Leeds may have felt magnificent after their dismantling of Anderlecht in the quarter-final, but a fixture pile up caused by European football and cup replays meant they had to immediately switch their focus towards their visit to Kenilworth Road three days later.

Relegation-threatened Luton awaited Leeds in a First Division clash and Jimmy Armfield made two changes, dropping Allan Clarke and Billy Bremner for Duncan McKenzie and Johnny Giles. The Anderlecht win had stretched Leeds’ unbeaten run to eighteen matches in all competitions going back to mid-December, but they were two goals down by half-time at Luton and ultimately lost 2-1.

“I’ll be happy with a top four finish now,” Armfield said afterwards. “It was too much to ask my side to maintain the pace they have been doing.” Ruling Leeds out of the title race wasn’t a speculative call. They played another six matches in twelve days before hosting Barcelona at Elland Road and won none of them, drawing three and losing one in the league, while a second FA Cup quarter-final replay with Bobby Robson’s Ipswich ended 0-0 and prompted a fourth tie between the two sides, which Leeds lost 3-2 at the neutral ground of Leicester’s Filbert Street despite taking a two-goal lead.

Barcelona scouts had been in attendance at Kenilworth Road and must have left England thinking they’d seen enough. Perhaps hearing reports of the seven-match run without a win had them writing Leeds off entirely. Barcelona rested star players Johan Cruyff and Johan Neeskens in their 1-0 loss to Celta Vigo prior to the trip to Elland Road, where Leeds had just lost 2-0 to Liverpool after two moments of individual brilliance from Kevin Keegan settled the match. It had been something of a lifeless affair and most reporters in the press box came to the conclusion that Leeds had not one, but both eyes on the date with Barcelona four days later.

Bremner played despite being treated for a calf injury, while Clarke, Giles, and Paul Reaney all missed out. Gordon McQueen returned after three weeks out with a groin strain and Duncan McKenzie was thrown back in from the start, having recovered from injury himself.

Just as Leeds’ European campaign progressed to the semi-final stage, separate tabloid stories were published about Bremner’s ‘eye watering’ salary of £25,000 and Armfield’s decision to transfer list him at the end of the season. Whether either story was true or relevant did not matter, the club were in the national media more than any time since the Clough fiasco at the start of the season.

Controversy surrounded the semi-final before the game even began. The club doubled ticket prices for the one-off fixture, prompting a complaint to the Prices Commission. There remained such demand for match tickets that West Yorkshire Police had to call in extra officers to control the crowds outside the Elland Road ticket office, who had become restless due to there being only two turnstiles open for what was expected to be a 50,000 sell-out. There was also an air of sadness as news broke that striker Mick Jones was to announce his immediate retirement in the coming weeks having failed to fully recover from a knee injury that had kept him out of action for a year.

A Barcelona side led by legendary Dutch coach Rinus Michels awaited Leeds. Billy Bremner wasn’t best pleased to meet the La Liga champions at this stage. “If we have to play Barcelona I would prefer it to be in the final,” he said. “These very experienced Latin teams tend to be cautious and to concentrate on not losing in two-legged ties. We’d like to catch them in one match.” While Bremner might have preferred Saint-Etienne, the French side cruising towards their sixth league title since 1967, he found himself up against Cruyff and Neeskens. Both midfielders were star attractions in their own right, having won three consecutive European Cups with Ajax from 1971-73 and inspired the Netherlands to the previous summer’s World Cup final.

Cruyff was the first man to have won the Ballon d’Or three times, taking the title of Europe’s best player in 1971, 1973, and 1974. The sporting pages were filled with headlines like ‘It’s Leeds versus Cruyff’, ‘Cruyff magic poses problems for Armfield’, and ‘Don’t be afraid of Cruyff, Leeds!’

Leeds coach Syd Owen was asked about the team’s plan to deal with Cruyff. “What are Barcelona going to do about Billy Bremner, Johnny Giles, and Eddie Gray?” It was a fair point. Barcelona were favourites to win the tournament, even ahead of holders Bayern Munich. Many believed that the Cruyff-Neeskens axis would be simply too much for most teams and even stopping those two would leave Carles Rexach with a free run at goal.

Rexach was the epitome of Barcelona’s ethos. He was born in the Barcelona suburb of Pedralbes. Rexach grew up a stone’s throw from Camp Nou and was a proud Catalan. Alongside Cruyff, he was an outspoken critic of Spain’s fascist dictatorship under Francisco Franco. The club had become a focal point of anti-Franco protests throughout the past two decades as Catalunya rebelled against Francoist repression of the region’s culture, language, and identity.

By April 1975, Franco was seriously ill and there was a sense that change was going to come, that a better future lay ahead as the regime would fall with the death of Franco. Barcelona were not only a great team, they had a purpose greater than football. But they still had to deal with Billy Bremner, Johnny Giles, and Eddie Gray.

