Liverpool won the 1977 European Cup final, defeating Borussia Mönchengladbach 3-1 in Rome. Borussia Mönchengladbach was, by the way, the club Liverpool defeated in their first UEFA Cup final in 1973. With a crowd of 52,078, Liverpool took an early lead thanks to Terry McDermott, but Allan Simonsen drew with Mönchengladbach early in the second half. Liverpool regained the lead halfway through the second half with a header goal from Tommy Smith. A penalty from Phil Neal ensured that Liverpool won the match 3-1 to secure their first European Cup.
The victory came a year after he won the UEFA Cup, which meant that Bob Paisley became the first coach to win the UEFA Cup and the European Cup in successive seasons. Bob Paisley guided Liverpool to their first European Cup win, repeating their victory in the 1973 UEFA Cup final against the same rival. Allan Simonsen cancelled Terry McDermott's first game in Rome, and it took a big save by Ray Clemence to defeat Uli Stieleke before Liverpool regained control. Tommy Smith headed the second from a corner, and Phil Neal secured the result from the penalty spot.
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.
Liverpool's rival Borussia Dortmund used counterattack tactics that had paid off in the previous rounds and did so again, when the West Germans defeated Liverpool 2-1 in extra time.
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