On March 10th, 1971, the city of Cardiff was alive with anticipation. The Bluebirds had drawn Spanish titans Real Madrid in the Quarter-Final of the European Cup Winners' Cup, and with the first leg kicking off at Ninian Park at 7:30pm that evening, thousands converged for what would become a wonderful night in the Club's history.
Qualifying for the tournament by winning the Welsh Cup the previous season, the Division Two Bluebirds had defeated Cypriot outfit Pezoporikos 8-0 over two legs in the first round, before then beating French First Division club FC Nantes 7-2 on aggregate.
Meanwhile, Los Blancos had won the 1970 Copa del Ray to qualify for the European tournament, having beaten Valencia 3-1 at the Camp Nou. Domestically competing in La Liga, Real Madrid had won their league three times in a row between 1966 and 1969, with much of the same squad travelling to South Wales in March 1971.
Having been ever-present throughout all competitions during the 1970/71 season, former City defender Gary Bell recalled the build-up to that memorable night:
"It was fantastic, just the fact that it was Real Madrid we got drawn against," Gary told cardiffcityfc.co.uk. "From the moment the draw was made, the whole city of Cardiff was buzzing. They were all looking forward to the game so much, everybody was up for it and the clamber for tickets was unbelievable.
"I think that the official number of people in attendance was 47,500, though on the day I'd have thought it was more like 60,000 – it was absolutely chock-a-block!
"We'd played in front of crowds similar to that in the years before. We'd drawn Arsenal in the FA Cup which had brought in 55,000 at Ninian Park on the day, but it was really something to see that night."