The date 2 May 1986 is written in golden letters in the history of Dynamo Kyiv. On this day, our club won the UEFA Cup Winners' Cup for the second time.
The path to the final began for Kyiv with a defeat in Utrecht, the Netherlands, in September 1985. However, in the return leg in Kyiv, Valeriy Lobanovsky's team showed their best, defeating the Dutch.
"Dynamo Kyiv: the way to the final
1/16 finals
18 September 1985, Utrecht. The Nieuw Galgenwaard stadium. 18,000 spectators
"Utrecht (Netherlands) - Dynamo - 2: 1 (1: 0)
Goals: de Kruijk (43), van Loon (64) - Demyanenko (83).
"Dynamo: Mikhailov, Bessonov, Yaremchuk, Kuznetsov, Demyanenko, Ratz, Yakovenko, Bal, Zavarov, Yevtushenko, Blokhin (Belanov, 73).
"DynamovsUtrecht 4-1 (2-1)
Goals: Blokhin (10), Yaremchuk (20), Zavarov (53), Yevtushenko (60) - de Kruijk (8).
"Dynamo: Mikhailov, Bessonov, Yaremchuk, Kuznetsov, Demyanenko, Ratz, Yakovenko (Baltacha, 82), Bal, Zavarov, Yevtushenko, Blokhin (Belanov, 71).
1/8 finals
"Universitatea(Craiova, Romania) -Dynamo- 2: 2 (1: 2)
Goals: Byku (14, 82, penalty) - Zavarov (17, 23).
"Dynamo: Mikhailov, Bessonov, Baltacha, Kuznetsov, Demyanenko, Ratz, Yakovenko (Bal, 15), Yaremchuk, Zavarov, Yevtushenko (Belanov, 67), Blokhin.
"Dynamo-Universitat- 3: 0 (3: 0)
Goals: Ratz (7), Belanov (11), Demyanenko (13).
"Dynamo: Mikhailov, Evseev, Baltacha, Kuznetsov, Demyanenko, Ratz, Yaremchuk, Bal, Zavarov, Belanov (Mykhailychenko, 79), Blokhin (Yevtushenko, 71).
¼ finals
"Rapid(Vienna, Austria) -Dynamo 1: 4(0: 0)
Goals: Wilfurt (83) - Belanov (57, 62), Ratz (68), Yakovenko (74).
"Dynamo: Chanov, Bezsonov, Baltacha, Kuznetsov, Demyanenko, Ratz, Yakovenko, Bal, Yaremchuk, Belanov (Yevtushenko, 77), Blokhin.
"Dynamo-Rapid 5: 1(4: 1)
Goals: Yaremchuk (7, 32), Belanov (12, penalty), Blokhin (43), Yevtushenko (79) - Halilovic (27).
"Dynamo: Chanov, Bezsonov, Baltacha, Kuznetsov, Demyanenko, Ratz, Yakovenko, Yaremchuk, Zavarov (Yevtushenko, 62), Belanov, Blokhin (Bal, 74).
½ final
"Dynamo-Dukla(Prague, Czechoslovakia) - 3: 0(3: 0)
Goals: Blokhin (7, 37), Zavarov (35).
"Dynamo: Chanov, Bezsonov, Baltacha, Kuznetsov, Demyanenko, Ratz, Yakovenko, Yaremchuk, Zavarov, Belanov, Blokhin (Yevtushenko, 73).
"Dukla-Dynamo 1: 1(0: 0)
Goals: Krszyz (71) - Belanov (64, penalty).
"Dynamo: Chanov (Mikhailov, 88), Yaremchuk, Baltacha, Kuznetsov, Demyanenko, Ratz, Yakovenko, Bal, Zavarov (Yevtushenko, 78), Belanov, Blokhin.
"Atletico: the way to the final
1/16 finals
"Atletico Madrid - Celtic (Glasgow, Scotland) 1: 1
"Celtic vs Atletico - 1: 2
1/8 finals
"Bangor City (Wales) - Atletico - 0: 2
"Atletico - Bangor City - 1: 0
¼ finals
"Red Star Belgrade (Yugoslavia) - Atletico Madrid 0: 2
"Atletico Madrid vs Red Star - 1: 1
½ finals
"Atletico Madrid vs Bayer Leverkusen (Krefeld, Germany) - 1: 0
"Bayer Leverkusen - Atletico - 2: 3
The final match took place in the French city of Lyon, at the Gerlan Stadium. "The Matras players felt at home here - the support of the Spanish fans was so tangible, as they filled the stands of the stadium in Lyon with the symbols and flags of their club.
"In Soviet times, our fans didn't travel to away games in the same numbers as today. Of course, in France, when we went to the stadium in Lyon, we saw that almost all the stands were in the red and white colours of our opponent, Atletico Madrid," says Vadym Yevtushenko, the author of one of the goals in the final, "Ours, if there were any, were a small handful of embassy representatives, the press, and expats who lived in France and cheered for us. In short, there were not many of our fans, but we knew that the whole country was watching us on TV at home and the fans were waiting for us to return with a victory."
