S.L. Benfica in European football Benfica fell in the second round against Scottish team and eventual finalists Celtic in a coin toss decision. After a mildly successful period in the 1960s, where they stood among the top contenders, Southern European teams started to lose influence in the European stage during the 1970s, as Dutch and German teams appeared stronger. In the 1971–72 European Cup, Benfica lost in the semi-finals to a Johan Cruyff-led Ajax on their way to a second consecutive win. Benfica reached the quarter-finals of the 1974–75 European Cup Winners' Cup, before being eliminated by another Dutch team, PSV Eindhoven. Over the course
Austria national football team quarter-finals. This Austria team, coached by Helmut Senekowitsch, is widely regarded as the best post-World War II Austrian football team ever. In the 1978 World Cup in Argentina, they had lost two matches and would almost surely finish last in their second round group of four teams, but they put in a special effort for their last game in Córdoba against West Germany, which had still chances of qualifying for the final. The Austrians also denied the defending world champion a trip to the third place match, beating them 3–2 by two goals of Hans Krankl, plus an own goal.