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Game #3479

Aston Villa

Wednesday, 1 March 1978

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Drew

Quarter Final

Last 5: 🟥 🟩 🟩 🟥 🟨

UEFA Cup

Barcelona

Villa Park

Attendance: 49,619

🟨 1 Mar 1978, Villa 2-2 Barcelona, Villa Park

Aston Villa

2-2

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FC Barcelona

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Assist(s) | Gordon Smith | 85' | Allan Evans | 88' |

🟨 1 Mar 1978, Villa 2-2 Barcelona, Villa Park

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MATCH TIMELINE
Wednesday, 1 March 1978

🟢 | 1’ Debut, David Evans
🥅 | 20’ Goal, 1-0, (Barcelona), John Cruyff
🕒 | HT Aston Villa 0-1 Barcelona
🔁 | 61’ Sub off, David Evans, Sub on, Allan Evans 🟢
🥅 | 78’ Goal, 2-0, (Barcelona), Zuviria
⚽ | 85’ Goal, 2-1, Ken McNaught, Assist by Gordon Smith
⚽ | 88’ Goal, 2-2, John Deehan, Assist by Allan Evans
🕒 | FT Aston Villa 2-2 Barcelona

Match Statistics

Not recorded

Goal ⚽, Assist 🔥, Goal Conceded 🥅, Injury 🚑, Booking 🟨, Sending off 🟥, Comment 🗒️, ❗ Villa Chance,❗❗Huge Villa Chance, 💥 Opposition action, 🎥 VAR, 🆘 Referee error, ❌ Missed pen, disallowed goal, player retires from field of play, 🟢 Debut, 🔴 Final appearance, 🕒 Half time, Full time, 🔁 Substitution

🟨 1 Mar 1978, Villa 2-2 Barcelona, Villa Park

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ON THIS DAY
Wednesday, 1 March 1978
  • Barcelona, for all their talent, body check and foul their way to a two goal lead but their rugged tactics backfire as Villa hit two goals in the last five minutes to draw the tie and Barcelona’s bleating and deeply hypocritical appeals for a foul on the ‘keeper for John Deehan’s equaliser are rightly met with short shrift from the referee.

  • Villa face Barcelona for the first time in competitive football, Barcelona become the 115th team that the Villa first team has played in League or Cup football, Villa’s fifth continental European opponents and their second from Spain having played Athletic Bilbao earlier in the season.

  • Ron Saunders' Villa score two late goals to draw the UEFA Cup quarter final first leg against Barcelona ahead of a tough return match at the Camp Nou. 

  • Meanwhile, Saunders hands debuts to defender David Evans, 19, who joined from West Bromwich Schools in July 1974 and centre back Allan Evans, 21, after his move from Dunfermline Athletic for a fee of £30,000 in May 1977.

🟨 1 Mar 1978, Villa 2-2 Barcelona, Villa Park

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DEBUT APPEARANCES

🟢 CB David Evans | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | #593 | Youth team promotion
🟢 CB Allan Evans | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | #594 | £594,000 signing from Dunfermline

FINAL APPEARANCES

None

Seasons | 🕒 Games | ✅ Starts (🔁 Subs) | ⚽ Goals | 🔥 Assists | 🇺 Unused | Player Number |

Aston Villa

League Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆
FA Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆
League Cup Winners: 🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1976-77

Barcelona

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La Liga Champions: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆
Copa del Rey Winners: 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆🏆🏆 🏆🏆🏆
Last Trophy: 1978-79

FIXTURE HISTORY
Barcelona
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Previous 5 vs. Barcelona: None

Games 🕒, Won 🟩, Drew 🟨, Lost 🟥, Goals Scored ⚽, Goals Conceded 🥅

Barcelona

PREVIOUS MATCH
None
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Barcelona

SUBSEQUENT MATCH

🟨 1 Mar 1978, Villa 2-2 Barcelona, Villa Park

FIXTURE DETAILS
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Season | 1977-78 |
Matchday | #38 |
Manager Game | #197 |
Wednesday, 1 March 1978

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🟨 1 Mar 1978, Villa 2-2 Barcelona, Villa Park

MATCH SUMMARY
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Manager: Ron Saunders | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | Birkenhead, 1974-1982
Referee: César Correia | 🇵🇹 | São Brás de Alportel, 1978
HT Score: 🟥 0-1
FT Result: 🟨 Drew
FT Score: 🟨 2-2
Last 5: 🟥 🟩 🟩 🟥 🟨

Scorers
Timeline
On This Day
Trophies
Fixture
Manager
MANAGERIAL RECORD
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Ron Saunders | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 1974-1982

🕒 197 | 🟩 | 93 🟨 | 50 🟥 54 | 1.67

Villa Career Form:

Top 6

Ron Saunders | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 1974-1982

Games 🕒, Won 🟩, Drew 🟨, Lost 🟥, Points per Game

🟨 1 Mar 1978, Villa 2-2 Barcelona, Villa Park

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MATCH OFFICIALS

Referee: César Correia | 🇵🇹 | São Brás de Alportel, 1978

VAR PROFILE (from 2021)

CARDS
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None

CARDS
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None

🆘 Barcelona's win at all costs attitude saw no clamp down on the body checks and trips throughout the game.

