Liverpool v Real Madrid will be poignant for legend John Toshack

John Toshack, who brought the wisdom of Bill Shankly to the Bernabeu in his two spells managing Real Madrid, is still fighting to get through the aftermath of Covid, which left him seriously ill in a Barcelona hospital. He is not in a great condition.

‘I was nine days completely out,’ says the 73-year-old, who woke up in intensive care. ‘More out than in. In 10 days you can lose a league. I gained a life.’

Though Toshack was part of the legendary teams built by Shankly and Bob Paisley, winning three First Division titles plus the 1977 European Cup, Madrid celebrates him just as much. Emilio Butragueno, part of the Bernabeu squad he inherited in 1989, called him every day as he began his long road to recovery.

Real won a LaLiga title under Toshack in 1990, after his huge success with Real Sociedad had earned him a shot at the job. 

But Liverpool were always the club in his heart. ‘Managing Real Madrid. Great. Ten years in the Basque country. Great. But Liverpool? The best days of my life,’ he told Sportsmail a few years ago.

His first match as Real boss was against Kenny Dalglish’s Liverpool in 1989, months after the tragedy of Hillsborough. Real won 2-0. He wanted to sign John Barnes a year later but Real went for Gheorghe Hagi. He did not see out that second season.

It broke Toshack’s heart that Liverpool did not make him their manager. Shankly, who signed him from Cardiff City, told him that Liverpool would have him back if he succeeded at Swansea and he felt taking that club from the Fourth to the First Division between 1978 and 1981 was enough.

He says a telephone call came, in the winter of 1981, proposing a meeting with Liverpool secretary Peter Robinson and chairman John Smith, to discuss what at that time seemed