The 1958–59 European Cup was the fourth season of the

European Cup The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by top-division European clubs. The competition begins with a round robi ...

, Europe's premier club

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

tournament. The competition was won by

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

, who beat

Reims Reims ( ; ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French Departments of France, department of Marne (department), Marne, and the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, 12th most populous city in Fran ...

2–0 in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

Neckarstadion Neckarstadion, officially known as MHPArena for sponsorship reasons, is a stadium located in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, and home to Bundesliga club VfB Stuttgart. It hosted football matches in the 1974 FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Eur ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, on 3 June 1959. This was Real Madrid's fourth European Cup title in a row. The two finalists also competed in the

of the first European Cup in 1956. It was the first time that a team from Finland participated, while Turkey's representative returned to the competition in the presence of

Beşiktaş Beşiktaş () is a district and municipality of Istanbul Province, Turkey. Its area is 18 km2 and its population is 175,190 (2022). It is located on the European shore of the Bosphorus strait. It is bordered on the north by Sarıyer and ...

. They were drawn against

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

, but Greece's first entrants withdrew for political reasons before playing their first tie. Also,

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

were invited to the competition following

Munich air disaster The Munich air disaster occurred on 6 February 1958, when British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to take off at Munich-Riem Airport in Munich, West Germany. The aircraft was carrying the Manchester United F.C., Manche ...

in the previous season, but were not allowed to participate by the

Football League The English Football League (EFL) is a league of professional association football, football clubs from England and Wales. Founded in 1888 as the Football League, it is the oldest football league in Association football around the world, the w ...

, meaning that first

walkover John Baxter Taylor and William Robbins (athlete)">William Robbins to refuse to race in protest. A walkover, also W.O. or w/o (originally two words: "walk over"), is awarded to the opposing team/player, etc., if there are no other players avail ...

s took place in the UEFA organised competition. Had they played, England would be first nation in European Cup history to have more than one team in the competition, apart from title holder's association. On road to winning the competition Real Madrid faced

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

in the semi-finals – the first time a derby match was played in the competition.

Teams

A total of 28 teams were placed in the competition bracket, but finally only 26 participated. Spain continued to be represented by its runners-up, as its champions Real Madrid had already qualified as holders. This was the first time that

Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid (), commonly known as Rapid Wien or Rapid Vienna in English, is an Austrian professional football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the f ...

and AGF Aarhus failed to qualify for the tournament, which made Real Madrid the only club to appear in all four editions of European Cup.

Wiener Sport-Club The Wiener Sport-Club, sometimes abbreviated as WSC, was established in 1883 in Vienna, Austria and is one of the country's oldest athletics clubs. Their traditional home is in the Dornbach quarter of the city ( 17th district). History At vari ...

Standard Liège Royal Standard de Liège, commonly referred to as Standard Liège ( ; ; ) or simply Standard in Belgium, is a Belgian professional football club based in the city of Liège. They are one of the most successful clubs in Belgium, having won t ...

Kjøbenhavns Boldklub Kjøbenhavns Boldklub (known simply as KB) was a Danish professional multi-sports club based in Copenhagen. The club was founded on 26 April 1876 on the grassy fields in outer Copenhagen which later became Fælledparken. Tennis has been played s ...

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club ( ), commonly referred to as Wolves, is a professional association football, football club based in Wolverhampton, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league s ...

, Helsingin Palloseura,

Schalke 04 Fußballclub Gelsenkirchen-Schalke 04 e. V., commonly known as Schalke 04 (), and abbreviated as S04 (), is a professional sports club from the Schalke district of Gelsenkirchen, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its football team, w ...

, Drumcondra,

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

Jeunesse Esch Jeunesse Esch (full name ''Association Sportive la Jeunesse d'Esch/Alzette'') is a professional football club based in Esch-sur-Alzette, in south-western Luxembourg. The side play in the National Division, the highest league in the country, and ...

VV DOS DOS Holland Stichtse Boys Combinatie, commonly known as DHSC, was a Dutch association football club based in the Ondiep district of Utrecht. The team last competed in the Vierde Divisie, the fifth tier of the Dutch football league system, and ...

Ards Ards (or ARDS, ARDs) may refer to: Medical * ARDS, Acute respiratory distress syndrome * ARDs, age-related diseases Places * Ards Peninsula, Northern Ireland ** Ards (territory), several historical territorial divisions on the Ards Peninsula ...

