1956–57 European Cup

The 1956–57 European Cup was the second season of the European Cup, Europe's premier club football tournament. The competition was won for the second time by Real Madrid, who beat Fiorentina 2–0 in the final at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, Madrid, on 30 May 1957.

1956–57 European Cup
Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid hosted the final.
Tournament details
Dates1 August 1956 – 30 May 1957
Teams22 (from 21 associations)
Final positions
ChampionsSpain Real Madrid (2nd title)
Runners-upItaly Fiorentina
Tournament statistics
Matches played44
Goals scored170 (3.86 per match)
Attendance1,840,978 (41,840 per match)
Top scorer(s)Dennis Viollet (Manchester United)
9 goals

After the great success of the first tournament, six new nations entered representatives: Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, England, Luxembourg, Romania and Turkey. The Football League had not allowed Chelsea to enter in 1955, and continued its stance on the European Cup as it being a "distraction". However, against the wishes of the FA, Manchester United entered the competition as English champions, becoming the first English team to play in Europe.[1] An additional place was awarded to third in 1955–56 La Liga Real Madrid as the competition's reigning champions, occupying the free berth left by Saar after its reunification with West Germany. As a result, Spain became the first association to provide two representatives to the premier European competition and it was only for Manchester United, who had won against Athletic Bilbao in the quarter-finals, that first ever meeting between two sides from the same country in the competition didn't happen.

This edition was the first to utilize play-off matches, after two legs were not enough to decide which team advances to the next round on three occasions: Borussia Dortmund won 7–0 against Spora Luxembourg in the preliminary round, while Nice and Real Madrid won 3–1 and 2–1, respectively, against Rangers and Rapid Wien in the first round.

Teams edit

A total of 22 teams participated in the competition.

AGF Aarhus, Anderlecht, Rapid Wien and Real Madrid returned to the competition, after participating in the inaugural edition.

Galatasaray was the only team, other than the title holder, who didn't enter as a national association champion, as Süper Lig was not founded until 1959.

  Rapid Wien (1st)   Anderlecht (1st)   CDNA Sofia (1st)   Slovan UNV Bratislava (1st)
  AGF Aarhus (1st)   Manchester United (1st)   Nice (1st)   Borussia Dortmund (1st)
  Budapest Honvéd (1st)   Fiorentina (1st)   Spora Luxembourg (1st)   Rapid JC (1st)
  CWKS Warsaw (1st)   Porto (1st)   Dinamo București (1st)   Rangers (1st)
  Athletic Bilbao (1st)   Real Madrid (3rd)TH   Norrköping (1st)   Grasshopper (1st)
  Galatasaray[a]   Red Star Belgrade (1st)
  1. ^ There was no top-level Turkish champion in the period from 1952 to 1955.

Preliminary round edit

The draw for the preliminary round took place in UEFA headquarters in Paris on 29 June 1956.[2] The 21 challengers of Real Madrid were grouped geographically into three pots. The first four teams drawn in each pot would play the preliminary round in September, while the remaining three clubs received byes.

Pot 1
Eastern Europe
Pot 2
North-Western Europe
Pot 3
South-Central Europe
Drawn   Slovan UNV Bratislava   Nice   Porto
  CWKS Warsaw   AGF Aarhus   Athletic Bilbao
  Galatasaray   Anderlecht   Borussia Dortmund
  Dinamo București   Manchester United   Spora Luxembourg
Byes   Budapest Honvéd   Rangers   Fiorentina
  Rapid Wien   Norrköping   Grasshopper
  CDNA Sofia   Rapid JC   Red Star Belgrade

The calendar was decided by the involved teams, with all matches to be played by 1 October.

