The Kaftanzoglio Stadium in Thessaloniki, 16 May 1973
16th May 1973
The Cup of the East. That’s right, after their challenge with Red Boys Differdange, a team from Luxembourg, the Rossoneri’s route to their second continental trophy was then marked by games against the Poles of Legia, the Soviets of Spartak Moscow and the Czechoslovakians of Sparta Prague. The toughest match was against the Legia team containing Deyna and Godocha, who would later become bronze medallists with Poland at the 1974 World Cup in Germany. In that tie, AC Milan just about managed to win after extra time in the second leg at San Siro after two 1-1 draws.
It was a historic cup: Red Boys v AC Milan in the first round was the first football match played internationally following the massacre of Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympics. What's more, the quarter-final match wasn’t played on Spartak Moscow’s pitch, but rather in Sochi due to the impracticality of playing in Moscow, and that game also marked the Rossoneri’s return to the Soviet Union for the first time since their summer tour in July 1955. The final at the Kaftanzoglio Stadium in Thessaloniki was an epic showdown between the Rossoneri and Leeds: Chiarugi scored after just three minutes and AC Milan then managed to hold out until the final whistle. This battle was fought just four days before the final matchday in the league in Verona.
