The day the ‘Catenaccio’ died

The catenaccio is a tactical system in soccer that involves strong defence, hard tackling, and the use of a particular role player, the libero, who stands just in front of the goalkeeper. In this way, the libero (or libero in Italian) recovers balls lost by his teammates or helps in the double team if necessary. It was used largely and successfully in the 1960s by Italian clubs such as Inter, Milan and Triestina.

Maybe no one knows, but the catenaccio is dead. Yes, dead. Exactly on May 25, 1967, Inter Milan-Celtic European Cup final in Lisbon. Herrera’s great Inter, winner of two European Cups (1964, 1965), tried to win the third against The Bhoys. After Mazzola’s penalty in the 7th minute, Inter fell back in catenaccio as they did in the 1965 final that they beat Benfica. The Lisbon crowd is resigned to watching Celtic’s attempts to pierce Inter’s defensive wall for the remaining 83 minutes. But not this time, not against Celta. For Inter it is the beginning of the end: Celtic destroys the Italian defense trying 39 times, missing a penalty and scoring two goals that allow Celtic to win the Cup. Only thanks to the Italian goalkeeper Sarti, Inter does not leave the field with a humiliating marker. After this memorable match, the Celtic players, dubbed the Lisbon Lions by the local press, entered legend by winning a European title for the first time in British football history, playing in one of the best finals ever seen and killing the catenaccio, although no one mentions it. that.