One in a row wasn’t enough for Ajax, Bayern Munich or Liverpool; what makes you think it would be enough for Nottingham Forest? If your answer was “nothing,” then you are correct. The 1980 European Champions Cup saw Nottingham Forest not only reach the final at the Bernabeu in Madrid, it saw Forest defeat Hamburger in the final 1-0 on the leg of John Robertson, who scored the match’s only goal in the twenty-first minute. For the second year in a row, however, the WCR final Top 25 saw the West German runner-up finish atop the year-end rankings over the English Champions Cup winner as Nottingham Forest finished a disappointing fifth in England.
Another English club made it to the final of the Cup Winners Cup, but failed to achieve as good a result as Forest. In the final at Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Arsenal faced Valencia. Neither team scored in regulation and the game was forced to penalty kicks, where Valencia triumphed by a score of 5-4. In the UEFA Cup, West Germany demonstrated that it possessed, if not the best domestic league in the world, at least the deepest as it produced five of the final eight teams and all of the semifinalists in the tournament. Seeing Kaiserslautern fall in the quarterfinals and Bayern Munich and Stuttgart follow in the semifinals, the finals consisted of their Budesliga foes Borussia Monchengladbach and Eintracht Frankfurt. After falling 2-3 in the first leg, Frankfurt’s Fred Schaub scored a late (81st minute) goal in the return leg to draw even with Monchengladbach and give Frankfurt the title on away goals.
For the first time since Santos defeated Penarol in 1962, Argentina failed to provide a finalist in the Copa Libertadores in 1980. Once again, the final pitted a Brazilian club against a Uruguayan club, but this time the cup went to Uruguay as Nacional defeated Internacional, thanks to a Victorino goal in the 35th minute of the second leg, which was the only goal of the two-leg final. The Copa de Campeones y Subcampeones finished with a three-team round robin tournament, won by UNAM of Mexico. The African nation with the best results in continental play in 1980 was Zaire was AS Bilima made it to the final of the African Champions Cup, where it fell 5-2 (agg.) to Cameroon’s Canon Yaounde and TP Mazembe took home the African Cup Winners Cup with a 4-1 aggregate victory over Africa Sports from the Cote D’Ivoire.
The continental championships were not kind to domestic champions in 1980 as only Real Madrid was able to double a championship in one of the top domestic leagues in the world with a semifinal appearance in a continental championship. Joining Real Madrid as champions of the top domestic leagues in the world were Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Nantes and Rosario Central. Below is the WCR Top 25 clubs of 1980:
