Hamburg 0 - 0 Aberdeen

In the first leg of the final in Germany manager Alex Ferguson adopted a style and approach that had suited the Dons well against Bayern Munich in the quarter final of the Cup Winners Cup. The 'early defence' ploy was one that unsettled the Germans who traditionally liked to knock the ball around their own half. That meant the Aberdeen front players of Hewitt, McGhee and Weir would be worked hard to close down their opponents in their own half, forcing the Germans to play a more direct game, which suited the Dons. Manager Ferguson was mindful of the threat posed by the European Champions and he brought in both Neale Cooper and Doug Rougvie to combat the physical threat of Schatzschieder up front.

On a cold winters evening only just over 15,000 turned up for the final and it turned out to be a successful one for Aberdeen. While the Dons expected to be put under severe pressure throughout the game, their tactics clearly upset the Germans rhythm and the game was never allowed to flow. Felix Magath the Hamburg captain was the vital player in the German side and Ferguson was aware of the threat he posed. The Dons boss flooded the middle of the park and effectively cut down the space and time for Magath and was happy to hit the Germans on the break; a tactic classically deployed by German sides through the years.

Nevertheless Aberdeen remained under the cosh for long periods and it took granite like performance from Leighton, McLeish and Miller to thwart the German forwards. Jim Leighton was called into action on several occasions and he produced several outstanding saves to keep Aberdeen in the game. In the second half the Dons opened up and could certainly have taken the lead on a couple of occasions. Mark McGhee who was a constant threat all night had the best chance of the night when he cut in beating two defenders before unleashing a shot that was well saved by Uli Stein. John McMaster also went close but it was the Aberdeen defence that were the heroes as the Scots held out to take the tie to Pittodrie all square after the 0-0 draw.

The Dons clearly gained the upper hand in the tie after they had tactically out thought the Germans. There was no doubt that Ferguson was happy with the performance but insisted his side could have come away with more - "We defended as I had hoped and we were aware of Hamburg's strengths. Our midfield had to stay focused as they have real quality in there but we were ready for them. We still have to win the tie, but this result gives us a marvellous platform to finish the job in front of our own supporters."