Souness: Me and the 'Butcher of Bilbao'

During the road to the Stadio Olimpico, Joe Fagan's Reds faced an intimidating second round battle with Spanish outfit Athletic Bilbao.

At the heart of their defence was Andoni Goikoetxea, who had been involved in a previous infamous meeting with Diego Maradona which saw the Argentinian star ruled out for a long period as a result of a robust challenge.

After a goalless draw in the first leg at Anfield, Souness and co headed to a hostile atmosphere at San Mames stadium, which was known as 'the cathedral of Spanish football' and a very hostile and intimidating place to go.

Sporting their yellow kit, a headed goal from Ian Rush saw the Reds home, but equally vital was the dominance of Souness, completely overshadowing the self-professed 'Butcher of Bilbao', Goikoetxea.

After seeing off the 'Butcher', Souness was then involved in an infamous semi-final confrontation with Lica Movila of Dinamo Bucharest.

During the first half of the first leg, Souness was caught three times by punches from the Romanian, and a further dispute between the pair resulted in Movila suffering a broken jaw. Despite the match being televised for a midweek highlights show, no cameras picked up the clash.

For the decisive second leg, two goals from Rush booked a ticket to Rome, and the Scotsman delivered a midfield masterclass display despite his every touch being greeted by abuse from the hostile crowd.

Watch the video here »

Recalling his confrontations, Souness told Liverpoolfc.com: "In those days there was always little bits going on in the game which you could get away with but it was a really interesting campaign to say the least.

"We as a group were formidable. We had some people who could look after themselves. We had one hat if the opposition wanted a game of football and another hat if the opposition wanted a tug of war with us, and I think we were pretty good at both of them.

"Athletic Bilbao were a really good team. We drew 0-0 in the first leg at Anfield and then went to Spain and won 1-0.

"They hadn't been beaten on their own pitch for about two seasons and I can remember saying to Roy Evans: 'Evo, if we get through this game tonight we will win the cup!'

"On the night we were fabulous. We trained on their pitch on the Tuesday night and on the Wednesday they watered it. I know it's normal these days to water the pitch but back then it was rare.

"That actually suited us down to the ground because were a passing team who loved a slick pitch. We were fabulous that night and I remember Rushie getting a very unusual headed goal to win us the game 1-0."

For the final against AS Roma on their own soil, the Italian outfit were clear favourites to lift the European Cup, but Souness and the Liverpool team had different ideas.

He added: "It was accepted in football that we were not going to win. People were saying: 'Liverpool have got no chance!'

"We went to Rome and played AS Roma in their own stadium. We were like: 'Of course we are going to win this and we are going to beat them on their own pitch', and that's what we did.

"I know it went to penalties but we were by far the better team. We played them off the park.

"I can remember in extra time the ball went behind the goal and a little ballboy sprinted for the ball and throwing it back to the Italian goalkeeper quickly. Their goalkeeper then has a right go at the little lad because he just wanted to get to penalties.

"During my time with Liverpool, whenever a game went into extra time we would boss it because we kept the ball better than anyone."

After Alan Kennedy's penalty had sealed victory, a fourth European Cup and the treble, the first person that Souness embraced was manager Fagan.

He explained: "Joe made you feel special and you felt like you had a special relationship with him. I felt that and I'm certain the other 10 guys felt that as well.

"If you win the European Cup and you win the treble I think it's quite fitting that somewhere in the new Anfield there should be something for Joe Fagan because will it ever happen again? I don't think so."

Click here to read how a rallying call from Souness inspired the treble.