World Club Rankings – 1980 – Top 25
1. Hamburger (FRG) – Champions Cup-Runner-Up; First Number One ranking.
2. Real Madrid (Esp) – CC-SF.
3. Ajax (Ned) – CC-SF; Fifteenth consecutive Top 25 ranking.
4. Liverpool (Eng) – CC-1R; Sixth consecutive Top 25 ranking.
5. Bayern Munich (FRG) – UEFA Cup-SF.
6. Nantes (Fra) – Cup Winners Cup-SF.
7. Nottingham Forest (Eng) – Champions Cup-Winner.
8. Manchester United (Eng)
9. Sochaux (Fra) – Only Top 25 ranking.
10. Club Brugge (Bel)
11. Real Sociedad (Esp) – UEFA-1R; First Top 25 ranking.
12. Internacional (Bra) – Copa Libertadores-Runner Up.
13. River Plate (Arg) – Sixth consecutive Top 25 ranking.
14. Ipswich Town (Eng) – UEFA-2R.
15. AZ Alkmaar (Ned)
16. Standard Liege (Bel) – UEFA-3R.
17. VfB Stuttgart (FRG) – UEFA-SF.
18. BFC Dynamo (GDR) – CC-QF.
19. St. Etienne (Fra) – UEFA-QF; Final Top 25 ranking.
20. Flamengo (Bra) – First Top 25 ranking.
21. FC Kaiserslautern (FRG) – UEFA-QF.
22. AS Monaco (Fra) – UEFA-2R.
23. Atletico-MG (Bra)
24. Osters IF (Swe) – CC-1R; Only Top 25 ranking.
25. Arsenal (Eng) – CWC-RU.
Past Final Season Top 25s: 2007, 1979, 1978, 1977, 1976, 1975, 1974, 1973, 1972, 1971, 1970, 1969, 1968, 1967, 1966, 1965, 1964, 1963, 1962, 1961, 1960
Another English club made it to the final of the Cup Winners Cup, but failed to achieve as good a result as Forest. In the final at Heysel Stadium, Brussels, Arsenal faced Valencia. Neither team scored in regulation and the game was forced to penalty kicks, where Valencia triumphed by a score of 5-4. In the UEFA Cup, West Germany demonstrated that it possessed, if not the best domestic league in the world, at least the deepest as it produced five of the final eight teams and all of the semifinalists in the tournament. Seeing Kaiserslautern fall in the quarterfinals and Bayern Munich and Stuttgart follow in the semifinals, the finals consisted of their Budesliga foes Borussia Monchengladbach and Eintracht Frankfurt. After falling 2-3 in the first leg, Frankfurt’s Fred Schaub scored a late (81st minute) goal in the return leg to draw even with Monchengladbach and give Frankfurt the title on away goals.
For the first time since Santos defeated Penarol in 1962, Argentina failed to provide a finalist in the Copa Libertadores in 1980. Once again, the final pitted a Brazilian club against a Uruguayan club, but this time the cup went to Uruguay as Nacional defeated Internacional, thanks to a Victorino goal in the 35th minute of the second leg, which was the only goal of the two-leg final. The Copa de Campeones y Subcampeones finished with a three-team round robin tournament, won by UNAM of Mexico. The African nation with the best results in continental play in 1980 was Zaire was AS Bilima made it to the final of the African Champions Cup, where it fell 5-2 (agg.) to Cameroon’s Canon Yaounde and TP Mazembe took home the African Cup Winners Cup with a 4-1 aggregate victory over Africa Sports from the Cote D’Ivoire.
The continental championships were not kind to domestic champions in 1980 as only Real Madrid was able to double a championship in one of the top domestic leagues in the world with a semifinal appearance in a continental championship. Joining Real Madrid as champions of the top domestic leagues in the world were Liverpool, Bayern Munich, Nantes and Rosario Central. Below is the WCR Top 25 clubs of 1980:
World Club Rankings – 1980 – Top 25
1. Hamburger (FRG) – Champions Cup-Runner-Up; First Number One ranking.
2. Real Madrid (Esp) – CC-SF.
3. Ajax (Ned) – CC-SF; Fifteenth consecutive Top 25 ranking.
4. Liverpool (Eng) – CC-1R; Sixth consecutive Top 25 ranking.
5. Bayern Munich (FRG) – UEFA Cup-SF.
6. Nantes (Fra) – Cup Winners Cup-SF.
7. Nottingham Forest (Eng) – Champions Cup-Winner.
8. Manchester United (Eng)
9. Sochaux (Fra) – Only Top 25 ranking.
10. Club Brugge (Bel)
11. Real Sociedad (Esp) – UEFA-1R; First Top 25 ranking.
12. Internacional (Bra) – Copa Libertadores-Runner Up.
13. River Plate (Arg) – Sixth consecutive Top 25 ranking.
14. Ipswich Town (Eng) – UEFA-2R.
15. AZ Alkmaar (Ned)
16. Standard Liege (Bel) – UEFA-3R.
17. VfB Stuttgart (FRG) – UEFA-SF.
18. BFC Dynamo (GDR) – CC-QF.
19. St. Etienne (Fra) – UEFA-QF; Final Top 25 ranking.
20. Flamengo (Bra) – First Top 25 ranking.
21. FC Kaiserslautern (FRG) – UEFA-QF.
22. AS Monaco (Fra) – UEFA-2R.
23. Atletico-MG (Bra)
24. Osters IF (Swe) – CC-1R; Only Top 25 ranking.
25. Arsenal (Eng) – CWC-RU.
Past Final Season Top 25s: 2007, 1979, 1978, 1977, 1976, 1975, 1974, 1973, 1972, 1971, 1970, 1969, 1968, 1967, 1966, 1965, 1964, 1963, 1962, 1961, 1960
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