OTD E0206 — 25 May 2005: Liverpool trailed AC Milan 3–0 at half-time in the Champions League final. Then Steven Gerrard, Vladimír Šmicer and Xabi Alonso scored in six second-half minutes, Jerzy Dudek made the save of his life from Shevchenko, and Liverpool won on penalties. This episode traces Liverpool’s lost decade, Benítez’s arrival, the Olympiacos turning point, Milan’s Berlusconi-era machine, Maldini and Crespo, Hamann’s half-time impact, Dudek’s Grobbelaar-inspired shootout, and why Liverpool got to keep the trophy.

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OTD E0205 — 24 May 1972: Rangers beat Dynamo Moscow 3–2 at Camp Nou to win the European Cup Winners’ Cup — despite not having won the Scottish Cup that got them there. This episode traces the Cup Winners’ Cup’s origins, Celtic’s 1971 double, Rangers’ runner-up route into Europe, the campaign through Rennes, Sporting, Torino and Bayern Munich, the final in Barcelona, the pitch invasion, UEFA’s ban, the Barcelona Bears, and why the Cup Winners’ Cup eventually disappeared.

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OTD E0204 — 23 May 1992: Hannover 96 became the first and still only second-division club to win the DFB-Pokal, beating Borussia Mönchengladbach 4 3 on penalties after a goalless final in Berlin. This episode traces Hannover’s seven round run through Bochum, Dortmund, Uerdingen, Karlsruhe, Werder Bremen and Gladbach, Jörg Sievers’ penalty heroics, Michael Schjønberg’s winning kick, the wider rarity of lower-division cup winners, and why Hannover 1992 remains Germany’s great Pokal miracle.

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OTD E0203 — 22 May 1963: AC Milan beat Benfica 2–1 at Wembley to win their first EuropeanC up and become the first Italian club to lift the trophy. This episode traces the transition from Real Madrid and Benfica’s attacking European order to Nereo Rocco’s Milan, the rise of catenaccio, the tactical roots in Rappan, Viani and Rocco, Eusébio’s opener, Altafini’s two goals, the Coluna Pivatelli controversy, Herrera’s Inter, Total Football’s response, and why this final changed how Europe thought about systems.

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OTD E0202 — 2 1 May 1904: FIFA was founded at 229 Rue Saint-Honoré in Paris by football organizers from seven founding members: France, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. This episode traces early international football from the Home Nations to the continent, Robert Guérin’s campaign, the Paris meeting, the first FIFA committee, British resistance, Olympic football, Rimet, the World Cup, the confederations, corruption, expansion, women’s football, futsal, FIFAe, and why FIFA remains essential despite its flaws.

Ideas: [email protected]

OTD E0201 — 20 May 1993: Marseille beat Valenciennes 1–0 and appeared to clinch a fifth straight French title. Then police entered the dressing room. This episode traces Bernard Tapie’s OM empire, the new Champions League money era, Marseille’s fear of another 1991-style European heartbreak, the approach to Valenciennes players Jacques Glassmann, Christophe Robert and Jorge Burruchaga, the match itself, the Champions League triumph six days later, the stripped title, trials, bans, relegations, and the enduring stain of l’affaire VA-OM.

Ideas: [email protected]

OTD E0200 — 19 May 1968: Iran defeated defending champions Israel 2–1 at Amjadieh Stadium in Tehran to win the Asian Cup for the first time. This episode traces the young AFC, Israel’s early place in Asian football, Shah-era Iran, the post-Six-Day-War political atmosphere, the 1968 round robin tournament, Burma’s shock win over Israel, Giora Spiegel’s opener, late goals from Homayoun Behzadi and Parviz Ghelichkhani, the hostile crowd atmosphere, Iran’s golden decade, and Israel’s later AFC exile.

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OTD E0199 — 18 May 1931: Eighteen clubs broke away to form the Liga Argentina de Football, launching professionalism in Argentina. This episode traces the amateur fiction, the Río de la Plata pressure from Uruguay, the player strike, the failed amateur start, Boca’s first professional title, Estudiantes’ Los Profesores, the dissident league’s merger into AFA, the Big Five oligopoly, La Máquina, Estudiantes’ 1967 breakthrough, and Argentina’s global football impact.

Ideas: [email protected]

OTD E0198 — 17 May 1989: Atlético Nacional beat Danubio 6–0 in Medellín to reach the Copa Libertadores final, with Albeiro Usuriaga scoring four. But the match is remembered as much for what allegedly happened around it: Argentine referee Carlos Espósito later said he and his assistants were threatened by armed men linked to Pablo Escobar. This episode traces Nacional’s rise, Zubeldía’s Colombian legacy, Maturana’s puros criollos, the 1989 Libertadores run, the Danubio scandal, the Olimpia final, and how Colombian football survived the narco era.

Ideas: [email protected]

OTD E0197 — 16 May 1968: Estudiantes de La Plata beat Palmeiras 2–0 at the Centenario to win their first Copa Libertadores. This episode traces Estudiantes as Argentina’s outsider, the Big Five monopoly, Osvaldo Zubeldía’s tactical revolution, the 1967 Metropolitano, the 1968 Libertadores route past Independiente, Racing and Palmeiras, Verón’s decisive role, Manchester United, three straight Libertadores, and the long echo to 2009.

Ideas: [email protected]