Polonia Bytom Polonia Bytom () is a Polish football club based in Bytom. Founded in 1920, the team won two List of Polish football champions, championships, in 1954 Ekstraklasa, 1954 and 1962 Ekstraklasa, 1962. As of the 2025–26 I liga, 2025–26 season, th ...

, Petrolul Ploiești, Heart of Midlothian, Atlético Madrid,

IFK Göteborg Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Göteborg (officially IFK Göteborg Fotboll), commonly known as IFK Göteborg, IFK (especially locally) or Blåvitt, is a Swedish professional Football team, football club based in Gothenburg. Founded in 1904, it ...

, Beşiktaş and

NK Dinamo Zagreb Građanski nogometni klub Dinamo Zagreb (), commonly referred to as simply Dinamo Zagreb (), is a Croatian professional football club based in Zagreb. Dinamo play their home matches at Stadion Maksimir. They are the most successful club in Cr ...

made their debut in the competition. All entrants were their respective associations champions, except for KB, Manchester United, Polonia Bytom and Atlético Madrid.

Preliminary round

The draw for the preliminary round took place in

Cannes Cannes (, ; , ; ) is a city located on the French Riviera. It is a communes of France, commune located in the Alpes-Maritimes departments of France, department, and host city of the annual Cannes Film Festival, Midem, and Cannes Lions Internatio ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, on Wednesday, 2 July 1958.'' Corriere dello Sport'', 3 July 1958. As title holders, Real Madrid received a bye, and the remaining 27 teams were grouped geographically into three pots. The first drawn team in each pot also received bye, while the remaining clubs would play the preliminary round in August, September and October. The calendar was decided by the involved teams, with all matches to be played by 30 September.

First leg

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Second leg

''Standard Liège won 6–3 on aggregate.'' ---- ''KB 5–5 Schalke 04 on aggregate;

play-off The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eith ...

needed.'' ---- ''Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt 4–4 Petrolul Ploiești on aggregate;

needed.'' ---- ''Jeunesse Esch 2–2 IFK Göteborg on aggregate;

needed.'' ---- ''Atlético Madrid won 13–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Wiener Sport-Club won 8–3 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Dukla Prague won 4–3 on aggregate.'' ---- ''MTK won 6–0 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Reims won 10–3 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Sporting CP won 6–4 on aggregate.''

Play-off

''Schalke 04 won play-off 3–1.'' ---- ''Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt won play-off 4–0.'' ---- ''IFK Göteborg won play-off 5–1.''

Bracket

First round

First leg

---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ---- ----

Second leg

''Standard Liège won 6–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt won 6–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Schalke 04 won 4–3 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Wiener Sport-Club won 3–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Atlético Madrid 2–2 CDNA Sofia on aggregate;

needed.'' ---- ''Young Boys won 6–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Real Madrid won 3–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Reims won 7–0 on aggregate.''

Play-off

''Atlético Madrid won play-off 3–1.''

Quarter-finals

First leg

---- ---- ----

Second leg

''Atlético Madrid won 4–1 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Young Boys 2–2 Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt on aggregate;

needed.'' ---- ''Reims won 3–2 on aggregate.'' ---- ''Real Madrid won 7–1 on aggregate.''

Play-off

''Young Boys won play-off 2–1.''

Semi-finals

First leg

----

Second leg

''Real Madrid 2–2 Atlético Madrid on aggregate;

needed.'' ---- ''Reims won 3–1 on aggregate.''

Play-off

''Real Madrid won play-off 2–1.''

Final

The 1959 European Cup final was played on 3 June 1959 at the

in Stuttgart, West Germany. Real Madrid's victory was their fourth consecutive title, maintaining their status as the only team to have won the competition. Reims were runners-up for a second time, having already lost to Real in the inaugural final in 1956.

Top goalscorers

The top scorers from the 1958–59 European Cup (including preliminary round) were as follows:

Notes

References

External links

1958–59 All matches – season at UEFA website
* All scorers 1958–59 European Cup (excluding preliminary round) according t

+ all scorer

- results and line-ups (archive) {{DEFAULTSORT:1958-59 European Cup UEFA Champions League seasons

Cup A cup is an open-top vessel (container) used to hold liquids for drinking, typically with a flattened hemispherical shape, and often with a capacity of about . Cups may be made of pottery (including porcelain), glass, metal, wood, stone, pol ...