Humble Hibernian, Bully Barça – part 3

Humble Hibernian, Bully Barça – part 3

The second game at Easter Road stadium was a classic European night. 45,000 people were there to watch. Joe Baker scored first to put Hibs in the lead. Martinez and Koscis scored to make it 1-2 at half-time for Barcelona.

In the second half Hibs scored again to make it 2-2. Fifteen minutes more to play. The score was 6-6 over the two games.

Five minutes from the end of the game, Garay fouled MacLeod in the area. Penalty to Hibs! The Barcelona players protested aggressively. The referee had to run to the centre of the pitch to escape. When things were calm again, Bobby Kinloch scored the penalty. 3-2 to Hibs!

The Bacelona players chased the referee up and down the pitch. The referee fell and the police came onto the pitch to protect him. Some Hibs fans invaded the pitch at the same time. Chaos!

The game was stopped for a few minutes. When it started again, Hibs managed to defend to the end. We won 7-6! Hibs beat Barcelona!

Some of the Barcelona players tried to attack the referee in the stadium, in the dressing room, and the police had to take him to his hotel. It wasn’t a good moment for Barça.

Barcelona said the referee made them lose the game (sound familiar?). Manager Enrique Onzaola made a half-apology, saying that Barça “…cannot blame Hibs. The game was clean and sporting until the penalty incident. We will not be taking action against any of our players. When an obvious injustice has been done, it is part of our Spanish temperament to show feeling. Our players went too far, I admit. We have made our apologies to Hibs and to the referee.”

I just think Hibs won because we scored one more goal than Barça did. And, because, for once, the fairy-tale came true!

Hibs later got beat in the semi-finals by Roma, who won the cup.

Much later, Hibs played Barça again. Another day I’ll tell you about that game.

Did I tell you about when Hibs played Real Madrid? That’s another story. Maybe next time.