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg Play-off
Borussia Dortmund   5–5   Spora Luxembourg 4–3 1–2 7–0
Dinamo București   4–3   Galatasaray 3–1 1–2
Slovan UNV Bratislava   4–2   CWKS Warsaw 4–0 0–2
Anderlecht   0–12   Manchester United 0–2 0–10
AGF Aarhus   2–6   Nice 1–1 1–5
Porto   3–5   Athletic Bilbao 1–2 2–3

First leg edit

Borussia Dortmund  4–3  Spora Luxembourg
Bracht   31'
Niepieklo   54'
Preissler   61', 73'
Report Boreux   25', 34', 88'

Dinamo București  3–1  Galatasaray
Voica   10', 67'
Ene   84'
Report Oktay   77'

Anderlecht  0–2  Manchester United
Report Viollet   25'
Taylor   75'

Slovan UNV Bratislava  4–0  CWKS Warsaw
Pažický   23', 68'
Kováč   30' (pen.)
Moravčík   40'
Report
Attendance: 25,000

AGF Aarhus  1–1  Nice
Erik Bechmann Jensen   16' Report Foix   61'

Porto  1–2  Athletic Bilbao
Matos   54' Report Gaínza   8'
Canito   75'
Attendance: 35,000

Second leg edit

Spora Luxembourg  2–1  Borussia Dortmund
Fiedler   22'
Letsch   39'
Report Preissler   28'

Borussia Dortmund 5–5 Spora Luxembourg on aggregate; play-off needed.


CWKS Warsaw  2–0  Slovan UNV Bratislava
Kowal   52'
Brychczy   63'
Report

Slovan UNV Bratislava won 4–2 on aggregate.


Athletic Bilbao  3–2  Porto
Artetxe   14', 73' (pen.), 82' Report Hernâni   4'
Jaburú   20'
Attendance: 34,705

Athletic Bilbao won 5–3 on aggregate.


Manchester United  10–0  Anderlecht
Taylor   8', 20', 52'
Viollet   25', 38', 44', 65'
Whelan   61', 82'
Berry   77'
Report
Attendance: 43,635

Manchester United won 12–0 on aggregate.


Nice  5–1  AGF Aarhus
Foix   2'
Milazzo   27', 74'
Faivre   45', 60'
Report Jensen   77'
Attendance: 8,144

Nice won 6–2 on aggregate.


Galatasaray  2–1  Dinamo București
Aytaç   42'
Oktay   89'
Report Suru   31'

Dinamo București won 4–3 on aggregate.

Play-off edit

Borussia Dortmund  7–0  Spora Luxembourg
Preissler   24', 36'
Simmer   29'
Kelbassa   40', 49', 63'
Peters   57'
Report

Borussia Dortmund won play-off 7–0.

Bracket edit

First round Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
              
  Real Madrid 4 1 5 (2)
  Rapid Wien 2 3 5 (0)
  Real Madrid 3 3 6
  Nice 0 2 2
  Rangers 2 1 3 (1)
  Nice 1 2 3 (3)
  Real Madrid 3 2 5
  Manchester United 1 2 3
  Athletic Bilbao 3 3 6
  Budapest Honvéd 2 3 5
  Athletic Bilbao 5 0 5
  Manchester United 3 3 6
  Manchester United 3 0 3
  Borussia Dortmund 2 0 2
  Real Madrid 2
  Fiorentina 0
  Rapid JC 3 0 3
  Red Star Belgrade 4 2 6
  Red Star Belgrade 3 1 4
  CDNA Sofia 1 2 3
  CDNA Sofia 8 2 10
  Dinamo București 1 3 4
  Red Star Belgrade 0 0 0
  Fiorentina 1 0 1
  Fiorentina 1 1 2
  Norrköping 1 0 1
  Fiorentina 3 2 5
  Grasshopper 1 2 3
  Slovan UNV Bratislava 1 0 1
  Grasshopper 0 2 2

First round edit

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg Play-off
Manchester United   3–2   Borussia Dortmund 3–2 0–0
CDNA Sofia   10–4   Dinamo București 8–1 2–3
Rangers   3–3   Nice 2–1 1–2 1–3
Slovan UNV Bratislava   1–2   Grasshopper 1–0 0–2
Real Madrid   5–5   Rapid Wien 4–2 1–3 2–0
Rapid JC   3–6   Red Star Belgrade 3–4 0–2
Fiorentina   2–1   Norrköping 1–1 1–0
Athletic Bilbao   6–5   Budapest Honvéd 3–2 3–3

First leg edit

CDNA Sofia  8–1  Dinamo București
Kolev   12', 56', 63'
Milanov   20', 65'
Panayotov   27', 76'
Dimitrov   80'
Report Băcuț   81' (pen.)

