The RRI Sports Club – 39 years ago, in Seville
Every year, on May 7, we remember, at Radio Romania International, the greatest performance in the history of Romanian football.
Florin Orban, 07.05.2025, 13:45
It is the victory of the Steaua Bucharest team in the final of the 1985 – 1986 edition of the European Champions Cup, at that time the number one competition in inter-club football on the old continent. Steaua beat FC Barcelona 2-0 in Seville after extra time and penalty kicks. The Romanian champion had reached the final after beating the Danish team Vejle Bold Club, the Hungarian team Honved Budapest, the Finnish sides Kuusisi Lahti and Anderlecht Brussels. The match in Bucharest against the Belgians, won 3-0 by Steaua, was considered the best game ever played by a Romanian team in the European Cups.
The final with Barcelona was played on Spanish soil. In Seville, the Catalans had come with 40 thousand supporters who were waiting for their team’s first victory in the Champions Cup. Helmut Duckadam, Ştefan Iovan, Adrian Bumbescu, Miodrag Belodedici, Ilie Bărbulescu, Gavrilă Balint, Ladislau Bölöni, Ştefan Majearu, Lucian Bălan, Marius Lăcătuş, Victor Piţurcă, Marin Radu and Anghel Iordănescu played for Steaua. Emerich Jenei was on the technical bench, assisted by Iordănescu. The one who had led, as captain, the entire qualifying campaign until the final was absent from the team: Tudorel Stoica.
The clash in Seville was tough for Steaua, who nevertheless proved their superiority in terms of tactics. They defended well and counterattacked dangerously. 120 minutes passed without a goal. The miracle happened in the penalty shootout. Steaua goalkeeper Helmut Duckadam saved all four of Barcelona’s shots. Few people remember that the Spanish goalkeeper, the late Javier Urruticoechea, also saved twice, a rare performance at such a level. The fact that the Spaniard was beaten twice, namely by Marius Lăcătuş and Gavrilă Balint, made only Duckadam a legend. In December last year, Steaua’s great goalkeeper Helmut Duckadam died, at the age of 65. (EE)
