1955–56 European Cup

The 1955–56 European Cup was the first season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. It was won by Real Madrid, who defeated Reims 4–3 in the final at Parc des Princes, Paris, on 13 June 1956.

1955–56 European Cup
The Parc des Princes in Paris hosted the final.
Tournament details
Dates4 September 1955 – 13 June 1956
Teams16 (from 16 associations)
Final positions
ChampionsSpain Real Madrid (1st title)
Runners-upFrance Reims
Tournament statistics
Matches played29
Goals scored127 (4.38 per match)
Attendance900,021 (31,035 per match)
Top scorer(s)Miloš Milutinović (Partizan)
8 goals

UEFA officially inaugurated on 15 June 1954 in Basel, Switzerland after consultation between the Italian, French, and Belgian associations.[1] However, clubs participating in the first season of the European Cup were selected by French football magazine L'Equipe on the basis that they were representative and prestigious clubs in Europe.[2] When the tournament started, Real Madrid, Anderlecht, AC Milan, Rot-Weiss Essen, Reims, Djurgården and AGF were the reigning champions of their respective national leagues. English champions Chelsea initially agreed to compete and were drawn against Swedish side Djurgården; however, under pressure from the Football League, who saw the tournament as a distraction to domestic football, they later withdrew from the competition,[3][4] and were replaced by Gwardia Warsaw of Poland. Scottish champions Aberdeen withdrew under similar circumstances, Hibernian were chosen instead. They were considered one of the best teams in Scotland, having won the Scottish title in 1950–51 and 1951–52, but the main reason they were invited was because they were the only team in the country to install floodlights on their grounds. Dynamo Moscow, the champions of the Soviet Union, did not participate due to climatic restrictions. In addition, Holland Sport, Honvéd and AB rejected the opportunity to represent the Netherlands, Hungary and Denmark respectively, being replaced by PSV Eindhoven, Vörös Lobogó and AGF[clarification needed]. This was also the only UEFA tournament to include a representative of Saarland, unified into West Germany in 1957.

The first round pairings were fixed by the organisers and not drawn as would be the case for all future European Cup matches.

Teams

edit

A total of 16 teams participated in the competition.

  Rapid Wien (3rd)   Anderlecht (1st)   AGF (1st)   Reims (1st)
  Vörös Lobogó (2nd)   Milan (1st)   PSV Eindhoven (3rd)   Gwardia Warsaw (4th)
  Sporting CP (3rd)   Saarbrücken (3rd)   Hibernian (5th)   Real Madrid (1st)
  Djurgården (1st)   Servette (6th)   Rot-Weiss Essen (1st)   Partizan (5th)

Bracket

edit
First round Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
              
  Servette 0 0 0
  Real Madrid 2 5 7
  Real Madrid 4 0 4
  Partizan 0 3 3
  Sporting CP 3 2 5
  Partizan 3 5 8
  Real Madrid 4 1 5
  Milan 2 2 4
  Rapid Wien 6 0 6
  PSV Eindhoven 1 1 2
  Rapid Wien 1 2 3
  Milan 1 7 8
  Milan 3 4 7
  Saarbrücken 4 1 5
  Real Madrid 4
  Reims 3
  AGF 0 2 2
  Reims 2 2 4
  Reims 4 4 8
  Vörös Lobogó 2 4 6
  Vörös Lobogó 6 4 10
  Anderlecht 3 1 4
  Reims 2 1 3
  Hibernian 0 0 0
  Djurgården 0 4 4
  Gwardia Warsaw 0 1 1
  Djurgården 1 0 1
  Hibernian 3 1 4
  Rot-Weiss Essen 0 1 1
  Hibernian 4 1 5

First round

edit
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Sporting CP   5–8   Partizan 3–3 2–5
Vörös Lobogó   10–4   Anderlecht 6–3 4–1
Servette   0–7   Real Madrid 0–2 0–5
Rot-Weiss Essen   1–5   Hibernian 0–4 1–1
Djurgården   4–1   Gwardia Warsaw 0–0 4–1
AGF   2–4   Reims 0–2 2–2
Rapid Wien   6–2   PSV Eindhoven 6–1 0–1
Milan   7–5   Saarbrücken 3–4 4–1