Won 🟩, Drew 🟨, Lost 🟥, Notably poor performance 🆘, Cards 🟨 Booking, Cards 🟥 Sending off, Disallowed ❌ Goal disallowed, ⚽ Penalty for, 🥅 Penalty against, ❌ Penalty Disallowed

🟨 1 Mar 1978, Villa 2-2 Barcelona, Villa Park

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TEAM NEWS
TEAM STATS

Ron Saunders hands a surprise debut to David Evans and recalls John Gregory with John Gidman and Tommy Craig dropping out.

Starting XI Average Age
| 24.35 |

Oldest Player |
GK Jimmy Rimmer | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 30.07 |

Youngest Player |
M Gordon Cowans | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 19.36 |

Referee

🟨 1 Mar 1978, Villa 2-2 Barcelona, Villa Park

MANAGER

Ron Saunders | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 1974-1982

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Aston Villa

GK Jimmy Rimmer | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
D David Evans | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 🟢 |
CB Ken McNaught | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | ⚽ |
FB Gordon Smith | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | 🔥 |
M John Gregory | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M Leighton Phillips | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 |
M Gordon Cowans | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M Dennis Mortimer | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
W Frank Carrodus | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
F Brian Little | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
F John Deehan | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | ⚽ |

MANAGER

Rinus Michels | 🇳🇱 |

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Barcelona

GK Pello Artola | 🇪🇸 |
RB Pepito Ramos | 🇪🇸 |
CB Migueli | 🇪🇸 |
CB Antonio Olmo | 🇪🇸 |
RB Toño de la Cruz | 🇪🇸 |
M Johan Cruyff | 🇳🇱 | ⚽ | 🔁 |
M Quique Costas | 🇪🇸 | 🔁 |
M Juan Manuel Asensi | 🇪🇸 |
W Carles Rexach | 🇪🇸 |
W Rafael Zuviría | 🇦🇷 | ⚽ |
W Paco Fortes | 🇪🇸 |

Line Ups

🟨 1 Mar 1978, Villa 2-2 Barcelona, Villa Park

SUBSTITUTES
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🔁 | CB Allan Evans | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 | 🟢 | 🔥 | for D David Evans | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 | 61' |

SUBSTITUTES

🔁 | M Johan Cruyff | 🇳🇱 | (M José Macizo | 🇪🇸 |)
🔁 | M Quique Costas | 🇪🇸 | (CB Juanjo Enríquez | 🇪🇸 |)

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Substitutes

🟨 1 Mar 1978, Villa 2-2 Barcelona, Villa Park

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
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GK Jake Findlay | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 |
CB Charlie Young | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
LB Mick Buttress | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M Ivor Linton | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

UNUSED SUBSTITUTES
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Not Recorded

Player Positions:

GK : Goalkeeper
CB, D, B : Centre Back, Defender, Back
FB, LB, RB, WH : Full Back, Left Back, Right Back, Wing Back, Wing Half


M, CH, LH, RH : Midfielder, Centre Half, Left Half, Right Half
W, OL, OR : Winger, Outside Left, Outside Right
F, IF, IL, IR : Forward, Inside Forward, Inside Left, Inside Right, Second Striker, False 9
CF : Centre Forward

Match Symbols:

⚽ | Goal
🔥 | Assist
🔁 | Substitution

🟨 | Booking

🟥 | Sending off

🆘 | Poor refereeing performance
🟢 : Debut 🔴 : Final Game

Squad Bios

🟨 1 Mar 1978, Villa 2-2 Barcelona, Villa Park

SQUAD STATS
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1st XI:
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 11/11

Squad:
Home Nation 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁷󠁬󠁳󠁿 🇬🇧 : 16/16

SQUAD STATS
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1st XI:
Home Nation 🇪🇸 : 9/11

Squad:
Home Nation 🇪🇸 : 11/13

🟨 1 Mar 1978, Villa 2-2 Barcelona, Villa Park

MATCHDAY SQUAD
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MATCHDAY SQUAD
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🟨 1 Mar 1978, Villa 2-2 Barcelona, Villa Park

UNAVAILABLE
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Injury | 4 |
FB John Robson | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |
M Alex Cropley | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 |
CF Andy Gray | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 |
RB John Gidman | 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 |

UNAVAILABLE
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Not Recorded

Unavailable
LEAGUE TABLE
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Tables & Programmes
🟩 12 Apr 2025, Villa 3-0 Southampton, St Mary's TBL.png
MATCHDAY PROGRAMME
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🟨 1 Mar 1978, Villa 2-2 Barcelona, Villa Park

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MATCH QUOTES
"It is important to me that I give the English public something to remember me by. "I cannot imagine the Aston Villa game being more difficult than the game against Ipswich. But if the score against us is more than 3-0 it will he impossible. "The Spanish players like playing against foreign opposition. “It gives them a better chance to express themselves and show their skills. “Aston Villa have built up a reputation in Spain. “They are now very well known by the Spanish people after their victory over Athletic Bilbao. “They have got a lot of respect now." Johan Cruyff.
Quotes

🟨 1 Mar 1978, Villa 2-2 Barcelona, Villa Park

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MATCH REPORTS

Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. With thanks to Reach PLC. Digitised by Findmypast Newspaper Archive Limited. All rights reserved. Source: British Newspaper Archive (www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk)

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Reports

🟨 1 Mar 1978, Villa 2-2 Barcelona, Villa Park

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MATCH VIDEO
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