This is the story of Terry Venables’ first season as Barcelona manager. Well respected in England, not so well known in Spain, he was given the job when Argentina World Cup winning manager, Cesar Luis Menotti stepped down. You can read part one here and part two here. Today is the final part.
The season is 1984-85 and at the beginning of January 1985 they were six points clear at the top of the table. Real Madrid were in second, two points ahead of Valencia, Atlético and Real Betis.
La Liga still operated a system of two points for a win. Here is the story of the second half of the season.
1985
January
The New Year began for Barcelona with a trip to Real Zaragoza. They were mid-table so not expected to provide too much opposition. So when Yugoslav international, Ivica Surjak put them in front in the opening 10 minutes eyebrows were raised.
Carrasco was missing so Venables selected Paco Clos for his first start of the season. Clos had never held down a regular place in the two years he’d been at the club, so it was a real bonus for the team when he equalised soon after they went behind.
Then two minutes later Esteban put them in front. He’d scored his first of the season in the last game of 1984 in El Clásico, and now Barca had given the perfect response. 10 minutes later Archibald made it 3-1.
Zaragoza struggled to lay a glove on them for the rest of the game until with six minutes remaining Surjak grabbed his second of the game. Once again Barca came straight back. It was Archibald again with his ninth La Liga goal of the season.
4-2 demonstrated their confidence and they were then seven points clear as Real Madrid were held at home by Sporting Gijon.
A Bernd Schuster penalty confirmed their passage into the Fourth Round of the Copa del Rey against Murcia before back to La Liga action for the visit of Elche.
Elche were bottom of the league and offered little other than shooting practice. Schuster and Gerardo scored in the first half for Barca. Archibald extended the lead 10 minutes into the second period. He now had 10 La Liga goals for the season and well worth the risk taken in signing him. Marcos Alonso came off the bench and scored his first of the season to give them a 4-0 win. Two matches into the New Year and twice they’d scored four goals.
Real Madrid were again held to a draw so the lead went up to eight points. Quite a gap when there were only two for a win.
The Barcelona derby was next. Espanyol were worryingly close to relegation. So it was a bit of a surprise when they held them to a goalless draw, especially as few teams seemed to be able to stop them scoring. It was only the third game in 21 they’d failed to find the net.
They didn’t lose any advantage at the top as Real Madrid were beaten at home by Sevilla, despite taking the lead. Atlético moved into second place with a thumping 4-0 win away to Real Sociedad. Barca still led by eight points.
January ended with their third four-goal haul in four matches. Real Betis were dispatched at the Nou Camp where Archibald scored another two goals with Clos and Calderé finding the target too.
They were still missing Victor and Carrasco but it didn’t show.
Real Madrid went to Racing Santander and were again held to a draw. January had been a miserable month for them, four games no wins and just three points.
Atlético beat Malaga and so the lead was still eight points but they now had a two-point advantage over Real Madrid.
Barcelona’s last outing of the month was back at Espanyol in the Copa del Rey. Caldere and Clos scored in a comfortable 2-0 win to take back home for the second leg.
February
As the season moved into the final third Barcelona just kept the pace high winning at Osasuna. Tenté was back in the starting line-up for the first time since early October, ironically against Osasuna.
Atlético also won but once again Real Madrid dropped a point. They were still looking for their first win of 1985. The lead was still eight points.
Schuster was on target twice in midweek as they beat Espanyol, 3-0 in the Copa del Rey to send them comfortably through to the last sixteen. He now had 13 for the season in all competitions, just one behind Archibald. He’d scored six in the Copa del Rey alone.
Back in La Liga Real Murcia were the visitors. Schuster again scored twice as they were thrashed 6-0. It was a real show of strength against a side which looked doomed to relegation. Schuster scored another brace. Archibald also scored. The two now had 15 each for the season, with Archibald on 13 in the league.
Real Madrid lost again at home and so it was then a two-horse race with Atlético five ahead but still eight behind Barca.
The top two were due to meet at the end of the month, but before that, Barca travelled to Real Sociedad. The five-game winning run came to an end with a goalless draw, but they had still only suffered one league defeat all season.
But the point dropped didn’t really matter when news of Atlético’s defeat at home to Valencia came in. They were 0-3 down and came back with two late goals, but it was still a defeat meaning they simply had to win in the Nou Camp.
Barcelona were then nine points clear, their biggest lead of the season. Atlético were still second but were then just three points clear of Sporting in third.
The end of February saw, what was expected to be the pivotal game of the season. Barca’s lead was nine and Atlético could not really afford anything other than a win, with games running out.