Upon arriving at the match, the Dynamo players were excited by the news that was broadcast on local television. Before the match, journalists and reporters asked the Kyiv team not about the upcoming match for the trophy, but about the situation in their homeland after the terrible disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which was making news all over the world, but not in the USSR.
"The day after the Chornobyl accident, we played Spartak Moscow at the Republican Stadium in Kyiv," recalls Vasyl Ratz, a participant in the KVN-86 final match. "No one knew anything about what had happened, we didn't even suspect it. But when we were flying to Lyon for the final match, even on the plane, the management began to warn us to talk to journalists only about football, but they still didn't understand what we were talking about and what had really happened there.
When we arrived in Lyon, a large number of journalists met us at the airport. However, their questions were not about the final match, but about Chernobyl. We dodged these questions, not understanding what had happened there. When we arrived at the hotel and switched on the TVs, we saw news about the Chernobyl accident in French and English on all channels. It was only then that we learnt that a terrible tragedy had happened.
Of course, those guys who had families and parents in Kyiv started calling to send them to other cities as soon as possible. My situation was different - my parents lived in Zakarpattia, and I was not yet married. Valeriy Vasilyevich told us then that since such a situation had arisen, such a tragedy had occurred, the only thing we could do was to go to the final match and do everything possible to win in order to bring joy to our people."
And from the very first minutes of the final match, Dynamo showed that they had come to Lyon only to win. The active pressure in the opponents' half of the field took the Matras players by surprise. Already in the sixth minute, the score was opened after a swift attack from Kyiv. Vasyl Ratz completed a pass down the left flank with a shot into the centre to Ihor Belanov, whose powerful left-footed shot was met by Ubaldo Filho, who deflected the ball into the centre of the penalty area. Oleksandr Zavarov was the first to get on the ball, outrunning the defenders and hitting the target with a header from around the penalty spot.
"The Spaniards, as is customary with strong fighters, tried to pretend that nothing special had happened, they went forward energetically, but they were calmly besieged. The collective selection of the Kyiv defenders and the convinced focus of the midfielders on constructive play worked. From their penalty area, Bessonov and Yakovenko confidently led the way, directing attacks. And all together, they were equally confident in controlling the situation in any part of the field.
The opponent, of course, was well aware of how difficult it was to stop Dynamo's flank attacks and sharp axial passes. He was preparing for that. But Kyiv also had a surprise. The first time they "deployed" it was in the 13th minute, launching a fan-shaped attack from right to left. Yakovenko, Yaremchuk and Bezsonov quickly delivered the ball to Blokhin on the opposite flank, but he, having encountered a double burn, did not risk making direct contact for fear of aggravating his injury. A few minutes later, the same fears probably prevented Blokhin from hitting a whipping shot from close range from the corner of the goal area after a Yakovenko-Demyanenko-Belanov combination," was how Football-Hockey magazine described the vicissitudes of the first half.
Before the break, Valerii Lobanovskyi made a forced substitution - Serhii Baltacha signalled that he would not be able to continue the game. Later, he would become the only Dynamo player to participate in the final match of the Cup of Cups who would not fly to Mexico for the 1986 World Cup as part of the USSR national team.
"In January 1986, I could have undergone surgery, but a long recovery would have completely eliminated the preparatory cycle and the spring part of the season. I decided to train and play "on injections", as I informed Lobanovsky. Everything was going well, the team played well in the league, reached the Cup Final... The denouement came in the decisive match against Atletico Madrid. After a collision at the end of the first half, I left the field, and a few days later I went on the operating table. I watched the World Cup on TV in the hospital room, and returned to the pitch only in mid-autumn," recalls Serhiy Baltacha.
The second half began with a humorous skit - a rooster hunt in which Blokhin and Ratz took an active part. While the hunt was going on, which may have distracted the participants, the Spaniards seemed to be replaced. The break clearly went in favour of Luis Aragonés' team, which had a chance to equalise at the start of the second half, but Dynamo goalkeeper Viktor Chanov played reliably.
For some time, Kyiv fought back, but soon, having survived, they began to respond with dangerous counterattacks to Madrid's attacks. Gradually, the Spaniards' enthusiasm began to fade, attacks became less frequent, and chances at Chanov's goal stopped occurring. Atletico's players were tired. But Kyiv showed their strength in the final part of the match to the fullest. The scorer of the first goal, Oleksandr Zavarov, exhausted the Matras defence the most. However, he soon got tired, besides, he was often kicked by Atletico defenders, and in the 70th minute Valery Lobanovsky decided to throw Vadym Yevtushenko into the battle.
