18/03/1987 Barcelona v Dundee United

[@johnavery3918]

Amazing to think Dundee United have played Barca 4 times in competitive matches and beaten them home and away every time, some record, that was some team United had back then (coming from a Dundee supporter)

[@DarthArab]

To be fair, Dundee have never been beaten by them either

[@jimibhoy8935]

Well said mate, from a Celtic fan. United were outstanding.

[@GrandPrixDecals]

@@DarthArab 🤣🤣 took me a minute to get that!

[@Mike24373.s]

Barça didn't have such great players back then

[@ferguspuskas]

I'm a Rangers fan and I remember sitting down to watch this feeling certain United wouldnt lose - I had total respect not only for this team but also their amazing manager Jim McLean

[@timmybing]

🧟‍♂️🧟‍♂️

[@Scotseasy]

What a tremendous team Dundee United were in the 1980s : fast, skilful, and lethal finishers.

[@niallcampion78]

The big clubs changed the format and introduced co-efficient etcs so they wouldn’t be embarrassed by small unfashionable clubs like Dundee Utd or Steaua Bucharest or Red star Belgrade etc etc. Such a stitch up. Games like this will never happen again. And if anything it will become more elite. In 1979 Dundalk in Ireland were three games away from the champions cup final and went a round further than Liverpool. Absolute fantasy stuff in today’s world. Different planet. But it was reality back then.

[@benedictjephcote6815]

I agree. Also, since they started putting through 4 teams from leagues like the English and Italian (etc), other leagues are falling behind and the money/success gap is widening each year between the rich leagues and the lesser wealthy leagues.

[@HighlandMike325]

Think the top leagues had 4 teams in the UEFA Cup since it started in 1972-73.

[@PureExile]

In the season you're talking about Dundalk beat Linfield and Hibernians of Malta before losing to Celtic in the last 16. I understand your point but it was hardly a great achievement.

[@HighlandMike325]

It was when UEFA decided to sell the TV rights to the competition as a whole entity rather than match-by-match that it changed. It had to. There were a couple of examples in the early 90s where TV companies like ITV paid a fortune for the rights only to see their country's teams knocked out before the group stage. Happened to Germany twice in two years, second time when Leeds beat Stuttgart in the first round. Then Leeds got beat by Rangers in next round so no English or German team in the group stages. Also happened to Barcelona when CSKA Moscow knocked them out. UEFA knew TV wouldn't carry on paying top money for the likes of IFK Gothenburg v PSV Eindhoven

[@niallcampion78]

@@PureExile yes that’s why it’s barely remembered by many . But it’s still amazing to think that they were so close to the pinnacle of European club football even if it was very brief.

[@gmaccruyff55]

Dundee Utd got to the semi-finals of the 1984 European cup,where they should have played Liverpool in Rome,but for a bribed ref in favour of Roma!

[@kennyp9616]

Roma payed money to bad people. Thank GOD Liverpool won.

[@captainwin6333]

@@kennyp9616 Liverpool were bad people. Ask Juve fans.

[@kennyp9616]

@@captainwin6333 Can't argue with that

[@colinfraser8317]

hahaha, United were lucky Roma did not give them five, bribed ref is bollocks

[@kilwolski]

@@colinfraser8317 hahaha how could you say that when the owner straight up admitted to it jealousy is a horrible thing mate

[@johnavery3918]

What a great team Dundee United had back then, a pleasure to watch them as a wee boy in our city and as a Dundee fan my condolences on the lose of Jim McLean.

[@ryankelly6114]

Celtic Fan here! Dundee UTD wir some side. The club have a brilliant history and would love to see them back in the SPFL which more than likely this season they will!

[@JJ-ic3op]

Hail Hail Dundee United from a Celtic fan. I was born in '79 and was fitba daft from the womb. I got sat down in front of the telly by my Dad and my Papa for Utd and Aberdeen's euro exploits and grew up just thinking that's how Scottish teams dealt with Europe. Only the passage of time confirmed for me the brilliance of the likes of McLean , Ferguson and their squads. 🍀👍🏻

[@robbiesize]

I’d forgotten the second goal, and the Barca fans’ appreciation of its wonderful simplicity. Linneker and Sparky v wee Dun U. Seems now like an alternate universe.

[@davidross1421]

was at the Bokelstadion for the first leg when I was serving in Germany. Was at the return leg at Tannadice when I was on leave , did not expect that result though. Cracking result. I'm a hibby but was supporting Scottish football and was watching a German team 25 mins from where I stayed for the first time.

[@bricktop8435]

My grandfather played for United. Sad for him he never witnessed these glory years

[@bashy8796]

What's his name?

[@BillDFC]

What a fine team.....fabulous achievement and I am a Dundee supporter.

[@Robert-sy4bd]

As a Aberdeen fan I was gutted United didn't win the trophy. Luck wasn't with them at Tannadice.

