No team of pet dogs: When Barcelona came to Leeds, 1975

Leeds United vs Barcelona
European Cup semi-final first leg
9th April, 1975

One of Brian Clough's underrated errors in his brief time mismanaging Leeds United was thinking anyone at Elland Road, other than him, wanted to win the First Division again, and "win it better," as he put it. The players he was inheriting from Don Revie all had the championship medals they'd just won, and a lot of them had their medals from 1969, too. Pride naturally had them aiming for a repeat, but with time against star names like Johnny Giles and Billy Bremner, a lot of the players were practising what they'd learned about priorities.

The best example of that was the FA Cup. The oldest cup competition in the world and a Wembley final still had a seductive status of their own, but after a sixth round tie with Ipswich went to a replay, then extra-time, then another replay with extra-time, then a third replay, losing that last match 3-2 was not the heartbreak it might otherwise have been. Leeds had suffered through piles of replays and fixture congestion too many times to worry now. 10th in the First Division, out of the domestic cups, Leeds were pleased to concentrate on the prize Revie had aimed them towards in 1962: the European Cup.

They had to concentrate to have a chance, according to the British press. United's semi-final opponents, Barcelona, were also European-minded. Rules in Spain meant they could only play two foreign players in domestic games, usually Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens, the Dutch international World Cup finalists. That didn't stop them from having Brazil's World Cup captain Marinho Peres in their squad, and Argentinian striker Juan Carlos Heredia, and bringing all four together in Europe. On their way to the semi-final they'd beaten FC Linz, Feyenoord and Atvidabergs by a total score of 13-0.

Most pundits figured Cruyff was the problem Leeds had to, and wouldn't, solve. The world's best player, transferred from Ajax for a world record £922,000, the subject of an in-depth BBC interview to be broadcast that week, Cruyff challenged Leeds to either try marking him out of the game — which could let Barcelona's other players frolic — or allow him to roam, in which case he might cause untold damage. 'Leeds may contain Cruyff for ninety minutes,' wrote Liverpool captain Tommy Smith in his newspaper column, 'but they will not do it for 180 minutes, simply because he is the best player in the world.' That view was generally shared, expecting Barcelona to be happy to draw the first leg at Elland Road, assuming they'd be too much when attacking Leeds in front of 120,000 fans at their own Camp Nou.

The one hope for Leeds, according to the newspapers, was to fight flair with flair. 'I have said before that Duncan McKenzie has the sort of style and flair that would serve Leeds well in the European Cup,' wrote journalist Bob Harris. 'His unorthodox style is more likely to produce an important goal than the predictable and sometimes stodgy efforts of Joe Jordan and Peter Lorimer, and Leeds will need every trick up their sleeve to win this one.' Brian Glanville agreed, although he stressed that he was not so dismissive of Jordan or Lorimer. 'I think they must make up their minds to give Duncan McKenzie a full game at Elland Road, if not in Spain, too,' wrote Glanville. 'This is a player so gloriously capable of doing the unexpected ... A footballer like McKenzie is something else again; at once adventurous and unpredictable; no Cruyff, certainly, but a player with a splendid quick turn and endless effrontery. Just what you need when you have reached the breathless heights of the European Cup semi-finals.' McKenzie was, 'The man who can do it for Leeds!' according to Frank McGhee's headline in the Mirror. 'McKenzie is unpredictable. McKenzie is unusual. McKenzie could be a match-winner,' he wrote.

To make the starting eleven, however, new-boy McKenzie had to get through manager Jimmy Armfield's protection of Revie's old-school, whose opinions were paramount in the Elland Road dressing rooms. The reporting on the morning of the game was that McKenzie could actually be on the bench as an emergency goalkeeper, due to injuries to first choice David Harvey and third choice Glan Letheren leaving David Stewart alone.

Don Revie's views, meanwhile, were not hidden, as the England manager had newspaper columns of his own. He carefully avoided opining on who Armfield might select, only praising Frank Gray for his recent performances at left-back, but he shared his views on tactics. He expected Barcelona to play a sweeper behind three or four markers, 'so much will depend on the ability of Leeds' full backs and midfield players to support attacks down the flanks ... they should repeatedly attempt to draw the sweeper to one side and play crossfield passes for players to run on to on the other side.'

Barcelona themselves, meanwhile, were as much mystified as mystery, and they didn't have an easy time getting to Leeds. They travelled on Monday and arrived in a gale, their plane diverting twice and their arrival delayed by two hours. They found Bradford in a snowstorm, and found out they had nowhere to train. They'd been offered Elland Road but said it was too far from their base at the Baron of Beef hotel at Five Lane Ends. There was a mix-up about Valley Parade, where a nonplussed Bradford City were hosting a reserve match, but they gave Barcelona a number to ring. At 6pm, Thackley AFC's club secretary Stewart Willingham took a phone call from someone claiming to be representing Barcelona, asking to use their ground at 7pm.