Barça Rewind: A historic photo

Barça win the Liga title so often these days that we sometimes forget just what a hard thing it is to do. When Johan Cruyff inspired the team to victory in 1974, it was the first time the club had won the league for fourteen years. But that didn’t herald in a new era. It would be a further eleven seasons before the club tasted glory again, which made the 1984/85 league title one of the sweetest in the club’s history.

Englishman Terry Venables (or ‘El Tel’ as he became known in the British press) had put together a compact, hard-working team, led by German Bernd Schuster and Scotsman Steve Archibald, who had the enviable task of replacing the great Diego Maradona, who has left for Napoli.

The title was finally clinched on 24 March 1985 with a 2-1 win at Valladolid, when Urruticoechea had saved a last-minute penalty and Joaquim Maria Puyal of Ràdio Barcelona uttered the immortal words: "Urruti, t'estimo!" (Urruti, we love you).

Seven days later the newly crowned champions were able to celebrate the league championship at the Camp Nou before the first of four games that they still had in hand, against Sporting Gijón. A historic parade included members of the teams that had won the club’s nine previous league titles: Josep Obiols (1928-29), César Rodríguez (1944-45), Josep Seguer (1947-48), Francesc Calvet (1948-49), Juan Segarra (1951-52), Marià Gonzalvo (1952-53), Antonio Ramallets (1958-59), Ferran Olivella (1959-60) and Carles Rexach (1973-74). Some photo!

Barça rounded off the day by winning 2-0 with goals from Rojo (15 mins) and Clos (27). The team that day: Urruti, Gerardo, Migueli, Alexanko, Julio Alberto, Víctor, Schuster (Sánchez, 80’), Calderé, Clos, Rojo and Archibald.