When Hibs put four goals past Barcelona

Liverpool’s 4-0 victory over Barcelona last month sent shock-waves throughout Europe.

Not many teams have scored four against the Catalan giants but a Scottish team did, almost 60-years ago and they did it on Spanish soil.

The Inter Cities Fairs Cup was the idea of Swiss pools
supremo Ernst Thommen, Ottorino Barassi from Italy and English FA Secretary
Stanley Rouss to promote international trade fairs. 

During the 1960/61 season Hibs were going through a
transitional period following the break-up of the Famous Five, and few outside
Scotland gave them any chance of progressing when they were drawn against one
of the giants of world football in the quarter finals.

The first leg took place at the newly opened Gran Estadio
which been constructed at a cost of over £1,750,000 and would soon change its
name to the Camp Nou.

Over 50,000 fans were inside the stadium, the majority
expecting to see a home victory, but Hibs started brightly and almost took the
lead in the opening minutes when Joe Baker just failed to get on the end of a
through ball from Sammy Baird.

Joe, in particular was causing the Spaniards problems and he
opened the scoring in the 10th minute after a mistake by keeper Antoni
Ramallets.

This annoyed the home fans who made their displeasure know
by aiming a barrage of jeers in the direction of their own players.

Their mood wasn’t helped eleven minutes later when Johnny
McLeod made it 2-0 with a superb strike from 20 yards.

Barcelona started to dominate possession and Sandor Kocsis
pulled one back with a fine header from an Enric Gensanafree kick but the Edinburgh
side went in at the break with a 2-1 lead.

After the restart, Barcelona upped the tempo and Hibernian
had to endure a 10 minute period of back to the wall pressure before Kocsis
equalised with his second goal of the night.

The partisan home crowd expected a goal blitz however
Hibernian fought back bravely and were denied a certain penalty when McLeod was
brought down inside the area but the Italian referee waved play on.

Barcelona missed several good chances before Hibernian
silenced the home supporters when Tommy Preston fired home a superb left foot
shot which went in off the post in the 72nd minute.

Three minutes later Baker lost his marker in the middle of
the park and hammered in a tremendous 25 yard shot which flew past Ramallets
into the net.

Inspired by slow hand clapping from the Barca fans, Kocsis
scored his third of the night after a wild scramble in the Hibernian defence in
the 84th minute then moment later the visitors were cruelly denied a famous and
well-deserved victory when Evaristo de Macido fired home a Kocsis cross to make
the final score 4-4.

According to one local newspaper “Hibs didn’t hold Barcelona
to a draw, it was quite the reverse. Every Hibs man was a hero, none more so
than Simpson whose brave performance inspired his outfield colleagues.

“Baird had been a shrewd tactician and the teenage Easton
who was making his first European appearance immense but it was the livewire
pairing of Baker and McLeod up front that caused the Spanish side most
problems.

“In an interview before the game the Barcelona secretary had
categorically denied they were interested in buying Baker. Perhaps they had now
changed their minds. One local newspaper was in no doubt, urging Barcelona to
buy Baker who ‘had been so much ahead of our centre forward.”

Other Spanish newspapers suggested that Baker’s performance
had put him in the £100,000 bracket and that he was on Real Madrid’s shopping
list as a replacement for Alfredo Di Stefano.

At the after-match banquet, a Barcelona official
complemented Hibernian, stating: “We knew we would have a hard game but we were
surprised at the standard of Hibs’ play.”

The scoreline also resounded throughout Scotland. The
Scottish Daily Mail said: “Hibs struck a glorious blow for Scottish prestige.
They put on a dazzling exhibition. The first hour was unbelievable. It was like
watching the Hibs’ team of the 1948 era.

The Daily Record reported: “Eleven Hibs’ heroes gave
Scotland its greatest ever boost.  The
Easter Road miracle men were close to bringing off the football story of the
century. Hibs were magnificent.”

Before the second leg however, Hibernian faced Peebles
Rovers in the Scottish Cup and progressed to the next round following a 15-1
victory which included NINE goals from Joe Baker. Remarkably his brother Gerry
who also later played for Hibernian had scored TEN goals for St Mirren against
Glasgow University in the same competition the previous year.

The second leg was another story with Hibs winning 3-2 after
a dramatic 90 minutes at Easter Road.