In 1970, Hibernians were drawn to play Real Madrid in the European Cup Winners' Cup. There was no bigger club on the continent in those days than the aristocrats of Spanish football and former champions of Europe.

This was the first time since the start of the competition that Real were not competing in the Champions Cup.

The 1960s and 1970s were great years for Maltese football, if only for the number of big clubs that played in Malta. It was still possible in those days to get a big name in the first round of UEFA competitions and Hibs used to draw them out like a magician.

'Those Magnificent Hibs'. Thus screamed the headline of The Times of Malta of Thursday, September 17, 1970.

'Illustrious Real Madrid happy with a 0-0 draw' added The Times as Hibs' performance in the first leg of the competition against the Madrillenos surpassed all expectations.

Hibs were simply magnificent. They matched and, at times, even outshone Real Madrid in skills and went so far as to pin the Spaniards in their area in the closing minutes of the game. At the end, Real were happy to return home with a draw but disappointed the bumper 22,000 crowd present at the stadium.

Hibs started on the attack. The game was barely a couple of minutes old when Sanchiz dallied with the ball in his area and Charlie 'Dunda' Micallef was quick to dispossess and fire a bombshell that hit the upright with Borga well and truly beaten.

After this lucky escape, Piri tried his luck with a shot but Hibs replied with a great Freddie Delia thunderbolt which Borga tipped over the bar.

Up to this stage of the game, the famous 'Paco' was hardly noticed and Gento was virtually anonymous. However, when Grande finally managed to put him through, Gento gave the local crowd a glimpse of his glorious past. Johnnie Privitera, however, saved Hibs from a very awkward situation with a well-timed tackle.

Gento was injured in this incident but he continued up to half-time when he was substituted by Fleitas.

The last 20 minutes of the first half were the best for the visitors.

Grande hit the side-rigging with a great shot and Velasquez began to steal the show with his elegant football.

Velasquez was undoubtedly the best Spanish player but the highly-rated Amancio Amaro was completely blotted out of the game by the lion-hearted Freddie Mallia.

Real's best chance of the game came in the 36th minute when Jose Luis beat Lorry Young, Delia and Mallia before crossing perfectly for Plamellas whose shot on the volley looked destined to hit the back of the net. Luckily for Hibs, the referee spotted an infringement.

Real's fury seemed to peter out in the second half and Hibs became more and more confident. They ventured forward frequently but their finishing was not accurate enough.

The Paolites were organised in their play, moving backward and forward as a team. They closed the central avenues to their box and were always ready to go out in search of goal which would have given them a glorious victory.

Hibs grew bolder with every second that passed and with Real fumbling, Micallef had a brilliant chance to write his name in the history books.

There were only seconds left for the final whistle when Delipe missed the ball completely. Blocklock sliced it across goal and Micallef, after evading Grande's frantic tackle, blasted high from an ideal position.

Soon after came the final whistle. It was a great performance by Hibs which rivalled even that played a couple of years earlier against Manchester United. It was a fine team effort and many singled out Eddie Theobald, Privitera and Salvu Gatt as the best of the men in white.

However, my man of the match was Mallia, if only for the way he kept the great Amancio under control. But then, I suppose, that Real never played as badly as they did in Malta. Only their name justified the bumper crowd at the stadium.

That evening I was in Paola when Hibs' technical advisor, the great Stanley Matthews, walked out of the club with a number of players. Sir Stanley was furious with his men because they did not take their chances. He just could not understand why they were happy with a draw.

"You should have won comfortably," he said.

That evening he was interviewed on BBC Radio. He vented his disappointment, saying angrily that the Maltese were only able to score from the penalty spot.

Many had predicted a landslide victory of double-digit proportions for Real at the Bernabeu Stadium.

Hibs, however, held tight and lost 0-5 against the darlings of European football.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.