Derby thrash Real Madrid

Charlie George was the hero of the night at The Baseball Ground back in 1975. George’s hat-trick saw Derby thrash Real Madrid in the European Cup 2nd Round 1st leg

Some 34,839 fans packed into the Baseball Ground and they didn’t have long to wait for George to fire in his first goal of the game in the 10th minute.

Not long after that, there was more to cheer about. Just five minutes later George doubled the lead from the penalty spot. Pirri pulled one back for the Spanish giants with a long-range effort.

Many in the ground would have been thinking that the team from the Spanish capital would draw level given their undoubted quality and pedigree.

However, to their surprise and delight, David Nish extended the Rams’ lead to a commanding 3-1 ahead of half-time. A first-half performance, not even the most ardent Derby fan could have expected or believed.

George completed his hat-trick in the 77th minute. Scoring yet again from the penalty spot to set Derby up well for the second leg in Spain.

An amazing 120,000 fans turned out at the Bernabeu. The attendance was a record to watch a Derby County match.

Real Madrid was in imperious form and handed Derby a 5-1 defeat to progress to the Third Round.

In short, the general consensus was despite the defeat and being knocked out Derby had acquitted themselves manfully.

There were not many out of the 34,839 who watched the first leg who would have thought Derby would win so emphatically. Who could say they were at the game to see Derby thrash Real Madrid?

Real Madrid would proceed all the way to the Semi-Final that year where they were beaten by eventual winners Bayern Munich.