Poli had qualified for the UEFA Cup. The first round seemed to be the last. The opponents were the famous Atletico Madrid, the team of the volcanic president Jesus Gil y Gil, the Croatian (then Yugoslavian) coach Tomislav Ivic, with players like the Brazilians Donato (later naturalised for the Spanish national team) and Baltazar, the Spaniards Solozabal and Manolo, the Austrian Rodax and, above all, the Portuguese Futre. But on 19 September 1990, Ad. Bungău (from the penalty spot) and Octavian Popescu (header) scored a fantastic 2-0! Let’s note a couple of strikers, C. Rosenblum – Timofte II, without any top-class strikers…

In the return leg, hopes were, however, low. At the legendary Vicente Calderon stadium, the Spaniards pressed, but only scored once in the end.

In 2004, Horia Ciugudean, former vice-president of Poli at the time, would reveal to Gazeta Sporturilor that at half-time of that game, Jesus Gil y Gil, the owner and president of the hosts, offered Timisoara $250,000 to give up qualification. The white-violet staff refused.

0-1 and the second big qualification after the Celtic episode. This time without a single (former or current) senior international in the squad!!!

Atletico had finished 4th in the Spanish Premier League the previous season, and in 1991 would finish 2nd and win the Spanish Cup, a feat they repeated the following year! In the 1991/92 season, they would reach the quarter-finals in the Cup Winners’ Cup, a competition in which they had played the final in 1986!

Technical box:
Politehnica Timisoara – Atletico Madrid 2-0 (1-0)
UEFA Cup 1990/91, 19.09.1990, 15:45, Timișoara, 1 Mai stadium, 34.000 spectators.
They scored: Ad. Bungău (43p), Octavian Popescu (62).
Referee: Y. Namoglu (Turkey).
Sent off: Donato (85).
Politehnica: Jipa – C. Varga (40, Ionuț), Crăciun, P. Andreaș, Stoicov – China, Ad. Bungău, S. Vlaicu, Octavian Popescu – C. Rosenblum (85, D. Mănăilă), Timofte II. Coach: Costică Rădulescu.
Atletico: Abel – Tomas, Donato, Solozabal, Juan Carlos – Manolo (62, Pizo Gomez), Julio Prieto, Alfredo, Futre – Baltazar, Rodax. Coach: Tomislav Ivic.

Excerpt from the book “Politehnica Timișoara – Football and Handball”, by Octavian Stăncioiu and Viorel Jurcuț, published by Politehnica Publishing House, on 4 December 2021, on the occasion of the Centenary of the Politehnica Timișoara Sports Society.