Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
Beating Borussia against Barca and
DUNDEE United legend Dave Bowman believes their 1987 win over Borussia Monchengladbach trumps Barcelona and Roma as the club’s greatest-ever result.
United saw off the Germans 2-0 at the Bokelberg Stadion 33 years ago today to reach the Uefa Cup Final thanks to second-leg goals from Iain Ferguson and Ian Redford.
They had beaten Barca 3-1 on aggregate in the previous round, while a 2-0 1984 European Cup semi-final first-leg win over the Italians at Tannadice is in the history books despite United not making the final.
However, Tangerines hero Bowman remembers the Monchengladbach result with most fondness.
“Monchengladbach were a really big team at the time, both them and Barca were, but I think the big thing was Monchengladbach got us into a final,” the former United midfielder said.
“Nobody remembers who loses the semi-final. I wasn’t there at the time but nobody really remembers the Roma European Cup semi-final too fondly but they’ll always recall Barcelona and Monchengladbach.
“Getting into the final was a massive thing for the city and the club but, at the time, as players, nothing was really a surprise for us.
“We were expecting to get there so, when we did, it was great to-do, don’t get me wrong, but it wasn’t as much of a surprise to us as it was outsiders.
“At that time there was the European Cup, Cup Winners’ Cup and the other teams went into the Uefa Cup.
“When you think about that in recent terms, Liverpool didn’t win the league last season but they won the Champions League.
“That was the sort of level we were up against. It was a huge achievement.”
Bowman recalls United going into the second leg riled up after witnessing some premature celebrations from the Monchengladbach players after a stalemate in Dundee.
The 56-year-old also remembers a rare occasion where legendary boss Jim McLean i ndividually congratulated his players after the final whistle.
Bowman, who made 429 appearances in tangerine, added: “Under wee Jim we were always taught, unless it was the second leg and you had to win at home, as long as you didn’t lose a goal it was OK.
“That was the biggest thing, from our point of view, we didn’t get beat and we weren’t up against it.
“I remember they were celebrating after the first leg and that probably gave us a bit of impetus to go on and beat them. They were high-fiving each other because they got a 0-0 and thought the tie was over, so that annoyed us a bit.
“It made such a difference for us going there at 0-0 and Iain getting the goal just before half-time.
“They had to really come at us because they needed to score two.
“Going into half-time it was a massive advantage but I can’t really remember us being under that much pressure.