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GALLERY '60 / 1960 Decade / 1960 European cup final tickets
1960
European Cup Final (Glasgow)
Real Madrid 7 Eintracht Frankfurt
3
Real Madrid: Dominguez, Marquitos, Santamaria, Pachin, Zarraga (capt), Vidal,
Canario, Del Sol, Di Stefano, Puskas, Gento
Scorers: Puskas 4, Di
Stefano 3
Eintracht
Frankfurt: Loy, Lutz, Eigenbrodt, Hofer, Weilbacher, Stinka, Kress, Lindner,
Stein, Pfaff (capt), Meier
Scorers: Stein 2, Kress
The
1959/60 European Cup tournament was possibly the greatest in the
competitions history and emerged with possibly the greatest ever team
as winners. Everything was set for a classic set of games right from
the start as some of the biggest names in European football vied to
take away Real Madrid’s crown. Real were still there of course, but
they were now even stronger than ever before. Kopa had left to return
to Reims, but Di Stefano, Gento and Puskas remained and were now
joined by the industrious Luis del Sol who had been signed from Real
Betis, and the pacy Brazilian winger Canario. The cup holders were
joined in the competition by the newly crowned Spanish champions,
Barcelona. Barcelona were tired of living in the shadow of their
bitter rivals and were determined to wrench the European title away
from Madrid’s grasp. Under the presidency of Don Francisco
Miro-Sans, coach Helenio Herrera had put together a group of players
that could match that of Real. The forward line included the fans
favourite, the incredibly strong and technically proficient, Ladislav
Kubala, along with his fellow Hungarians Sandor Kocsis and Zoltan
Czibor and possibly the best Spanish attacker at that time, Luis
Suarez – not to mention the brilliant South Americans Evaristo and
Villaverde. Behind them were the likes of captain Segarra and Spain’s
undisputed number one goalkeeper Ramallets. Having beaten Real Madrid
to the Spanish title, they now had their eyes on being the first side
to knock them out of the European Cup.
Having put six goals
past CDNA Sofia in the home leg of their Qualifying Round tie,
Barcelona further established themselves as potential winners when
they came up against AC Milan in the First Round. Having been
finalists and almost winners just two seasons ago, Milan were
expected to be a serious test of Barcelona’s European credentials,
but they were swept aside by an imperious Barcelona side which,
having come away from the San Siro with an impressive 2-0 advantage,
had proceeded to take the Italians apart in the home leg, winning
5-1.
Elsewhere in the First Round, Wolverhampton Wanderers
suggested that they might make more of an impact second time around
as they beat Red Star Belgrade 4-1 on aggregate. Rangers, who had the
added incentive of the Final being played in their home town of
Glasgow, knocked out Red Star Bratislava, Real Madrid thumped
Jeunesse Esch of Luxembourg 12-2, while the previous years
semi-finalists Young Boys Berne were beaten by German champions
Eintracht Frankfurt after a 4-1 win for the Germans in
Switzerland.
Once more, in the Quarter-Finals, Barcelona
appeared to get one of the toughest draws possible - this time they
were up against Wolves. Yet again, however, Barcelona brushed their
opponents aside as they followed a 4-0 home win with a 5-2 victory in
England to complete a humiliating 9-2 winning margin over the English
champions. The game in Wolverhampton was notable for the performance
of the Hungarian Sandor Kocsis. Having already scored twice, Kocsis
fell just before half-time and dislocated his left shoulder. As a
result, he fainted during the interval and required a pain killing
injection before he could return to the field of play. Despite this,
he proceeded to score twice more as Barcelona stormed through to the
semi-finals. As the team waited at Birmingham Airport on their way
back home, Herrera lectured the local journalists. ‘You in England
are playing now in the style we continentals used many years ago with
much physical strength, but no method, no technique.’
In the
other Quarter-Final ties, Real came back from losing 3-2 in Nice to
beat the Frenchmen 4-0 in Madrid, Eintracht Frankfurt overcame Wiener
SK and Rangers squeezed past Sparta Rotterdam after a replay in front
of over 34,000 at Highbury in what was the first ever European Cup
tie to be played in London.
Few would have complained if the
two Spanish giants had been kept apart until the final, but it was
not to be as Real Madrid and Barcelona were drawn to play each other
in the semi-finals. There seemed to be so little to choose between
the two sides both in Europe and at home. Just two days before they
met in the semi-final, the last round of games was completed in the
Spanish Championship with the two teams locked together on points and
goal difference – only goals scored could separate them and see
Barcelona crowned champions for the second consecutive season. In
their last league meeting, the Catalan side had come out on top, but
the European Cup was different. This was the tournament that Real had
made their own and you could be sure that the last team they wanted
to finally end their reign was Barcelona.
Before the first leg
in Madrid, Barcelona’s coach Herrera caused controversy by becoming
involved in a bonus-payment claim by his players that resulted in him
dropping both Kubala and Czibor. This upset many of the fans and the
powers that be inside the club and would rebound on Herrera later.
Barcelona may well have been the Kings of Spain, but they were taught
a European lesson by the undisputed rulers of the continent when
Real, under the guidance of new manager Miguel Munoz, earned a 3-1
win at the Bernabeu, although Barcelona were unfortunate to have two
goals disallowed. The second leg, however, emphasised Real’s
superiority in European football as they took a 3-0 lead through two
Puskas goals and another from Gento, with Barcelona only able to
score a late consolation goal from Kocsis. The pretenders had been
well and truly swept aside, while Real marched on after an emphatic
6-2 win on aggregate. It was all too much for Barcelona as Herrera
was immediately sacked. For Real it was final number five.
