Forty years ago, football was obviously very different from today. Bayern had not a single European Cup to their name. Diego Simeone had only mastered the basic skills of talking, walking and perhaps, kicking a ball. Not a single player from Bayern's winners of 2013 had been born.
1974 is regarded as a historic year for German football. Atletico Madrid came exactly seven minutes from putting a huge dent in the year for West Germany. Gerd Müller, Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck, Franz Beckenbauer, Sepp Maier, Paul Breitner and Uli Hoeness all went on to play integral roles for Germany as the nation lifted the World Cup against all odds against Hungary. They were perhaps boosted by a match they managed to completely turn on its head.
Atletico Madrid had put in more dominant displays than Bayern enroute to the final. Bayern got past Atvidaberg on penalties; they beat Dynamo Dresden by a single goal over two legs (6-7 on aggregate). As seen so often with German teams in tournaments though, they became stronger, beating CSKA Sofia and Ujpest convincingly in the latter rounds to book their spot in Brussels.
Atletico had a few troubles against Galatasaray but beat them 1-0 on aggregate to progress anyway. From there on, they beat every opponent, including, Dinamo Bucuresti, Crvena Zvezda and Celtic by at least two goals on aggregate. In the first leg against Celtic, Atletico drew 0-0 despite having no less than three players sent off. They had to put in a monumental effort in both the legs to win. They certainly did not want the final to go to extra time.
Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened. Bayern seemed slightly timid though and Atletico took advantage when Luis Aragones struck from a free kick. Bayern suddenly had their backs to the wall. They had to find a goal. Gerd Müller, their savior so often, could not find one himself. It was left to the most unlikeliest of heros to find the goal which would send the tie to a second leg. Schwarzenbeck, a defender by trade, struck in the 120th minute, breaking Atletico hearts.
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The Bavarians came back a different side in the second leg. Atletico could not believe what was happening; in a nightmare scenario for them, Bayern took a 2-0 lead before the hour mark through Hoeness and Müller. Müller struck in the 69th minute again and Hoeness added another towards the end to put the icing on the cake. Bayern took home the first of their three successive European Cups and added two more for good measure in 2001 and 2013.
Atletico fans who are old enough to remember that day perhaps wonder what could have been had the team defended their goal tightly for one more minute. Nobody expected Schwarzenbeck to strike; his goal came from a moment of desperation as he tried to save his team from a final defeat. Against their city rivals, Real Madrid, Atletico have a chance to redeem themselves forty long years on.