First leg

edit
Sporting CP  3–3  Partizan
Martins   14', 78'
Quim   65'
Report M. Milutinović   45', 50'
Bobek   73'
Attendance: 30,000
Referee: Dean Harzic (France)

Vörös Lobogó  6–3  Anderlecht
I. Szimcsák   8'
Palotás   25', 59', 80'
Hidegkuti   28'
Sándor   83'
Report Vanderwilt   7'
Van den Bosch   39', 79'
Attendance: 35,000

Servette  0–2  Real Madrid
Report Muñoz   74'
Rial   89'
Attendance: 7,000

Rot-Weiss Essen  0–4  Hibernian
Report Turnbull   35', 53'
L. Reilly   44'
Ormond   81'

Djurgården  0–0  Gwardia Warsaw
Report

Rapid Wien  6–1  PSV Eindhoven
A. Körner   12', 62', 82'
Mehsarosch   55'
Hanappi   56'
Probst   60'
Report Fransen   18'
Attendance: 10,000

AGF  0–2  Reims
Report Glovacki   7', 72'
Attendance: 18,000

Milan  3–4  Saarbrücken
Frignani   15'
Schiaffino   33'
Dal Monte   37'
Report Krieger   5'
Philippi   43'
Schirra   67'
Martin   69'
Attendance: 18,000

Second leg

edit
Partizan  5–2  Sporting CP
M. Milutinović   15', 29', 64', 74'
Jocić   88'
Report Brandão   49', 77'
Attendance: 15,000

Partizan won 8–5 on aggregate.


Real Madrid  5–0  Servette
Di Stéfano   29', 61'
Joseíto   44'
Rial   46'
Molowny   54'
Report
Attendance: 40,318

Real Madrid won 7–0 on aggregate.


Gwardia Warsaw  1–4  Djurgården
Baszkiewicz   14' Report Eriksson   5', 17', 22'
Sandberg   29'
Attendance: 25,000
Referee: Dean Harzic (France)

Djurgården won 4–1 on aggregate.


Hibernian  1–1  Rot-Weiss Essen
Buchanan   5' Report Abromeit   47'
Attendance: 30,000

Hibernian won 5–1 on aggregate.


Anderlecht  1–4  Vörös Lobogó
Van den Bosch   38' Report Hidegkuti   25'
Lantos   78'
Palotás   85'
Kovács I   86'

Vörös Lobogó won 10–4 on aggregate.


Reims  2–2  AGF
Glovacki   47'
Bliard   60'
Report Erik Bechmann Jensen   77'
Bjerregaard   83'
Attendance: 5,845
Referee: Alfred Bond (England)

Reims won 4–2 on aggregate.


PSV Eindhoven  1–0  Rapid Wien
Fransen   9' Report
Attendance: 8,000

Rapid Wien won 6–2 on aggregate.


Saarbrücken  1–4  Milan
Binkert   32' Report Valli   8', 77'
Puff   75' (o.g.)
Beraldo   86'
Attendance: 15,000

Milan won 7–5 on aggregate.

Quarter-finals

edit
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Djurgården   1–4   Hibernian 1–3 0–1
Reims   8–6   Vörös Lobogó 4–2 4–4
Real Madrid   4–3   Partizan 4–0 0–3
Rapid Wien   3–8   Milan 1–1 2–7

First leg

edit
Djurgården  1–3  Hibernian
Eklund   1' Report Combe   18'
L. Reilly   49'
Olsson   86' (o.g.)
Attendance: 21,962

Reims  4–2  Vörös Lobogó
Glovacki   14'
Leblond   33', 57'
Bliard   42'
Report Szolnok   34'
Lantos   77' (pen.)
Attendance: 36,088

Real Madrid  4–0  Partizan
Castaño   12', 23'
Gento   36'
Di Stéfano   70'
Report
Attendance: 105,532
Referee: Dean Harzic (France)

Rapid Wien  1–1  Milan
R. Körner   26' (pen.) Report Nordahl   20'
Attendance: 18,000

Note – differences in information: RSSSF website indicates that the goal scored on 26th minute was scored by Robert Körner, while UEFA website indicates that it was scored by his younger brother Alfred Körner.

