Villa 2 Barcelona 2,

U.E.F.A. Cup quarter-final First leg, 1st March 1978.

Villa's first excursion into Europe two seasons earlier had been all too brief, falling in the first round to Royal Antwerp. This time were more prepared, beating Fenerbache, Gornik Zabreze and Athletic Bilbao to set up this clash with the Catalan giants, complete with Cruyff and Neeskens.

Over 49,000 people were in the ground, virtually a capacity crowd following the redevelopment of the previous season which had seen the Witton bank finally knocked down and replaced by the new North Stand. ]Icy saw possibly the best European game staged at Villa Park.

Villa had territorial advantage, but lacked penetration. They were the victims of a spate of niggling fouls by Spanish defenders. They also had no answer to the man Cruyff. He enjoyed the respect of the Villa players, who held off him when in possession, allowing him to show breathtaking control and class.

Deehan, lacking support in the absence of partner Gray, battled for crosses provided by Smith, but was blatantly pushed around in the penalty area, something quite acceptable to the Portuguese referee. The match officials rarely signalled, and watched unmoved as Little was repeatedly hacked down.

Chances were few, Little missed one when allowing keeper Artola to Smother a shot, Deehan and Gregory fired wide. After twenty minutes Deehan lost the ball in the centre circle, leaving Cruyff with a clear run on goal. Phillips backed off and the Dutchman unleashed a curling shot from twenty yards out which gave Jimmy Rimmer no chance.

Villa struggled to break down the Spaniards, Mortimer and Carrodus were not creative enough and were poorly supported by an ineffective Gregory. A plus point, though, was the success of the improving Cowans, at this time on his way to becoming an all-time great.

The turning point came in the 61st minute when another star of the future, Allan Evans, came on to replace his namesake David, who had made an impressive European debut in place of the injured John Gidman.

Villa went further behind after 78 minutes when Asensi's throw found Rexach, who crossed for Zuviria to put a looping header past Rimmer. It looked hopeless for Villa, but Cruyff came off after 82 minutes and the game changed dramatically.

In the 85th minute a free-kick from Gordon Smith was met with a diving header from Ken McNaught and Villa were back in the match. Roared on by a mightily-loud Holte, the team found fresh heart and with Evans showing his usual aggression up front an equaliser came in injury time. Phillips passed to Little, whose flick reached Smith out on the left wing. The resulting centre was headed away, but Mortimer chipped the ball over the advancing defence for Evans to chase. His shot was pushed out by Artola, the rebound falling for Deehan to f-ire home from ten yards out.

A marvellous night, when Villa proved they were ready to cope with the best the continent could offer. The team would remember such lessons with great success four years later.