The time Újpest conquered Barcelona

This Sunday FC Barcelona will face Mexican side Pumas to define the champion of the Joan Gamper Trophy. Since the first edition in 1966 until today, only eleven teams other than Barcelona have won the trophy, and one of them is none other than Újpest.

The 1970s is the most glorious decade in Lilák’s history with eight league titles and two Hungarian Cups. Under the name Dózsa Újpest, in 1970 the team then coached by Lajos Baróti took part in the fifth edition of the Joan Gamper Trophy, alongside FC Barcelona, Dynamo Moskva and the German team Schalke 04.

At that time, the tournament was played by four teams who played each other in the semi-finals and then in the final, with a match for third place. Újpest faced Schalke in the semi-finals and defeated them 3-0, and although they expected to face the hosts in the final, Barcelona lost 5-0 to Dynamo.

The final was played on 28 August at Camp Nou and Lilák won 3-1, kicking off a decade of success and healing the pain of the final loss to Newcastle a year earlier in the European Fairs Cup.