On the occasion of the death of the legend Franz Beckenbauer, the column brings to light a story from the past that many may not know.
In the distant 1975, in Paris, Bayern and Leeds met in the final of the European Champions Cup. Both teams, at that time, were in their prime. The English are talking about their team being massacred in that final by the French referee.
They were denied a clean sweep by Beckenbauer on Alan Clarke and had a goal disallowed by Peter Lorimer. And all this, while the score was still 0-0. So, instead of leading 2-0, at the end of the day they were defeated 2-0 by the Germans, losing the precious trophy. It was the beginning of the end for the great Leeds.
Its enraged fans caused widespread incidents in the city of Paris after the end of the final, considering the referee to be hostile to their team. Since then, nobody in Leeds liked Bayern and their then captain Franz Beckenbauer, since they believed that he influenced the referee's decisions in that final… If you search on YouTube, you will also find relevant statements from Leeds players who played in that final.
Regardless of what they believe at Leeds, Beckenbauer was a legend of world football, a cerebral footballer who was ahead of his time, as a defender he often pushed forward with his lordly style and orchestrated his team's play. He was a staff… libero. His death adds to the black list of other world football greats, Pele, Maradona, Cruyff, Charlton, Best and others, who have passed away.