Porto’s first experience with the European Cup was a brief one. It faced Athletic Bilbao in the preliminary round and lost both games to go out 5-3 on aggregate. Three years later it made a similarly brief exit falling to Czech side, Cervena Hviezda Bratislava 4-1.
It would be 19 years until Porto would return to the competition. Against Greek side, AEK Athens it was embarrassed 6-1 in the opening leg. It salvaged some pride with a 4-1 win at home. Finally, Porto had won its first match in the competition.
The next year it went one better when it won its first tie and what a scalp it was. It drew 0-0 with AC Milan in the opening match before punching out a 1-0 win at the San Siro. The two time-winners had been sensationally knocked out. Port weren’t done any favors by the draw when it received Real Madrid in the second round. A 2-1 win at home was followed by a 1-0 loss in Madrid. Port tied 2-2 on aggregate, but were out on away goals.
Artur Jorge was now in charge of Porto and the former Porto player instilled the side with a confidence it never previously had. In the 1985-86 European Cup it defeated Ajax in the opening round and looked to be full of confidence heading into the next round. It had drawn Barcelona which wasn’t a good omen as Spanish clubs had tormented Porto in the past. Barcelona won the opening game at home 2-0 but Porto fought back winning the second leg 3-1. Again Porto had been eliminated from the competition by a Spanish side on away goals.
Notwithstanding the loss, the experience has contributed for Port having a belief it had never had before - belief it belonged on the field with the giants of Europe. Malta’s Rabat Ajax were the hapless side who first fell into Porto’s path. Porto won the opening match 9-0 and eased off in the second match winning just 1-0. The second round was against Czech side, Vítkovice. After losing the opening match 1-0 away, Porto made the most of its home field advantage winning the return leg 3-0.
In the quarter-finals, Porto faced Danish Brondby. An opening 1-0 home win was followed by a 1-1 draw away. The semi-finals saw Porto face its first Soviet opposition in the competition in the shape of Dynamo Kiev. A 2-1 home win was followed by a 2-1 win away and Porto were in the final to take on the might of Bayern Munich. Bayern was three time winners of the competition. In Lothar Matthaus, Andy Brehme and Michael Rummenigge it had a very strong side. Porto were led by the redoubtable, Joao Pinto, who is one of the greatest Portuguese right backs of all-time.
The final was played in Vienna. Bayern were the favorites and reinforced this in the 25th minute when Ludwig Kogl scored. Porto tried in vain to find an equalizer and it came in the 78th minute courtesy of one of the most famous European Cup Finals’ goals of all time. The Algerian Rabah Madjer backheeled the goal to stun the Germans. Two minutes later Juary scored the winner.
Following the win, Jorge left for Racing Paris and was replaced by Yugoslavian Tomislav Ivić. As defending champions it received a bye into the second round but wasn’t done any favors by the draw when it was paired with Real Madrid. A pair of 2-1 losses sent it crashing and to add insult to injury, dreaded rivals Benfica made it as far as the final.
The following year the signs weren’t good for Porto when it struggled in the opening round against lowly HJK of Finland. It won the first leg 3-0 but then lost the return match 2-0. The signs were clear in the second round when it was thumped 5-0 away to PSV. PSV were the defending champions and a 2-0 win in the return leg wasn’t enough to erase the embarrassment.
Ivić was out the door and in returned Jorge. It was like putting an old glove on and the magic returned with a 13-1 demolition of Northern Irish Portadown in the first round. The second round was Porto’s first taste of Romanian opposition and after a scoreless 0-0 draw in the opening leg, had a comfortable 4-0 win at home. The quarter-final pitted Porto against old foe, Bayern Munich. A 1-1 draw in the first leg in Munich left Porto with high hopes but it came down to a thud with a 2-0 loss at home. It would be Porto’ s last match in the European Cup.
A new competition came with a new coach in Carlos Alberto Silva. In the first round it hammered Union Luxembourg 9-1. This was followed up with a 6-2 win over Sion. Now in two groups of four, Porto were with AC Milan, PSV and IFK Göteborg. Milan were too good and went through the group phase undefeated.
Bobby Robson was now in charge and got Porto back to the group stage. Again Milan was in the group as were Werder Bremen and Anderlecht. Now the top two advanced to the semi-finals which was good for Porto as it finished second to Milan. Porto met Barcelona in the semi-finals and were outclassed 3-0.
After a number of mediocre years, Porto hired Jose Mourinho as coach. He led Porto to victory in the 2003 UEFA Cup and now had his sights focused on the Champions League. Porto found itself in a group with Marseille, Partizan Belgrade and Real Madrid. It finished a comfortable second in the group to advance to the next stage.
In the round of 16 it was drawn to face Manchester United. After going down 1-0 in the first leg at home, it bounced back thanks to a pair of Benni McCarthy goals to take a slight lead to Old Trafford. An early Paul Scholes looked to send Porto out on away goals until a 90th minute Costinha goal sent it through. In the quarter-finals Porto had little fuss with Lyon winning 4-2 on aggregate. In the semi finals, Porto defeated Deportivo La Coruña 1-0 over two legs.
The final in Gelsenkirchen saw the unfancied Porto take on the even more unfancied Monaco. With the likes of Jorge Costa, Deco, Pedro Mendes and Maniche Porto was the favorites. A first half strike from Carlos Alberto gave Porto the lead and second half goals to Deco and Dmitri Alenichev wrapped up the win. Like Jorge, Mourinho left after winning the trophy. He went to Chelsea who Porto played the following year in its group. It finished second to Chelsea and advanced to face Inter Milan who won 4-2 on aggregate.
Since then, Porto has played well but not made it past the quarter-finals stage. It is always going to be underestimated, but with Porto you need to look at the size of the fight in the dog.