1956 European Cup final

Template:Short description The 1956 European Cup final was the inaugural final in the pan-European football competition, now known as the UEFA Champions League, to determine the winners of the 1955–56 European Cup. It was contested by Real Madrid of Spain and Stade de Reims of France, and played at the Parc des Princes in Paris on 13 June 1956 in front of 38,000 people. Real Madrid reached the final by beating Italian side AC Milan 5–4 on aggregate, whereas Reims beat Scottish club Hibernian 3–0 on aggregate. The match finished 4–3 to Real Madrid, who went on to record an unrivalled five consecutive European Cup titles. The match started brightly for Reims, with Michel Leblond and Jean Templin scoring to make it 2–0 inside 10 minutes, but by half-time, Madrid had levelled the scores through goals from Alfredo Di Stéfano and Héctor Rial. Reims took the lead again on 62 minutes through Michel Hidalgo, but when Marquitos and Rial scored in the 67th and 79th minutes respectively, Reims could no longer respond, winning Madrid the first ever European Cup/Champions League title, the first of five consecutive titles that they won.

Route to the final

Real Madrid				Round	Reims
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg		Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
Template:Fbaicon Servette	7–0	2–0 (A)	5–0 (H)	First round	Template:Fbaicon AGF Aarhus	4–2	2–0 (A)	2–2 (H)
Template:Fbaicon Partizan	4–3	4–0 (H)	0–3 (A)	Quarter-finals	Template:Fbaicon Vörös Lobogó	8–6	4–2 (H)	4–4 (A)
Template:Fbaicon Milan	5–4	4–2 (H)	1–2 (A)	Semi-finals	Template:Fbaicon Hibernian	3–0	2–0 (H)	1–0 (A)

Real Madrid

Real Madrid entered the European Cup competition as the title winners of the 1954–55 La Liga. In the opening round, they were drawn against Swiss champions Servette. After they secured a 2–0 victory away from home in the first leg, they secured a 5–0 victory at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium with Alfredo Di Stéfano scoring two goals in the victory. In the quarter-finals they were drawn against Yugoslavian side FK Partizan who had finished fifth in the previous season. In the opening leg at home, Heliodoro Castaño Pedrosa scored two goals as fellow goals from Francisco Gento and Alfredo Di Stéfano gave Real Madrid a four goal lead heading into the away leg in Belgrade. Partizan won second leg 3–0, but that was not enough to advance to the semi-finals. There, Real Madrid won the first home leg against AC Milan and with two-goal lead could afford a second leg 2–1 defeat at the San Siro.

Stade de Reims

Reims entered the European Cup competition as the title winners of the 1954–55 French Division 1. In the opening round, they were drawn against Danish champions AGF Aarhus. In the first away leg they secured a 2–0 victory thanks to a brace from Léon Glovacki, before a 2–2 draw at the Stade Auguste-Delaune. In the quarter-finals they were drawn against Hungarian side Vörös Lobogó who had finished 2nd in the previous season. In the opening leg at home, Michel Leblond scored two goals as fellow goals from Léon Glovacki and René Bliard gave Reims a two-goal lead heading into the away leg at Budapest. There, a tight match ensured a 4–4 draw, which saw Reims advance to the semi-finals, where they defeated Scottish Hibernian in both legs, reaching final undefeated.

Match

Details

File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg Real Madrid Template:Preview warning

File:Kit left arm.svg File:Kit body.svg File:Kit right arm.svg File:Kit shorts.svg File:Kit socks long.svg Reims Template:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warning

GK 1 Template:Flagicon Juan Alonso RB 2 Template:Flagicon Ángel Atienza LB 3 Template:Flagicon Rafael Lesmes RH 4 Template:Flagicon Miguel Muñoz (c) CH 5 Template:Flagicon Marquitos LH 6 Template:Flagicon José María Zárraga OR 7 Template:Flagicon Joseíto IR 8 Template:Flagicon Ramón Marsal CF 9 Template:FlagiconTemplate:Efn Alfredo Di Stéfano IL 10 Template:Flagicon Héctor Rial OL 11 Template:Flagicon Paco Gento Manager: Template:Flagicon José Villalonga

File:Real Madrid-Stade de Reims 1956-06-13.svg

GK 1 Template:Flagicon René-Jean Jacquet RB 2 Template:Flagicon Simon Zimny LB 3 Template:Flagicon Raoul Giraudo RH 4 Template:Flagicon Michel Leblond CH 5 Template:Flagicon Robert Jonquet (c) LH 6 Template:Flagicon Robert Siatka OR 7 Template:Flagicon Michel Hidalgo IR 8 Template:Flagicon Léon Glowacki CF 9 Template:Flagicon Raymond Kopa IL 10 Template:Flagicon René Bliard OL 11 Template:Flagicon Jean Templin Manager: Template:Flagicon Albert Batteux

Assistant referees: J. Parkinson (England) Tommy Cooper (England)

See also

• 1955–56 European Cup
• 1959 European Cup final – contested between same teams
• Real Madrid CF in international football competitions

External links

• European Cup 1955/56 from UEFA
• European Cup 1955/56 from RSSSF