Anfield is bustling with fans and expectation, the Kop is in full voice and English opposition await at the business end of a major European competition.
Liverpool host Manchester City in the Champions League on Wednesday night and the Reds have been in this situation before.
In April 1973, Anfield was not the headquarters of European power it was to become — there were 42,000 there on this night, whereas 56,000 had turned up for the third-round FA Cup-tie against Burnley.
Alec Lindsay (second right) fires Liverpool towards a first leg UEFA Cup win over Tottenham
But Bill Shankly had the ‘This Is Anfield’ sign erected a year earlier and the message to visitors was that here was a place to behold, here was a ground in the process of becoming a fortress.
Anfield had already enjoyed heady European occasions — Liverpool had reached three European semi-finals under Shankly before 1973. They had won one to reach the 1966 Cup-Winners’ Cup final, which was lost to Borussia Dortmund. The defeat hurt Shankly. Europe mattered to him.
So Liverpool were yet to win a European trophy when they were drawn against Tottenham in the semi-final of the UEFA Cup in 1973. Tottenham were holders — the year before had been the UEFA Cup’s inaugural season as it evolved from the Fairs Cup. In a two-legged final, Spurs beat Wolves 3-2.
And Spurs had been to Anfield 10 days earlier in the League and drawn 1-1. Pat Jennings saved two Liverpool penalties, from Kevin Keegan and Tommy Smith.
Martin Peters struck for Spurs in the second leg but Liverpool progressed on away goals
Tottenham had knocked Liverpool out of the League Cup in the last eight with a 3-1 victory at White Hart Lane in a replay. Spurs did not come to Anfield for the first leg to be pushed over.
Still, Bill Nicholson and his players understood the size of their task — Liverpool had been top of the League since September bar a fortnight. Spurs’ last win at Anfield had been in 1912. More relevant and concerning was that Jennings had missed the previous match at Southampton.
Nicholson, however, was able to name the great Irishman on the teamsheet and Jennings repaid him with a typically obdurate display. He did not save penalties this time, but he made two late stops that had Anfield anxious.
He was beaten just once, by Liverpool’s Alec Lindsay, and one match report began: ‘Tottenham endured a 90-minute battering by Liverpool to finish only 1-0 down and must have a fine chance of reaching the final of the UEFA Cup for the second successive season.’
That was the general tone of the coverage — Liverpool had dominated and won, but Spurs held the advantage.
‘Keegan squandered two chances that he made with his own good running before Tottenham cracked in the 27th minute,’ is how the only goal was reported.
‘Smith drove a free-kick into the crowded Tottenham penalty box and it was like watching a giant pinball machine as the ball went backwards and forwards across the face of the goal before left back Lindsay stabbed it in.’
Lindsay had been signed by Shankly from Bury in 1969. He had been a right half at Gigg Lane but after an uncertain initial period at Anfield, Shankly asked him to play left back. Lindsay thrived and would go on to earn four England caps.
Liverpool’s Tommy Smith (front) and Borussia Monchengladbach’s Gunter Netzer lead out the teams ahead of the second leg of the 1973 UEFA Cup final
Shankly had built two formidable Liverpool teams in the 1960s and was now constructing another, laying the foundations for 1970s and early 80s European domination. Just past his 22nd birthday, having been signed from Scunthorpe, Keegan provided cutting edge.
Keegan did not score past Jennings in the second leg, but he set up Steve Heighway and that goal, in a 2-1 defeat, meant Liverpool were through to the final on the away goal rule.
In the final they met Borussia Monchengladbach, whom Shankly considered the best team in Europe. After Eintracht Frankfurt, Dynamo Berlin and Dynamo Dresden, this was the fourth German opposition Liverpool faced in the season’s competition.
Smith holds the UEFA Cup trophy following their 3-2 aggregate victory over the German side
In the first leg at Anfield, Keegan scored twice in a 3-0 victory and Ray Clemence saved a penalty from Jupp Heynckes.
Larry Lloyd got the other and his strike proved the difference when Liverpool suffered a 2-0 loss in Germany — Heynckes scoring both. Liverpool had their first European title, which came one month after winning the League. The club had not won a trophy for seven years, but these two marked the beginning of a silver avalanche.
Liverpool returned from Germany to Speke Aerodrome at 1am after the second leg. It was heaving. ‘That was the greatest thing of all,’ said Shankly.
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