Real Madrid v Bayern Munich: the night Juanito kicked Matthäus in the face

The Real v Bayern rivalry can bring out the worst in the players and in 1987 Juanito committed a foul so gruesome that it overshadowed everything else he had done for Los Merengues

"Illa! Illa! Illa! Juanito maravilla!" As the crowd at the Santiago Bernabéu remind the world during every match Real Madrid play, yes, yes, yes, Juanito was a wonder. An indomitable winger-cum-striker of the 1980s, Juanito played with a never-give-in determination, and wore the famous meringue-white shirt with pride.

His influence, presence and spirit proved integral to some of Real's most famous European comebacks: turnarounds against Celtic in the 1979/80 European Cup (3-0), Anderlecht and Internazionale in the 1984-85 Cup Winners Cup (6-1 and 3-0), and Borussia Mönchengladbach in the 1985-86 Uefa Cup (4-0). As a consequence, the iconic and beloved Juanito who perished in a car crash in 1992 at the tragically young age of 37 is to this day remembered whenever the match clock at the Bernabéu ticks round to seven minutes, a callback to the number he usually wore.

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Published on April 23, 2014 03:17
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