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Nordic Glory 6: One last hurrah for European greats IFK Göteborg at Manchester United’s expense

juhavaltteri-salminen |

June 1, 2020

In this series, Finnish football journalist Juhavaltteri Salminen recalls occasions on which Nordic teams proved to be a match – and sometimes more than that – for some of the most famous clubs in Europe. From the early 1990's, remarkable European underdog runs became ever harder to come by, but that did not stop the usual suspects from putting one together…

 

Champions League group stage 1994/95: IFK Göteborg 3–1 Manchester United

 

IFK Göteborg had to adapt themselves to a new reality. The world around them was changing. And so were they. The Swedes had shockingly won the UEFA Cup not just once, but twice in the 1980s. But the 1987 title came with a price tag. No less than eleven players left for pastures new after the triumph, forcing IFK Göteborg into a major rebuild.

It initially seemed as if they had succeeded. The 1988 league season ended with a creditable runner-up position. However, the year after turned out to be a horrible belly landing. 
Blåvitt struggled to a seventh-place finish, their worst since the late 1970s. The UEFA Cup only added to their woes, as IFK suffered a first round exit at the hands of Lithuanian side Zalgiris. It was obvious that young and fresh faces were needed to turn the club's fortunes.

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Enter Roger Gustafsson. The 38-year-old was by no means red hot in the market as far as managers were concerned. His own playing career had been unremarkable at best and consisted of spells with rival Gothenburg clubs GAIS and BK Häcken. Furthermore, Gustafsson had no coaching experience whatsoever from senior football.

But what he did have was just what IFK Göteborg needed: first-hand knowledge of the club's academy talents. Gustafsson had been coaching IFK's youth teams for years and knew the academy youngsters as well as the club inside out. He was not a big-name signing, but he was exactly the right man for a club crying out for youth.

In the early 1990s, IFK Göteborg were rejuvenated. Promising talents were promoted to the senior squad, and most of the few players they signed from other clubs were also on the young side. You would think that such a generational shift would take its time, but it did not. Gustafsson guided his young side to Allsvenskan glory in his very first season in charge in 1990. Three more domestic titles followed in 1991, 1993 and 1994.

IFK had picked up right where they had left off in the late 1980s and reasserted their position as Sweden's number one club. No less than seven of their players were involved in the Sweden squad that won a sensational bronze in the USA during the glorious World Cup summer of 1994. Six of them were 27 or younger, veteran goalkeeper Thomas Ravelli being the exception.

As a perennial top side, Göteborg were also regular European participants. In 1992/93, they had taken part in the rebranded Champions League and finished second behind AC Milan in the group stage that decided the finalists. Both Porto and PSV Eindhoven succumbed to the Swedes.

Given all of this, it was not a shocker when IFK kicked off their 1994/95 Champions League campaign by dispatching Sparta Prague and booking their place in the group stage.

But the group stage draw was very much a shocker. The group was absolutely ridiculous. Barcelona were, well, Barcelona. Manchester United were Manchester United. Galatasaray seemed a modest antagonist in comparison, but nobody fancies a European trip to Turkey. This was unquestionably a group of death, and there was little doubt as to which sides would advance to the play-offs.

Early on, everything went according to plan. Barcelona overcame Galatasaray on Matchday 1 while IFK Göteborg suffered a 2–4 defeat at Old Trafford, despite a spirited effort. Business as usual. But the dynamic changed two weeks later on September 28th, 1994.

Nobody was surprised to see Barcelona take an early lead at Gothenburg's Ullevi stadium through Hristo Stoichkov, even if the goal itself was a result of a catastrophic IFK backpass. But later in the evening, European football enthusiasts were in for a shock as two young Swedes spectacularly introduced themselves.
 

It was 25-year old Magnus Erlingmark, a Swiss army knife of a footballer, who scored the equaliser after a fine Blåvitt attack in the 74th minute. And right on the brink of added time, the hosts launched a long ball forward. 20-year-old youngster Jesper Blomqvist was quicker to it than the onrushing Barca keeper Oriol Busquets. Barcelona had once again been humiliated at the Ullevi, the scene of their 0–3 loss in a European Cup semi-final in 1986.

An hour later, the final whistle rang in Istanbul. Man United had only managed a goalless draw at Galatasaray. The group of death was now wide open.

Not that hopes were high in the Swedish camp. Only after another Erlingmark goal proved the winner against Galatasaray on Matchday 3 did IFK dare to dream – especially when the two giants of the group drew 2–2 in Manchester.