[@bushcraftandastronomer.3775]

Being an Aberdeen fan at the time this was Dundee utd great European scores that I was happy they won this game and they kept on playing to win. It was a great team effort and they deserved to win!

[@irvinepanda]

RIP Ian Redford.

[@markroberts868]

Respect from a ger, remember that game well.incredible,considering the games state in Scotland Today.sad.

[@Eastlomond]

I went to the game from Dundee on a bus, which took 36 hours to get there. That took a while to recover from.

[@Gamefeedvids]

Best ever victory for United, even games after that were insignificant and was at the semi's. I missed this leg :( Respect to those other supporters of other teams passing on their feelings as well. Hats off to you.

[@shanekelley7682]

I know a lot of Scottish fans hate us English, But when you grew up watching Dundee Utd, Aberdeen doing well in Europe, I personally want any British club to do well in Europe and many of still keep an eye out for Aberdeen and Dundee Utd.

[@stevenreilly3738]

Shane Kelley don’t hate English it’s just the way the premier league is portrayed up here Kids growing up support Man U man c arsenal Chelsea etc and it is starving the Scottish game of fans because these kids who call themselves ‘fans’ would rather watch games on the tv than go and actually watch the local team tbf i would take the passion of Scottish football over the tourists that go the premier league games that’s why atmospheres are so flat in the premier league

[@Kiltskills]

I support a lot of English clubs in Europe, but it's obviously harder to want the Engliy national side to do well. I guess you guys down south watched more Scottish teams in Europe in the mid to late 80's because English clubs were banned from Europe. What are the chances of that happening now, even if the fans started behaving badly again. Money trump's everything.

[@09weenic]

Not true in any European final I would rather an English side beats a foreign team 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧

[@unitedguy]

Good comments here. I could never support the english national team as they are our historical rivals at international level but I support all british teams in europe from the qualifiers onwards. Man U 99, liverpool 05 were amazing finals but my personal favourite run may be chelsea in 2012, the comeback in the nou camp in the semis then beating bayern munich on their own patch (with bertrand on the wing and di matteo as manager!) I ruined a brand new pair of £100+ jeans sliding on my knees in a packed dundee boozer when drogba equalised that night, absolute class Edit: Just watched the highlights of the chelsea final and totally forgot about the petr cech penalty save at the death! Imo that night was a better win than their latest CL success but im sure chelsea fans enjoyed beating city in the final just as much as this one!

[@khsmith6242]

So many Aberdeen fans in England. All football fans in Scotland support English teams in Europe but we all want The Rangers to get beaten by whoever they play in Europe

[@davidingram9607]

Such a great decade for scottish football

[@performancewithoutlimits3093]

United had some great and strong players.

[@GrahamByrne63]

Proud to be part of the best of European nights watching dundee United memories that will stay with me class team

[@stephenkilpatrick3949]

changed days for scottish teams in europe now

[@Kiltskills]

Certainly in terms of Scottish teams outwith the Old firm. Celtic and Rangers have both made the Europa League final in the past 20 years and have both performed in the Champions League. What's changed now is that there's a ridiculous amount of money in the game which has stifled competition.

[@andrewjohnston2850]

@@Kiltskills the oldfirm have had plenty of failures in Europe the past 20 years the only thing that has saved them is dropping into the Europa league there is still just the 1 Scottish club with 2 European trophy's and they are not from Glasgow

[@DarthArab]

Good point. The fall of the Soviet Union has also made it much more difficult for the national team to qualify for tournaments

[@GusMcC]

Glory days - I remember them well - what a team!

[@josepasher]

Sorpresa en el Camp Nou...Qué recuerdos! Un saludo.

[@mrkipling2201]

I remember this game well. Couldn't imagine this result happening now!!

[@stonefaction]

RIP Jim McLean. Legend.

[@chriscoughlan5221]

What a result!! Proud to be a dundee utd fan!! Well done!

[@DarthArab]

We played 3 forwards away at Barcelona, Sturrock, Gallacher, Ferguson. They were lucky we only scored 2

[@truecrimescotsman]

Incredible night......every Scottish fan cheering them on.

[@wonjubhoy]

RIP Jim McLean.

[@robinevans1293]

Remember listening to this game in my bedsit in 87....

[@gavinhalliday5231]

Eamonn Bannon co-commentating. “My heart’s bursting Archie” he said near the end.

[@gavinhalliday5231]

We were sitting in the Royal Box on a stadium tour the day before the game. Archie was there. “This is some stadium Archie isn’t it?” we said to him. He responded “Not quite as striking as the Maracana”. What an a-hole.

[@englishjona6458]

This is how I remember football when Scotland was mighty and teams like red star was just different class

[@paulwilson2651]

In my view the greatest ever Scottish club result. from a Jambo.

[@billygrogan3410]

Remember this well I was a boy went to the game at tannadice united were fantastic in both legs proud to be a Arab d u f c for life

[@gandalfsbeard473]

envious o the utd supporters who were there , memories !

[@robbiesize]

loved that Dundee U team. Barca away!!!!!!