Manchester United  3–2  Borussia Dortmund
Viollet   10', 25'
Pegg   35'
Report Kapitulski   68'
Preissler   75'
Attendance: 75,568

Slovan UNV Bratislava  1–0  Grasshopper
Moravčík   20' Report
Attendance: 30,000

Rangers  2–1  Nice
Murray   40'
Simpson   81'
Report Faivre   23'
Attendance: 65,000

Real Madrid  4–2  Rapid Wien
Di Stéfano   9', 21'
Marsal   60', 63'
Report Dienst   58'
Giesser   90'

Rapid JC  3–4  Red Star Belgrade
Janssen   8'
Bisschops   78'
Tasić   81' (og.)
Report Kostić   4', 75'
Toplak   42'
Rudinski   82'
Attendance: 11,500

Fiorentina  1–1  Norrköping
Bizzarri   15' Report Bild   8'
Attendance: 6,000
Referee: Dean Harzic (France)

Athletic Bilbao  3–2  Budapest Honvéd
Artetxe   16'
Marcaida   27'
Arieta   82'
Report Budai II   75'
Kocsis   85'
Attendance: 39,184

Second leg edit

Red Star Belgrade  2–0  Rapid JC
Toplak   32'
Kostić   84'
Report
Attendance: 15,000

Red Star Belgrade won 6–3 on aggregate.


Rapid Wien  3–1  Real Madrid
Happel   18', 38' (pen.), 40' Report Di Stéfano   60'
Attendance: 60,000

Real Madrid 5–5 Rapid Wien on aggregate; play-off needed.


Nice  2–1  Rangers
Bravo   61'
Foix   64'
Report Hubbard   40' (pen.)
Attendance: 8,439

Nice 3–3 Rangers on aggregate; play-off needed.


Manchester United won 3–2 on aggregate.


Norrköping  0–1  Fiorentina
Report Virgili   16'
Attendance: 10,200

Fiorentina won 2–1 on aggregate.


Grasshopper  2–0  Slovan UNV Bratislava
Vukosavljević   75'
Duret   89'
Report

Grasshopper won 2–1 on aggregate.


Budapest Honvéd  3–3  Athletic Bilbao
Budai II   6'
Kocsis   78'
Puskás   86'
Report Merodio   1', 72'
Arieta   67'

Athletic Bilbao won 6–5 on aggregate.


Dinamo București  3–2  CDNA Sofia
Nicușor   58' (pen.)
Lăzar   67'
Neagu   84'
Report Stoyanov   23'
Yanev   62'

CDNA Sofia won 10–4 on aggregate.

Play-off edit

Nice  3–1  Rangers
Foix   45'
Muro   50'
Faivre   75'
Report Bonvin   51' (o.g.)
Attendance: 11,908

Nice won play-off 3–1.


Real Madrid  2–0  Rapid Wien
Joseíto   1'
Kopa   23'
Report
Attendance: 100,000
Referee: Alfred Bond (England)

Real Madrid won play-off 2–0.

Quarter-finals edit

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Athletic Bilbao   5–6   Manchester United 5–3 0–3
Fiorentina   5–3   Grasshopper 3–1 2–2
Real Madrid   6–2   Nice 3–0 3–2
Red Star Belgrade   4–3   CDNA Sofia 3–1 1–2

First leg edit

Athletic Bilbao  5–3  Manchester United
Uribe   2', 28'
Marcaida   43'
Merodio   73'
Artetxe   78'
Report Taylor   48'
Viollet   54'
Whelan   85'
Attendance: 36,737

Fiorentina  3–1  Grasshopper
Segato   3'
Taccola   10', 12'
Report Ballaman   31'
Attendance: 10,000

Real Madrid  3–0  Nice
Joseíto   18'
Mateos   49', 72'
Report
Attendance: 110,000

Red Star Belgrade  3–1  CDNA Sofia
Kostić   6', 25'
Popović   53'
Report Yanev   88'
Attendance: 33,000

Second leg edit

Manchester United  3–0  Athletic Bilbao
Viollet   42'
Taylor   70'
Berry   85'
Report
Attendance: 70,000

Manchester United won 6–5 on aggregate.