The
other semi-final suggested that there might be someone who could
finally defeat the mighty Real Madrid. Having avoided the two Spanish
favourites, Glasgow Rangers had high hopes of reaching the final at
nearby Hampden Park – Eintracht were, after all, the first German
team to reach the semi-finals and their players were only part-timers
- but any hopes that the Scots had were soon dashed. The game in
Germany, before 80,000 fans, began brightly with Eintracht taking an
early lead despite having already missed a penalty. Rangers replied
immediately and scored from the penalty spot. With the scores level
at half-time there was all to play for, but in the second half there
was only one team in it as the Germans scored a further five goals to
run out 6-1 winners. If the Scots had thought that the return game
would be easier, they were soon to be disappointed as Lindner gave
Eintracht an 8th minute lead on the way to another crushing victory,
this time by 6-3 – despite several fine saves by Niven in the
Rangers goal - to complete a 12-3 aggregate win. The Ibrox crowd, in
awe of Eintracht’s speed and movement, had never seen football like
it and proceeded to applaud the Germans off at the end. Suddenly it
seemed that Eintracht Frankfurt could be the team to de-throne Real
Madrid.
While Real had drawn players from throughout the
world, Eintracht were very much a German team. The stars of their run
to the Final had been the fine schemer Alfred Pfaff at inside left,
who had scored four goals against Rangers in the semi-final, and
dynamic winger Richard Kress. Also in attack were Erwin Stein, a
dangerous but unpredictable young centre-forward, and Lindner who had
already scored six times during their European campaign.
Unfortunately for them, Eintracht would prove to be some way short of
being capable of beating the great Real Madrid, but they did have the
consolation of being involved in what many observers have described
as the greatest game of all time.
On a warm, windswept night
in Glasgow, May 18th 1960 was a date for records to be broken. The
Hampden Park attendance of 127,621 is still the biggest for a
European Cup Final, the gate receipts of £55,000 were then a British
record, there were an estimated 70 million television viewers around
Europe, and they were about to see the highest scoring European Cup
Final ever.
Before kick-off, Ferenc Puskas, about to play in
his first ever European final summed up the way that Real played.
‘Every man in our team is an attacker and we have the quality so
many British sides envy. That is to be able to pull something out of
the bag when things are not going well. Many people thought we were
tired and would not win our semi-final against Barcelona but my quick
goal gave us an advantage. Indeed it is our policy to go for an early
lead in every game.’ And so it was that the game did begin with an
early goal, but it was not the Spaniards who scored it. While Real
began slowly and possibly with a little over confidence, the Germans
began the game with verve and enthusiasm and immediately took the
game to their more illustrious opponents. Indeed, in the very first
minute, a Meier cross shot almost beat Dominguez in the Madrid goal,
who only just touched the ball onto the bar and safety. Kress and
Pfaff also tested the goalkeeper early on and it was no surprise when
Eintracht took a deserved lead on 18 minutes when Kress volleyed a
low cross into the net. With Real playing well below their best it
appeared that a shock might be on the cards, but that was when Di
Stefano took control of the game and Real produced a display that no
team, and certainly not Eintracht, could have coped with. Almost
immediately after the opening goal, a header from Puskas put Gento
clear of the German defence and his shot clipped the outside of the
post. Moments later, with his first foray into the Frankfurt penalty
area, Di Stefano was found by Canario’s pass and swept the ball
past goalkeeper Loy to maintain his incredible record of scoring in
every European Cup Final. Two minutes later, Loy fumbled a Canario
shot, and Di Stefano, even in his mid thirties, was quickest to react
as he slammed the ball into the net and gave Real the lead. Di
Stefano was now running the game, popping up in every area of the
pitch and weaving patterns that simply mesmerised the opposition.
With the speed and control of Gento and Canario and the technical
perfection of Puskas in attack, the white shirts of Real swarmed
around the Eintracht goal and it was clear that the German defence
could survive no longer. Ferenc Puskas now showed his finishing power
as he scored four goals without reply to put Real out of sight. The
Hungarian made it 3-1 on the stroke of half-time when he crashed the
ball into the roof of the net from the tightest of angles, added a
penalty after 56 minutes following a foul by Lutz, and then scored
another two, courtesy of a close range header and an 18 yard pivot
shot, to give Real a 6-1 lead with twenty minutes remaining. Stein
managed to pull a goal back for the Germans, but Di Stefano hit back
almost immediately. Picking the ball up in the centre circle, he
brushed aside one opponent and then played a one-two with a team-mate
to get past two defenders. Darting right towards the penalty area, Di
Stefano could not be caught as he unleashed a powerful shot from the
edge of the area which saw the ball fly into the bottom left hand
corner of the goal, giving the goalkeeper no chance whatsoever. Di
Stefano had the hat-trick that he deserved.
Stein did manage
to score yet again for the Germans who battled on until the final
whistle, but they had been well and truly outclassed and, as the
final whistle blew, the Hampden crowd cheered and applauded Real
Madrid whose 7-3 victory had left them simply awestruck. No-one in
that Scottish crowd had ever seen anything like it and the names of
Gento, Canario, Puskas and, most of all, Di Stefano, would live in
their memories for ever. Every spectator stayed to see the cup lifted
by Zarraga and paraded around the ground as their 45 minute ovation
showed their appreciation for what was possibly the finest display of
football ever produced by one team. At the end, the Real players,
with goalkeeper Dominguez carrying the cup, did a lap of honour
around the Hampden track to a continuous roar that has seldom, if
ever, been heard at a neutral venue. Real Madrid were the undisputed
kings of Europe with, it seemed, no team able to come even close to
their level of skill and artistry. They had now won the first five
European titles, but rather than closing the gap, the rest of Europe
now seemed to be further behind them than ever before. Real Madrid
were, it seemed, in a league of their own.