[@johncee1481]

Still can`t understand how they lost to Gothenburg in the final, incidentally a side who have done nothing since then either.

[@barrysharp73]

They lost because the SFA made them play a Scottish Cup final 3 days before the final, if it was one of the ugly sisters it would have been moved

[@meshborg9929]

IIfk Gothenburg won the UEFA cup in

[@meshborg9929]

In 82 .they were a good team

[@michaeldoogan2873]

If you look closely Gothenburg never scored a goal - the ball got under the side net outside the post and landed up in the back of the net. There was no internet or KZbin then to see the replays. Have a good look yourselves and confirm what I just said. You're welcome.

[@AffectedArea]

Tiredness was a factor - smaller squad competing at the 'business end' of many tournaments.

[@jim09667]

they showed barca up that night....

[@neilf2475]

Remember being at primary school and it was all dundee utd and aberdeen

[@sridharsarnobat8673]

Dundee remain the only team to have a 100% record against Barcelona. Long may that continue.

[@Eastlomond]

Get it right, you mean Dundee United. Dundee are a completely different club.

[@sridharsarnobat8673]

@@Eastlomond It's like foreigners saying "Manchester" when they mean United. Or Ireland when they mean Republic of.

[@rachelgrogan2962]

best performanc by any scottish club in europe by a mile dufc 4 life

[@09weenic]

Up there with Rangers CWC win in 72, The sheep’s CWC in 83 and the septics win in 67

[@jimgselder]

Glory days indeed. When will we see their likes again?

[@russo10]

i remember watching this as a youngster. i didn't know much about barcelona, other than the fact that they got beaten by steaua bucharest and lineker and hughes. not sure if el tel was still in charge at the time, but dundee utd, if only they could have played like that against goteborg ifk

[@DaveTerrasidio]

Nice one, United

[@leothelion75]

Terrorised teams in the 80s great team

[@DUFC321]

***** Ohhhh the jealousy

[@andyross1203]

RIP Jim McLean

[@portcullis5622]

That dug out at the end made me feel claustrophobic!

[@raymondgoldie7806]

Lots of really big names in that barca team.

[@camp14dogg]

Only team with 100 percent win record against Barcelona.

[@JimmyTimmy-wh8dz]

Scottish clubs and Scottish players. Those were the days.

[@fredylopez43]

Por esto decimos que el Barca es una moda, ya está volviendo a su realidad

[@marknewton8949]

Omg it’s amazing how a little Scottish team could do so well in Europe. Pity they never got to reach there goal.

[@nathanjedrej792]

Were these the days when McLean had players on 15 year contracts!

[@paullevi5598]

What a win for Dundee Utd against barca who had the likes of lineker and hughes playing for them these were the days when Aberdeen and Utd used to give Celtic and Rangers a run for there money

[@Veronacelt]

That was some team that Utd had, is it an urban myth or fact that Utd are the only team to have a 100% receord versus Barcelona in European competitions?

[@weescotspaul]

@MrMervinJMinky Which means it's a fact. Hellas67's question was is it a myth or a fact, and it is indeed a fact.

[@weescotspaul]

@@Greylobster It _is_ a fact. Records cannot be made based on one solitary match, otherwise you get pub teams with 100% records against far bigger sides. The record is, basically, that Dundee United are the only team to have a 100% record against Barcelona in competitive fixtures having played them on more than one occasion. Slovan Bratislava have only played them once. Dundee United have faced them in *four* competitive matches and have beaten them *every single time.* That's no urban myth, it's absolutely true. Fairs Cup (The original UEFA Cup) Oct 1966 - Barca 1 Dundee Utd 2 Fairs Cup, Nov 1966 (2nd Leg) - Dundee Utd 2 Barca 0 UEFA Cup, March 1987 - Dundee Utd 1 Barca 0 UEFA Cup, March '87 (2nd Leg) - Barca 1 Dundee Utd 2 I'm a lifelong Hearts fan, not an Arab, and I have no particular love for any club that doesn't play at Tynecastle. This, however, is a distinction that *cannot* be taken away from Dundee United. No other team on the planet has played Barcelona in more than one competitive match and beaten them every time. "Urban myth" my arse.

[@boxyfella]

It's a record that will probably last forever. Simply because the way things are at the present (and the way they're likely to go in the future) it is extremely unlikely that United will ever face Barcelona in a competitive match ever again.

[@eoi9954]

United what happend

[@grahamroy5329]

Arabtastic !

[@lean359]

3:51

[@fraser_mr2009]

poor shootin by barca

[@eoi9954]

2014

[@williamgrogan6732]

top that

[@dennisclancy6729]

Barca fans really care about the match, the stadium is half empty..

[@Kiltskills]

Dundee United should have just forfeited the match then because thousands of glory hunting Barca fans couldn't be bothered to turn up to the 2nd leg of a UEFA cup quarter final that they were already trailing in. And the UEFA cup was a great competition back then and was considered harder to win than European Cup in its old format.