bhoy and our new friend, Victor the Valencianista, both happily conversing in the international language of hand signals and alcohol.

I often wonder how the poor guy explained that episode to his wife, when he eventually got home. “Que pasa? Well, I was just walking along the road, minding my own business when I was approached by these two mad guys from Scotland. They forced me to take them to the Mestalla and drink beer with them.” I hope he had a good lawyer.

All good things have to come to an end and so it was off to the match and one of the most impressive and intimidating stadiums I have ever been in. The stands seemed incredibly steep, vertigo-inducing, with barriers in front of the seats. A fabulous football arena.

There was a pre-match blow as word spread amongst the fans that Chris Sutton would be missing from the line-up, due to a family situation. There were a few sporadic opportunities for Celtic, however, the story of the night was the performance of Rab Douglas in the Celtic goal. Time after time he defied Valencia with some stunning stops. And as the clock ticked down, we started to feel that maybe, just maybe, we would be taking an excellent draw back to Glasgow. Then with twelve minutes to play, Douglas was finally beaten, Vicente’s fierce strike following a free-kick giving him no chance.

Even so, Hoops hopes were high that the tie could be won two weeks later at a packed Celtic Park. The old place was crackling as Celts set about cancelling the first-leg deficit, a host of chances going a-begging before Larsson curled a beautiful shot past Canizares, right on the half-time whistle, moving past Jimmy Johnstone to become Celtic’s all-time leading scorer in Europe with 17 goals, in the process. The second period failed to produce a winner and as the tie moved into extra-time, both Larsson and Hartson came desperately close to scoring the crucial second.

So to penalties and, once again, Douglas did his bit, saving two Valencian efforts as the crowd noise reached a deafening crescendo. For once though, deadly marksmen Larsson and Petrov missed the target, the shootout level at 4-4 as Valgaeren stepped up for his turn. There was silence then relief, as Canizares blocked the shot before the Danish referee ordered a retake. Agonisingly, the big Belgian’s second attempt was also saved by the keeper, leaving Mista to clinch it for Valencia with a cool finish.

The Spaniards would ease past Servette Geneva in the next round before losing out to an early Ventola goal in the Mestalla in the Quarter-final against Inter Milan, despite an impressive draw in the San Siro. But there would be joy at the end of the season, as Valencia finally clinched the title, finishing seven points clear of Deportivo La Coruna, the first of two La Liga wins under Rafael Benitez.

The following year saw Los Che drop to fifth place, ensuring qualification for the UEFA Cup of 2003/04. Wins over AIK Solna, Maccabi Haifa and Turkish sides, Besiktas and Genclerbirligi, set up a Quarter-final tie with Bordeaux, the winners due to meet either Villarreal or Celtic in the last four. The Bhoys had disposed of Barcelona in the previous round but were unable to make it a Spanish double, losing 3-1 on aggregate to the Yellow Submarine. With Valencia beating the French, the Semi-final saw the great local rivals face off for a place in Gothenburg, Mista again with a vital penalty, the only goal of the tie, to see Los Che progress. In the Final, Benitez’s side beat Marseilles 2-0 to win a fourth European trophy, Vicente and Mista, the men who broke Celtic hearts, with the second-half goals.

Four days later, Valencia were celebrating again, a memorable double, as they pipped Barcelona to the Spanish title, their sixth and most recent La Liga success. As often happens, such enjoyment is brief.
Benitez left soon afterwards for Liverpool, where he would win the Champions League the following season, the Merseyside team coming back from three goals down at half-time, to beat AC Milan on penalties on a crazy night in Istanbul.

Ranieri returned to the Mestalla but failed to take Valencia past the Group Stage, finishing behind Inter Milan and Werder Bremen, then lost to Steaua Bucharest on penalties in the UEFA Cup Round of 32 in February. He was promptly sacked.

The only major silverware won by Valencia since then was the 2007/08 Copa del Rey, Ronald Koeman’s side, featuring David Silva, Juan Mata, David Villa and Fernando Morientes, beating Getafe 3-1 in the Vicente Calderon final. There were two further Europa League campaigns where Los Che reached the Semi-final stage. In 2011/12, they beat Stoke City, PSV Eindhoven and AZ Alkmaar before losing to Atletico Madrid.

Two years later, Valencia topped a Group including Swansea City, Krasnodar and Swiss side St Gallen. They then knocked out Dynamo Kiev, Ludogorets and Basel before Sevilla won their Last Four tie on away goals. On both occasions, their Spanish conquerors would win the trophy.

Matt Corr