All the defenders had contributed goals during the season for Venables’ side, but Migueli had scored the most. When he opened the scoring it was his fourth of the season. Barca led until just beyond the hour when things were turned on their head.
Mexican striker, Hugo Sánchez equalised and within 60 seconds Mario Cabrera put the visitors in front. The last 25 minutes were nervy for the home supporters. Then with just two minutes to go, Archibald was on hand to save the point. It was his 14th in the league and denied Atlético a crucial opportunity to close the gap.
There were just eight matches left and Barca still led by nine points. Atlético were still two points clear of Sporting Gijon in third. Catalonians were allowing themselves a sigh of relief. Realistically they probably needed to lose three or four of their last eight games, whereas they’d only been beaten once at this point.
March
Venables’ side went into the penultimate month of the season with a healthy nine-point lead at the top of the table. Their first game of the month was a trip to Valencia, who were a huge 14 pts behind them despite sitting in fifth place.
Barca were the dominant side in the opening 15 minutes and it was clear Venables’ tactic was to play it long beyond the home defence for Archibald and Marcos Alonso to run onto.
But then in the 12th minute, and somewhat against the run of play, Roberto put Valencia in front with a firm strike from the edge of the area. But it wasn’t long before Barca levelled, three minutes in fact. A long ball from the back from Schuster bounced awkwardly for the home defence. Archibald pounced and headed the ball over Sempere for the equaliser.
Three minutes later Schuster was involved again. He anticipated a pass in the centre circle, intercepting the ball and driving forward through the defence before hitting a left-foot shot across the keeper to give the visitors the lead.
Then just four minutes later Barca increased their lead. Schuster was in the thick of it again as Valencia struggled to clear his free-kick. After he crossed into the box again it was once more half cleared only for Marcos to surge into the area. His low cross was turned in by Clos from around the penalty spot. Four goals in 10 minutes.
Just before the break, they added a fourth. Gerardo, in the right-back position, played the ball up the wing to Rojo. He twisted and turned inside, creating the chance for himself as he beat the keeper at his near post.
Valencia came back in the second half with several chances and on the hour they got their reward when Garcia was brought down in the box by Alexanko. Tendillo beat the keeper from the spot as the ball went in off the post.
But instead of the home side coming back into it, it was Barca who scored next with Marcos getting his second. A lovely left-foot curling shot past the keeper’s right hand. Barca won 5-2, an emphatic statement of their title credentials.
This was an especially important performance as second and third, Atlético and Sporting played out a goalless draw. Barca were then 10 points clear with just seven to go.
After the demolition of Valencia, the home game against Málaga was a bit of an anti-climax. They still won but only through an own goal from Muñoz Pérez three minutes before half-time. Of course, Venables pointed to how it was another two points gained and how every other club in the top six all won. The other huge positive was their lead was still 10 points but it was another game chalked off, giving their rivals less time to claw it back.
In the Copa del Rey last 16 they were up against Hércules. They scored at regular intervals and even centre-back Alexanko got in on the act with a brace in a 5-0 win.
Hércules were again the opposition back in the league at the weekend. The game was heading for a goalless draw when the home side were awarded a penalty just three minutes from time. Hércules centre-back, Juan Manuel Cartagena stepped up and beat Urruti.
Barca’s 12-match unbeaten run had come to an end. Just their second league defeat all season and coming on the back of the disappointing performance at home to Malaga, people wondered if cracks were emerging. Some Barca fans questioned how a side could win easily in the week then struggle against the same team a few days later. Particularly when Rojo and Clos came back in for the league match having been rested during the week.
Atlético won and so did Sporting Gijon. Realistically only Atlético presented a threat to Barca’s title. They were eight points behind with just five matches to go. Sporting were 10 back but a vastly inferior goal difference meant winning every remaining match was hardly likely to be enough for them.
Barca couldn’t collapse, could they?
23 March Barca arrived at Real Valladolid’s Estadio José Zorrilla knowing a win could hand them the league title. If second place Atlético also won they could still finish the season level on points but Barca’s 21-goal advantage would mean it was pretty unlikely.
Venables named an unchanged team from the one which lost to Hércules the week before. It took less than 10 minutes for Barca to take the lead. Schuster took a couple of in-swinging corners. One to the far post where Alexanko shot just wide, then the second was to the near post. After a flick-on, Clos bundled it over the line.
The Valladolid players immediately went to the referee to claim handball by Clos and the re-start was held up for several minutes. Minguela was booked for the home side, and then we had the rather strange incident where Steve Archibald was changing his boots on the touchline and ref booked him for time-wasting!
