1961 European Cup final

Template:Use dmy dates Template:Short descriptionTemplate:Template other The 1961 European Cup final was held at the Wankdorf Stadium, Bern on 31 May 1961, and was contested by Portuguese side Benfica against Spanish side Barcelona. This was the first final not to include Real Madrid, who had won the previous five finals. Benfica lifted the trophy for the first time, beating Barcelona 3–2.

Benfica midfielder Mario Coluna broke his nose in the eighth minute of the match; not wanting to risk further damage, when Domiciano Cavém put over a cross in the 55th minute, Coluna hung back outside the penalty area. The ball was cleared directly to him and he volleyed it home for Benfica's third goal of the match.

Route to the final

Five-time defending champions Real Madrid were knocked out in the first round by Barcelona, their bitter domestic rivals. After defeating Czechoslovak champions Hradec Králové in the quarter-finals, Barcelona initially drew 2–2 on aggregate with West German champions Hamburger SV in the semi-finals. Since this was before UEFA competitions began using the away goals rule, in order to determine who would advance to the final, a replay was scheduled to be played at a neutral site on 3 May. Barça would qualify for the final by winning the replay 1–0 at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, with Evaristo scoring the decisive goal.

Meanwhile, Benfica reached the final of the competition by eliminating Austrian champions Rapid Wien in a 4–1 semi-final aggregate win. This marked the first time that a team from Portugal had ever progressed this far into the competition.

Template:Fbaicon Benfica				Round	Template:Fbaicon Barcelona
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg		Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
Template:Fbaicon Heart of Midlothian	5–1	2–1 (A)	3–0 (H)	Prelim. round	Template:Fbaicon Lierse	5–0	2–0 (H)	3–0 (A)
Template:Fbaicon Újpesti Dózsa	7–4	6–2 (H)	1–2 (A)	First round	Template:Fbaicon Real Madrid	4–3	2–2 (A)	2–1 (H)
Template:Fbaicon AGF Aarhus	7–2	3–1 (H)	4–1 (A)	Quarter-finals	Template:Fbaicon Spartak Hradec Králové	5–1	4–0 (H)	1–1 (A)
Template:Fbaicon Rapid Wien	4–1	3–0 (H)	1–1 (A)	Semi-finals	Template:Fbaicon Hamburger SV	2–2 (Replay: 1–0)	1–0 (H)	1–2 (A)

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 Benfica Template:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warningTemplate: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 Barcelona Template:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warningTemplate:Preview warning

GK 1 Template:Flagicon Costa Pereira RB 2 Template:Flagicon Mário João CB 3 Template:Flagicon Germano LB 4 Template:Flagicon Ângelo Martins RH 5 Template:Flagicon José Neto LH 6 Template:Flagicon Fernando Cruz OR 7 Template:Flagicon José Augusto IR 8 Template:Flagicon Santana CF 9 Template:Flagicon José Águas (c) IL 10 Template:Flagicon Mário Coluna OL 11 Template:Flagicon Domiciano Cavém Manager: Template:Flagicon Béla Guttmann

File:Benfica-FC Barcelona 1961-05-31.svg

GK 1 Template:Flagicon Antoni Ramallets (c) RB 2 Template:Flagicon Foncho CB 3 Template:Flagicon Enric Gensana LB 4 Template:Flagicon Sígfrid Gràcia RH 5 Template:Flagicon Martí Vergés LH 6 Template:Flagicon Jesús Garay OR 7 Template:FlagiconTemplate:Efn László Kubala IR 8 Template:Flagicon Sándor Kocsis CF 9 Template:Flagicon Evaristo IL 10 Template:Flagicon Luis Suárez OL 11 Template:Flagicon Zoltán Czibor Manager: Template:Flagicon Enrique Orizaola

See also

• 1960–61 European Cup
• FC Barcelona in international football
• S.L. Benfica in international football

External links

• 1960–61 season at the UEFA website