“… In a tournament compromised by wet weather and therefore boggy pitches, hosts West Germany were not overwhelmingly popular winners. Their 1972 European Championship-winning side had played open, expansive football, but that approach gave way to a more cautious, less spectacular approach here. A key difference was the decline of star midfielder Gunter Netzer, who had controversially left Borussia Monchengladbach for Real Madrid a year earlier, but endured a disastrous first season in La Liga, failing to score a single goal. …”
NY Times/The Athletic (Video) – Michael Cox