Five minutes later Valladolid had a free-kick after Alexanko was penalised for a high foot. It was in a central position about 35 yards out. Their Salvadoran striker, Jorge ‘Mágico’ González took it and curled it beautifully into the corner of the net for the equaliser. González had stayed in Spain after impressing during España ’82. Initially at Cadiz he moved to Valladolid this season and was often considered the best player El Salvador has ever produced.
Midway through the second half, Barcelona forced a corner on the right. Calderé, who’d just come on for Schuster, took it right-footed. He floated it to the edge of the area where Alexanko got a free header in and beat the man on the post to put the visitors back in front. It ended 2-1 to Barcelona.
Atlético were away to Racing Santander. Their striker partnership of Sánchez and Cabrera also helped them to a 2-1 win.
Barcelona were still eight points clear but there were only four matches left so with two points for a win, they could only be beaten on goal difference. At that stage, they were 21 goals better off than Atlético.
Venables ordered the champagne to be put on ice.
Few in the city minded they hadn’t won the title the previous weekend as they then had the chance to do so when Sporting Gijon arrived at the end of March.
Atlético were at Athletic so there was every chance the title would finally end up in Barcelona. Their game kicked off first and ended as a goalless draw.
Barcelona were crowned as champions.
In a real party atmosphere at the Nou Camp, Gijon gave their hosts a guard of honour as they entered the pitch towards a gang of photographers. Venables was the hero of the moment as the man who’d brought back the league title to the Nou Camp.
The whole squad lined up for pictures before the game started. The party atmosphere was enhanced as former crowd favourite Quini returned to the stadium he once graced.
Calderé’s performance as a second-half substitute against Valladolid convinced Venables to start with him instead of Marcos.
In the early stages, the game had a distinct end-of-season feel about it. But it came alive in the 15th minute when Rojo burst through two or three tackles and slipped it past Ablanedo for the opening goal.
Archibald missed a glorious opportunity to increase the lead, after some great work down the left from Schuster. Once he got to the bye-line he cut back onto his right foot, floated a lovely ball to the far post. It was just out of the keeper’s reach and Archibald headed it just wide with the goal gaping.
In the 27th minute, Barca got their second goal. Clos intercepted a pass on the left in another example of their pressing game, so effective all season. He played it inside to Schuster and continued his run. The West German played him in and as the keeper came out, he feinted to pass to Archibald to his right, then calmly tucked it inside the near post.
Barcelona were 2-0 up and Gijon just didn’t have the desire or motivation to try and get back into it.
Right on the final whistle, Schuster hit a fierce strike from just outside the area which Ablanedo parried. Archibald tried to knock in the rebound but the keeper again saved it.
Ultimately it didn’t matter. Barcelona won 2-0 and their long wait for another La Liga title was finally over.
The previous 10 years had been quite eventful for Venables. When Barca were last champions of Spain he was still a player. During that time he’d retired from playing, and guided a young Crystal Palace team from the third tier of English football to the first. He’d taken QPR to within a whisker of winning the FA Cup when in the second tier. He eventually got them promoted to one of their highest-ever finishes in the First Division.
Now he was in front of over 90,000 in a packed Nou Camp and the toast of the city.
April
Once the celebrations died down they had to re-focus as they completed their defeat of Hércules in the Copa del Rey. Leading 5-0 from the first leg they had little trouble negotiating the second leg despite a 0-1 loss.
Back in the league, Carrasco put them in front at Sevilla before Magdaleno scored twice for the home side. Schuster then scored from the penalty spot for his 10th La Liga goal of the season and the game ended 2-2.
The season ended a little anti-climactic. After the Gijon victory, they didn’t win again in their final three La Liga matches, drawing at Sevilla and Racing and held at home by Athletic.
The curtain came down on the La Liga season with Barcelona finishing 10 points clear of Atlético with Athletic and Sporting Gijon a further two points adrift. Real Madrid were a massive 17 points behind Barcelona.
In the Copa del Liga Barca reached the Quarter-Finals before losing to Real Madrid in a penalty shootout, missing their first two kicks. This would prove to be an omen for their European Cup Final appearance 12 months later. But that’s for another time.
An incredible first season for a man some thought would be out of his depth. It justified the faith the Barca board placed on him and signalled a new style of play for a club still in Real Madrid’s shadow.
They’d spent a world record fee to bring the world’s best player to the Nou Camp, yet it turned out they really needed a world-class coach.
