Former midfielder Lucien Müller took charge of Barcelona at the start of the 1978-79 season with high hopes, although the Frenchman would ultimately fail to replicate the success he had enjoyed as a player there in the 1960s and was replaced before the season end.

Barcelona lost a dozen of their 34 fixtures and finished a disappointing fifth place in La Liga. The evergreen Asensi was his usual goal threat, but the season's revelation was the newly arrived Hans Krankl - the Austrian single-handedly scored 29 of Barcelona's League goals to finish as the division's top scorer.

It was also Krankl who scored the decisive extra-time winner that helped Barcelona overcome Fortuna Dusseldorf 4-3 in a high-scoring Cup Winners Cup Final, and thus ensuring some trophy success for the season. The debut this year of another forward - the future legend Carrasco- hinted at brighter things to come for the Catalans.