Leeds had scores to settle with several Barcelona players. Five of the team to face Leeds also played in the Fairs Cup Trophy play-off in 1971. The fixture determined who kept the Fairs Cup after it had been replaced by the UEFA Cup. The first ever winners, Barcelona, took on the most recent winners, Leeds, in a one-off match at Camp Nou. Teófilo Dueñas scored either side of a Joe Jordan equaliser to give Barcelona a 2-1 win and meant they kept the cup.

A petty grievance with Johan Cruyff also meant that Leeds’ midfield would have to ‘deal’ with him as a matter of personal pride. Cruyff had been on ITV’s coverage of the 1973 FA Cup final as Leeds lost 1-0 to Sunderland and called out Leeds’ midfield, namely Johnny Giles and Billy Bremner for not being physical enough to dominate the middle of the Wembley pitch.

In a tactical column for the Sports Argus before the match, Don Revie wrote: ‘Cruyff is the most complete forward in the world but Leeds also have outstanding players. It would be crazy for them to develop a complex about Cruyff.’ Rather than fixate simply on one player, Revie implored, Leeds should play their own game. Frank McGhee wrote a long-winded piece in the Mirror comparing Duncan McKenzie to 1968 George Best on the morning of the match, warning Jimmy Armfield not to stifle McKenzie’s creativity by playing cautiously. Armfield took McKenzie out of the equation, choosing to start the tried and trusted Clarke and Jordan instead.

“This first ninety minutes will be the time and place for sorting it all out,” said Bremner before the match. “I’ve heard there are a few faint hearts [in Barcelona’s team] when things aren’t going well. We plan to put that theory to the test.”

Leeds lived up to their captain’s word. In the opening exchanges, Frank Gray clattered Carles Rexach, and in the tenth minute Bremner put those faint Barcelona hearts under strain. Giles floated a pass to the edge of the box from midfield, Jordan flicked a header behind the defence, and Bremner smashed the ball past goalkeeper Salvador Sadurní to make it 1-0. Elland Road had lift off, and so did Leeds. They were playing their own game and paying no special attention to Cruyff other than dishing out the odd kicking when Leeds’ supposedly not-so-physical midfield got near him.

Jordan soon had a goal disallowed for handball, his early attempt at the Hand of God not quite as successful nor subtle as Diego Maradona would pull off eleven years later. Jordan could have scored again just before half-time as Eddie Gray’s delightful cross found him in space, but he fired over. The break came as a relief to Barca’s defenders, who were grateful to be losing by only one goal. Bremner trotted off with a knowing smile on his face as the crowd applauded what had been a fantastic half of cup football. Barcelona were there for the taking.

Early in the second half, Toño de la Cruz sparked a brawl by pretending he’d been elbowed after fouling Eddie Gray. Terry Yorath took exception and dragged him to his feet, but not before Neeskens and Cruyff tried to get involved with some pushing and shoving, perhaps a desperate attempt to channel their frustration with the job Leeds had done on them. Cruyff’s desire to turn the tie around drove him into acting as an auxiliary sweeper, intercepting a Bremner one-two in the Barcelona penalty area.

Midway through the second half, Cruyff broke away with the ball from a Leeds corner and sprinted towards goal before attempting to play Juan Carlos Heredia in for a certain equaliser, but Paul Reaney made a perfect covering tackle, or so he thought. The linesman may have been some fifty yards away but he flagged for obstruction and Barcelona had a free-kick and Leeds’ goal in sight. Cruyff lined up to shoot but laid the ball off for Juan Manuel Asensi to strike low past David Stewart and into the Leeds goal.

Leeds pressed for a winner and with twelve minutes remaining, they found it. The unstoppable Reaney came flying forward from right-back, beating two Barcelona defenders before floating a cross to Jordan at the back post, whose header eventually bounced and sat up for Allan Clarke. Sniffer scored, of course. Not one of the 50,000 inside Elland Road thought he wouldn’t, as evidenced by the deafening roar that encouraged Leeds to go for the jugular. They continued to attack, Reaney never relenting down the right. Barcelona were so rattled that they substituted Neeskens just to give themselves a breather and break up Leeds’ momentum.

Barcelona held out to lose by only one goal. Despite Leeds’ domination, the consensus of the English media was that it would be ‘tough’ for United to go through from here. Bremner couldn’t have cared less. “It’s as good as settled,” he said. “I predicted that a one-goal win would be enough and I’m more convinced now. We can score in Barcelona. I was not impressed with them at all.” ⬢

This article is free to read from our Vive La Leeds Paris 1975 Special, celebrating fifty years since Leeds United were Kings of Europe. Order your copy here.