The dream started becoming reality on Matchday 4 when that man Erlingmark popped up again and headed home from an 86th minute corner in Istanbul. IFK had recorded another 1–0 win over Galatasaray, and it was an absolute robbery. Quite how the Swedes weathered the Turkish onslaught is a mystery. Galatasaray had a whopping 23 corners in the game, while Blåvitt scored on their only one.

Not only did IFK have a chance of making the play-offs, but they could secure it with a game to spare. Visiting Ullevi on Matchday 5 would be Manchester United, winless since the sides' first meeting in September and desperately needing to get their campaign back on track.

Erlingmark's crucial goals had gotten IFK there, but on November 23, 1994, it was the young Blomqvist who totally stole the show at Ullevi. "Giggs is talk, Blomqvist is action", read a banner in the stands. Ryan Giggs did not feature on the night (while the likes of Steve Bruce, Dennis Irwin and Eric Cantona did), but Blomqvist was indeed all action.

After just 11 minutes, the lightning-quick winger ran through after a brilliant one-two with Stefan Rehn and made it 1–0. Mark Hughes equalised in the second half, but just a minute later, Blomqvist set up Erlingmark and IFK took the lead again. And on 72 minutes, the tireless Blomqvist was fouled in the box and Pontus Kåmark converted the penalty. United had been soundly beaten.

Even with a quarter-final place secured, IFK could not help themselves. A late Stefan Rehn goal helped them salvage a point at the Camp Nou on Matchday 6 in what, for IFK, was a dead rubber. IFK even continued to battle above their weight in the quarter-finals, drawing both games against Bayern Munich. But a 2–2 draw in the second leg at home meant elimination on away goals.

Despite that, it was a glorious run and perhaps a final throwback to the old days of European football. Gustafsson had assembled and nurtured a young side and eventually challenged some of Europe's finest sides.

European football does not really lend itself to such stories any longer. Not everybody loves a cinderella story. The sight of a European powerhouse going out to an little-known side from a lesser league is a blow for TV companies. The introduction of group stages in the Champions League protected the top clubs from an early autumn exit. The more giants you can guarantee, the easier it is to sell TV rights at a higher price. But all of that also means less potential upsets, especially as the growth of financial disparity is a built-in feature of the format.

Besides, the Bosman ruling changed the playing field shortly afterwards. Today, Gustafsson could not dream of being able to hold on to such a successful squad the way he could in the 1990's. While upsets happen every now and then, they are fewer and further between and often individual matches rather than prolonged runs. The 1994/95 Champions League campaign was probably also the last great hurrah of a classic European club, although IFK have continued to feature in the qualifying stages.

However, the run did propel Jesper Blomqivst into stardom. He had been a useful squad player in the 1994 World Cup team, but it was the Champions League run that really introduced him. He spent the following years playing for the likes of Parma, AC Milan, Manchester United and Everton before recurrent knee problems forced him into an early retirement.

As for Gustafsson? Contrary to what you would think, the formidable giant-killing spree was not his stepping stone to managerial prominence. He stepped down after guiding IFK to one more league title in 1995 and only returned briefly on a temporary basis in 2002. That was it for him as manager.

Instead, he returned to the club's academy where he has worked in different roles ever since. There, Gustafsson can do what he loves the most: help promising youngsters reach new heights. Just like in the early 1990's.
 

Sources: IFK Göteborg 1904–2004 – en hundraårig blåvit historia genom elva epoker, UEFA.com, Soccervoice, Göteborgs-Posten, Expressen, SvenskaFans.com, The Athletic
 

Nordic Glory 1: When Nottingham Forest spoiled Malmö's European Cup dream
Nordic Glory 2: Sven Goran Eriksson's IFK Göteborg shock "arrogant" German giants
Nordic Glory 3: All-conquering Liverpool suffer embarrassing defeat in freezing Helsinki
Nordic Glory 4: Swedish elation and Scottish disappointment in an unlikely European final
Nordic Glory 5: 'Miracle in Milan' as amateur Finnish side TPS shock Inter at the San Siro
Nordic Glory 6: One last hurrah for European greats IFK Göteborg at Manchester United's expense
Nordic Glory 7: Rosenborg humiliate AC Milan as Norwegian football emerges from darkness
Nordic Glory 8: Nordic Glory 8: "This is the f****** Champions League" – Stuart Baxter fumes as ref helps Barcelona beat AIK
Nordic Glory 9: Chelsea come undone on a "farcical" polar night in Norway as Ruud Gullit fumes
 

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