In the 84th minute, Dynamo scored the famous "fan goal", which went down in history and in all football textbooks. Vasyl Ratz again started the scoring attack with his trademark breakthrough on the left flank, this time from deep. He passed into the centre to Ihor Belanov, who, already on the outskirts of the penalty area, continued to the right to Vadym Yevtushenko, who immediately found a free Oleg Blokhin on the right flank with a touch pass. Dynamo's all-time leading scorer again, just like in 1975, scored in the Cup Final, this time elegantly, with one touch, beating Filho, who had come out of the gate.
By the way, Blokhin is the only Dynamo player to have taken part in both victorious Cup competitions for our club, again playing all nine matches on the way to the trophy. In '86, apart from him, six other players took part in all nine matches of the tournament - Belanov, Yevtushenko, Demyanenko, Ratz, Kuznetsov and Yaremchuk, the latter four of whom played all the games from the first to the last minute. Blokhin, Belanov and Zavarov became the team's top scorers, scoring five times each. Blokhin played the match against Atletico with a leg bandage on due to an injury to the back of his thigh sustained in his hundredth match for the USSR national team.
Three minutes after the goal, the score on Zherlan's scoreboard became devastating. Ratz brought Yevtushen out for a date with Filho, and the Dynamo forward, picking up speed, headed the ball past the goalkeeper and rolled the football into the completely empty net, putting an end to the match.
Chants of "Dynamo" could be heard in the stands - local French fans were expressing their admiration for the spectacular and effective performance of the Kyiv team. A few minutes later, Anatoliy Demyanenko raised the second Cup Winners' Cup in the club's history, which meant so much to Kyiv and the country at that moment.
"We had champagne later, at the hotel," recalls the captain of the golden team, "I had to leave with Vanya Yaremchuk for doping control... The dinner was great. Each of us brought a bottle of sparkling wine with us from Kyiv. I think there were eight bottles in the cup. Lobanovsky was the first to speak. He congratulated everyone in a restrained, manly manner and wished us to keep going. And then we took turns taking a couple of sips and adding something of our own..."
Upon arrival in Moscow, the Dynamo team immediately went to the location of the USSR national team. The rest of them were met at the railway station in Kyiv by numerous fans who thanked the Dynamo players for this historic achievement.
Valentyn Shcherbachev, the match commentator who reported directly from Zherlan and returned from Lyon with the Dynamo delegation, told us about the welcome of the newly-minted European Cup winners in Moscow and Kyiv:
"Late in the evening of 4 May 1986, Sheremetyevo Airport was quiet. However, the passengers of the Paris-Moscow flight had every reason to expect a stormy and joyful meeting. On this plane, the players of Dynamo Kyiv were returning to Moscow and were carrying one of the most prestigious trophies of European club football. (By the way, our players received ridiculous money for this victory - $500 each.)
In any case, when Pavlo Yakovenko, the youngest of the winners, appeared at the customs control with the silver cup in his hands, there was no orchestra playing, no elegant girls with bouquets rushing to meet him, no crowd of fans smiling with Dynamo's success... Only a few passengers looked at the sports trophy in the lowered hands of a handsome blond boy. "Get down on the floor, Pasha, because our bus hasn't arrived yet," Valeriy Lobanovsky addressed the Dynamo midfielder. "Lobanovsky! So these are the Kyiv Dynamo players! Congratulations on the Cup!" the crowd shouted. Passengers rushed to get autographs. This distracted the Dynamo players from their sad meeting. However, the figure of one of the USSR national team coaches appeared in the doorway: "Teammates, to the bus! You've been waiting for a long time in Novogorsk! Hurry up, dinner is getting cold!"
The next day we were in Kyiv. Something incredible was happening at the railway station! The players were picked up and carried away! Only one thing marred the celebration - the Chernobyl cloud..."
Cup of Cups. Final. 2 May 1986. Lyon. 20:15. Stade de Gerlan. Clear. 18 degrees. 39300 spectators.
"DynamoKyiv, USSR -AtleticoMadrid, Spain - 3: 0 (1: 0).
Goals: Zavarov (6), Blokhin (84), Yevtushenko (87).
"DynamoKyiv: Viktor Chanov, Volodymyr Bezsonov, Serhiy Baltacha (Andriy Bal, 39), Oleg Kuznetsov, Anatoliy Demyanenko (c), Vasyl Ratz, Pavlo Yakovenko, Ivan Yaremchuk, Oleksandr Zavarov (Vadym Yevtushenko, 70), Ihor Belanov, Oleg Blokhin.
Head coach - Valery Lobanovsky.
"AtleticoMadrid: Ubaldo Filho, Tomas Reneñez (c), Clemente, Juan Carlos Arteche, Miguel Angel Ruiz, Julio Prieto, Mario Cabrera, Kike Ramos, Jorge da Silva, Jesus Landaburu (Kike Setienne, 60), Roberto Marin.
Head coach - Luis Aragonés.