CDNA Sofia  2–1  Red Star Belgrade
Bozhkov   22' (pen.)
Panayotov   39'
Report Tasić   29' (pen.)

Red Star Belgrade won 4–3 on aggregate.


Grasshopper  2–2  Fiorentina
Ballaman   25'
Vukosavljević   85'
Report Julinho   7'
Montuori   52'
Attendance: 18,000

Fiorentina won 5–3 on aggregate.


Nice  2–3  Real Madrid
Foix   15'
Ferry   82' (pen.)
Report Joseíto   45'
Di Stéfano   50', 79'
Attendance: 21,724

Real Madrid won 6–2 on aggregate.

Semi-finals edit

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Red Star Belgrade   0–1   Fiorentina 0–1 0–0
Real Madrid   5–3   Manchester United 3–1 2–2

First leg edit

Red Star Belgrade  0–1  Fiorentina
Report Prini   88'
Attendance: 40,000

Real Madrid  3–1  Manchester United
Rial   61'
Di Stéfano   63'
Mateos   83'
Report Taylor   82'
Attendance: 120,000

Second leg edit

Fiorentina  0–0  Red Star Belgrade
Report
Attendance: 70,000

Fiorentina won 1–0 on aggregate.


Manchester United  2–2  Real Madrid
Taylor   62'
Charlton   85'
Report Kopa   25'
Rial   33'
Attendance: 65,000

Real Madrid won 5–3 on aggregate.

Final edit

Real Madrid  2–0  Fiorentina
Di Stéfano   69' (pen.)
Gento   75'
Report
Attendance: 124,000[4]

Top scorers edit

The top scorers from the 1956–57 European Cup (including preliminary round) were as follows:[5][6]

Rank Name Team Goals
1   Dennis Viollet   Manchester United 9
2   Tommy Taylor   Manchester United 8
3     Alfredo Di Stéfano   Real Madrid 7
4   Alfred Preissler   Borussia Dortmund 6
5   José Luis Artetxe   Athletic Bilbao 5
  Jacques Foix   Nice
  Bora Kostić   Red Star Belgrade
8   Jacques Faivre   Nice 4
9   Marc Boreux   Spora Luxembourg 3
  Ernst Happel   Rapid Wien
  Joseíto   Real Madrid
  Alfred Kelbassa   Borussia Dortmund
  Enrique Mateos   Real Madrid
  Armando Merodio   Athletic Bilbao
  Panayot Panayotov   CDNA Sofia
  Ivan Kolev   CDNA Sofia
  Billy Whelan   Manchester United

Notes edit

  1. ^ It is assumed this match was played in Munich as a result of Swiss protests regarding the outcome of the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 which also led to them boycotting the 1956 Olympic Games.[3]
  2. ^ Played at Heysel Stadium, Brussels due to Hungarian Revolution of 1956.

References edit

  1. ^ Woodward, Hamish (2021-06-20). "Why are Manchester United Called the Red Devils?". Atletifo Sports. Retrieved 2021-06-21.
  2. ^ Corriere dello Sport, June 30, 1956.
  3. ^ Melbourne/Stockholm 1956 (All facts) Olympic.org
  4. ^ "Real Madrid vs. Fiorentina" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  5. ^ 1956/57 European Champion Clubs' Cup - Tournament phase - Goals scored
  6. ^ 1956/57 European Champion Clubs' Cup - Qualifying phase - Goals scored

External links edit