The 1977 European Cup final was an association football match between Liverpool of England and Borussia Mönchengladbach of West Germany on 25 May 1977 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Italy (the venue was decided in Bern by the UEFA Executive Committee on 17 September 1976). The showpiece event was the final match of the 1976–77 season of Europe's premier cup competition, the European Cup. Both teams were appearing in their first European Cup final, although the two sides had previously met in the 1973 UEFA Cup Final, which Liverpool won 3–2 on aggregate over two legs. Each club needed to progress through four rounds to reach the final. Matches were contested over two legs, with a match at each team's home ground. Liverpool's victories varied from close affairs to comfortable victories. They beat the previous season's runners-up Saint-Étienne by a single goal over two legs, while they defeated FC Zürich 6–1 on aggregate in the semi-final. Borussia Mönchengladbach's route to the final was more difficult; all but one of their ties were won by a margin of just one goal. Watched by a crowd of 52,078, Liverpool took an early lead through Terry McDermott, but Allan Simonsen equalised for Mönchengladbach early in the second half. Liverpool regained the lead midway through the second half with a headed goal from Tommy Smith. A penalty by Phil Neal ensured Liverpool won the match 3–1 to secure their first European Cup. The victory was a year after they had won the UEFA Cup, which meant that Bob Paisley became the first manager to win the UEFA Cup and European Cup in successive seasons. Route to the final Liverpool Liverpool were the reigning UEFA Cup champions, they had beaten Belgian team Club Brugge 4–3 on aggregate to win the 1975–76 UEFA Cup. Liverpool entered the competition as English champions having won the 1975–76 Football League First Division. They were drawn against the Northern Irish champions Crusaders in the first round. The first leg was a home tie at Anfield, which Liverpool won 2–0 courtesy of a Phil Neal penalty and a John Toshack goal. The second leg away at Seaview, was won 5–0 by Liverpool. Four of the goals were scored within nine minutes of the end of the match, to make the scoreline seem more one-sided than the match actually was. Liverpool won the tie 7–0 and were drawn against Turkish champions