Liverpool European Cup, the cream of Europe. Bob Paisley was in charge when his Reds team beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 in Rome. Bill Shankly had been trying for years to take the trophy home, but it always fell short. In particular, Liverpool reached the semifinals in 1965 only to lose to Internacional after a “questionable” refereeing.
Interestingly, Bruges was the rival in the 1976 UEFA Cup final. They never beat runaway Liverpool, which now had three European trophies in the same number of years. It wasn't much of a surprise that they lost 3-0 at halftime, then. However, Liverpool, inspired by Steven Gerrard and with one or two magnificent tactical changes from Rafa Benítez, changed things to win the trophy.
Liverpool's rival Borussia Dortmund used counterattack tactics that had paid off in previous rounds, and did so again, when the West Germans defeated Liverpool 2-1 in extra time.
