In the 1978–79 European Cup, they were drawn to play the winners of the two previous seasons, Liverpool. Forest took a 2–0 first leg lead thanks to goals from Birtles and Colin Barrett. A 0–0 draw at Anfield ensured that Forest progressed to the next round. Further wins against AEK Athens and Grasshopper Zurich took them to the semi-finals, where they were drawn to face German champions 1. FC Köln. In the first leg at the City Ground Köln took a surprise 2–0 lead. Forest then bounced back to lead 3–2, before a rare Shilton error allowed the Germans to make it 3–3. Due to the away goals rule, this meant that Forest had to win in Koln to progress to the final. In the second leg in Germany, Ian Bowyer scored the only goal of the match to put Forest through. Günter Netzer asked afterwards, "Who is this McGovern? I have never heard of him, yet he ran the game." Forest's opponents in the final at Munich's Olympiastadion were Swedish champions Malmö. Francis scored the only goal with a back post header from Robertson's cross. As he had been signed mid-season, the final was the first European Cup match that Francis was eligible to play in.