Inter’s history in Bulgaria: Facchetti and that goal at CSKA Sofia

MILAN – The first ever encounter between Ludogorets and Inter will take place in Razgrad, a city of more than 50,000 inhabitants located in the North-East of Bulgaria. However, it won’t be the Nerazzurri’s first visit to Bulgaria: Inter have twice played on Bulgarian soil, earning two draws. Two stories and two very different matches. The game in 1967 at the Vasil Levski Stadium in Sofia ended in a 1-1 draw against CSKA Sofia in the second leg of the Champions Cup semi-final. Then in 1974 Inter played out a 0-0 draw against FC Etar at the Stadion Ivaylo in Veliko Tarnovo in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup round of 32 first leg (the second leg saw Inter win 3-0 in Milan after a goal from Oriali and two from Boninsegna).

However, it’s the first game, the 1967 Champions Cup game that brings back the epic memories (you can retrace those 90 minutes that brought us to the final in the video below). Inter, European champions in 1964 and ’65, raced towards another final. In their way were CSKA Sofia, Bulgarian champions. The first leg at San Siro on 19 April 1967 ended 1-1 after goals from Giacinto Facchetti and Tzanev. Then, in the second leg in Sofia on 26 April 1967, Herrera’s Inter lined up as such in the Vasil Levski: Sarti, Burgnich, Facchetti, Bedin, Guarneri, Picchi, Domenghini, Mazzola, Cappellini, Suarez, Corso. It was a tough first half for Inter who survived many scares such as Tzanev hitting the crossbar. However, just like in the first leg, it was Facchetti who opened the scoring for the Nerazzurri after breaking into the box and tucking home after a Corso corner broke down. However, the Nerazzurri didn’t manage to close out the game as Radlev’s goal levelled the match. It finished 1-1, there was no extra-time but rather another replay on 3 May in the neutral ground of Bologna. Cappellini’s goal that day sealed a 1-0 win for Inter who proceeded to the final, but were ultimately defeated by Celtic in Lisbon.

Here is the video of CSKA Sofia 1-1 Inter from 26 April 1967.