Second leg

edit
Hibernian  1–0  Djurgården
Turnbull   70' (pen.) Report
Attendance: 31,346

Hibernian won 4–1 on aggregate.


Vörös Lobogó  4–4  Reims
Lantos   11' (pen.), 74' (pen.)
Palotás   53', 82'
Report Glovacki   6'
Bliard   20', 44'
Templin   52'
Attendance: 35,000

Reims won 8–6 on aggregate.


Partizan  3–0  Real Madrid
Milutinović   24', 87'
Mihajlović   46'
Report
Attendance: 40,000
Referee: Josef Gulde (Switzerland)

Real Madrid won 4–3 on aggregate.


Milan  7–2  Rapid Wien
Mariani   15'
Nordahl   23', 50'
Ricagni   26', 63'
Frignani   56'
Schiaffino   75'
Report Golobic   35'
Dienst   59'
Attendance: 35,000

Milan won 8–3 on aggregate.

Semi-finals

edit
Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Reims   3–0   Hibernian 2–0 1–0
Real Madrid   5–4   Milan 4–2 1–2

First leg

edit
Reims  2–0  Hibernian
Leblond   67'
Bliard   89'
Report
Attendance: 35,486

Real Madrid  4–2  Milan
Rial   6'
Joseíto   25'
Olsen   40'
Di Stéfano   62'
Report Nordahl   9'
Schiaffino   30'
Attendance: 129,690
Referee: Dean Harzic (France)

Second leg

edit
Hibernian  0–1  Reims
Report Glovacki   57'
Attendance: 44,941

Reims won 3–0 on aggregate.


Milan  2–1  Real Madrid
Dal Monte   69' (pen.), 86' (pen.) Report Joseíto   65'
Attendance: 30,000

Real Madrid won 5–4 on aggregate.

Final

edit
Real Madrid  4–3  Reims
Di Stéfano   14'
Rial   30', 79'
Marquitos   67'
Report Leblond   6'
Templin   10'
Hidalgo   62'
Attendance: 38,239

Top goalscorers

edit
Rank Name Club Goals
1   Miloš Milutinović   Partizan 8
2   Léon Glovacki   Reims 6
  Péter Palotás   Vörös Lobogó
4   René Bliard   Reims 5
  Alfredo Di Stéfano   Real Madrid
  Héctor Rial   Real Madrid
7   Mihály Lantos   Vörös Lobogó 4
  Michel Leblond   Reims
  Gunnar Nordahl   Milan
10   Hippolyte Van den Bosch   Anderlecht 3
  Giorgio Dal Monte   Milan
  John Eriksson   Djurgården
  Joseíto   Real Madrid
  Alfred Körner   Rapid Wien
  Juan Alberto Schiaffino   Milan
  Eddie Turnbull   Hibernian

Notes

edit
  1. ^ "60 years at the heart of football" (PDF). UEFA. 18 May 2020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 7 February 2019. Retrieved 18 May 2020.
  2. ^ L'Équipe
  3. ^ Glanvill, Rick (2005). Chelsea FC: The Official Biography. London: Headline. p. 254. ISBN 0755314654.
  4. ^ Ferris, Ken (2004). Manchester United in Europe: Tragedy, Destiny, History. Edinburgh: Mainstream Publishing. p. 34. ISBN 1840188979.
  5. ^ Match switched to Glasgow due to a frozen pitch in Sweden ("Hibernian reach the first European Cup semi-finals 1956". A Sporting Nation: Rock 'n' Roll Era 1950–1959. BBC. November 2005. Retrieved 18 April 2010.)
edit