The 1957 European Cup Final was a

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

match played at the

Santiago Bernabéu Stadium The Santiago Bernabéu Stadium ( es, Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, ) is a football stadium in Madrid, Spain. With a current seating capacity of 81,044, it has been the home stadium of Real Madrid since its completion in 1947. It is the second-larg ...

Madrid Madrid ( , ) is the capital and most populous city of Spain. The city has almost 3.4 million inhabitants and a metropolitan area population of approximately 6.7 million. It is the second-largest city in the European Union (EU), and ...

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...

, on 30 May 1957 to determine the winners of the

1956–57 European Cup The 1956–57 European Cup was the second season of the European Cup, Europe's premier club football tournament. The competition was won for the second time by Real Madrid, who beat Fiorentina 2–0 in the final at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, ...

. It was contested between

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (, meaning ''Royal Madrid Football Club''), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid. Founded in 1902 as Madrid Football Club, the club has traditionally wor ...

of Spain and

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional football club based in Florence, Tuscany, Italy. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while the actual club was refounded in August 2002 fol ...

of Italy. Real Madrid won 2–0 after goals from

Alfredo Di Stéfano Alfredo (, ) is a cognate of the Anglo-Saxon name Alfred and a common Italian, Galician, Portuguese and Spanish language personal name. People with the given name include: *Alfredo (born 1946), Brazilian footballer born as Alfredo Mostarda Fil ...

and

Francisco Gento Francisco "Paco" Gento López (21 October 1933 – 18 January 2022) was a Spanish footballer who played as an outside left. He was voted by IFFHS (International Federation of Football History and Statistics) as the greatest Spanish footballer ...

in the second half. It was the first of four finals (also counting the Champions League era, followed by the

1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is sworn in for a full term ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

and

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gat ...

finals) where one of the teams played in its home stadium, and also the first final when the winning team played at their home stadium. Controversy surrounded Real Madrid's first goal after Dutch referee

Leo Horn Leopold Sylvain Horn (29 August 1916 – 16 September 1995) was a Dutch football referee. Horn was born in Sittard, where he was a friend of entertainer Toon Hermans. The family moved to Amsterdam in 1928. Horn became a clerk with the textile f ...

ignored his linesman signalling that Enrique Mateos was offside before awarding a penalty for a foul on Mateos that appeared to have been committed outside the penalty area.

Route to the final

Real Madrid

Real Madrid qualified for the

as the competition's defending champions, having beaten

Reims Reims ( , , ; also spelled Rheims in English) is the most populous city in the French department of Marne, and the 12th most populous city in France. The city lies northeast of Paris on the Vesle river, a tributary of the Aisne. Founded b ...

4–3 in the 1956 final at the

Parc des Princes Parc des Princes () is an all-seater football stadium in Paris, France, in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin and Stade Roland Garros. The stadium, with a seating capacity of 47 ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. Si ...

. As the title holders, they were given a bye directly to the first round, where they were drawn against Austrian champions

Rapid Wien Sportklub Rapid Wien (), commonly known as Rapid Vienna, is an Austrian football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid has won the most Austrian championship titles (32), including the first title in the season 1911–12, ...

. Two goals each from

and Ramón Marsal gave them a 4–2 win in the first leg at the

. In the second leg,

Ernst Happel Ernst Franz Hermann Happel (29 November 1925 – 14 November 1992) was an Austrian football player and manager. Happel is regarded as one of the greatest managers of all time, winning both league and domestic cup titles in the Netherlands, Belg ...

scored a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three w ...

to put Rapid 3–0 ahead, but a Di Stéfano goal made the score 3–1. The game finished 5–5 on aggregate. As the

away goals rule The away goals rule is a method of tiebreaking in association football and other sports when teams play each other twice, once at each team's home ground. Under the away goals rule, if the total goals scored by each team are equal, the team that ...

was not implemented until 1965, a play-off took place at the Bernabéu, where goals from Joseíto and

Raymond Kopa Raymond Kopa (né Kopaszewski; 13 October 1931 – 3 March 2017) was a French professional footballer, integral to the France national team of the 1950s. At club level he was part of the legendary Real Madrid team of the 1950s, winning three Eu ...

gave Madrid a 2–0. The quarter-finals saw Madrid take on French champions

Nice Nice ( , ; Niçard: , classical norm, or , nonstandard, ; it, Nizza ; lij, Nissa; grc, Νίκαια; la, Nicaea) is the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative ...

. A Joseíto goal and two from Enrique Mateos gave Madrid a 3–0 win at home. In the away tie, Jacques Foix pulled a goal back for Nice, but another goal from Joseíto and two by Di Stéfano secured Madrid's victory; a late penalty by Nice's

Ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...

meant the tie finished 6–2 on aggregate.

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

were Madrid's opponents in the semi-finals. Goals from Héctor Rial and Di Stéfano put Madrid 2–0 up just after the hour mark; Manchester United pulled a goal back through Tommy Taylor, but Mateos' goal a minute later cancelled it out. Kopa and Rial each scored in the first half in the second leg at

Old Trafford Old Trafford () is a football stadium in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, England, and the home of Manchester United. With a capacity of 74,310 it is the largest club football stadium (and second-largest football stadium overall after Wembl ...

, which practically put the tie beyond doubt, though Taylor and

Bobby Charlton Sir Robert Charlton (born 11 October 1937) is an English former footballer who played either as a midfielder or a forward. Considered one of the greatest players of all time, he was a member of the England team that won the 1966 FIFA World ...

scored in the second half to reduce the aggregate score to 5–3. That result sent Real Madrid through to their second straight European Cup final.

Fiorentina

Fiorentina qualified after winning the 1955–56 Serie A. They were placed into the South-Central Europe group for the preliminary round draw, but were not among the first four teams drawn and received a bye to the first round. There they faced

IFK Norrköping Idrottsföreningen Kamraterna Norrköping, more commonly known as IFK Norrköping or simply Norrköping, is a Swedish professional football club based in Norrköping. The club is affiliated to Östergötlands Fotbollförbund and play thei ...

of Sweden, who had also received a bye. In the first leg at Stadio Artemio Franchi, they fell behind to an early goal by Harry Bild, but equalised shortly afterwards and the match finished 1–1. In the second leg, Giuseppe Virgili scored the only goal of the game to give Fiorentina a 2–1 win on aggregate. In the quarter-finals against

Grasshoppers Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago. Grasshoppe ...

of Switzerland, Fiorentina jumped out to a 3–0 lead early in the first leg thanks to goals from Armando Segato and Romano Taccola (2), but

Robert Ballaman Robert Ballaman (21 June 1926 – 5 September 2011) was a Swiss footballer who played as a centre forward. Career Born in Reconvilier, Ballaman began playing football with FC Reconvilier at age 15. in 1946, he joined FC Biel-Bienne, where he wo ...

pulled one back for the visitors. Julinho extended Fiorentina's aggregate lead early in the second leg, only for Ballaman to again reduce the Swiss side's deficit; nevertheless,

Miguel Montuori Miguel Ángel Montuori (, ; 24 September 1932 – 4 June 1998) was an Argentine-Italian football player, who played as a forward and as an attacking midfielder. He is regarded as one of Fiorentina's greatest players of all time, due to his techni ...

scored Fiorentina's fifth goal of the tie, rendering Branislav Vukosavljević's late goal mere consolation in a 5–3 aggregate scoreline.

Red Star Belgrade Fudbalski klub Crvena zvezda ( sr-Cyrl, Фудбалски клуб Црвена звезда, lit=Red Star Football Club, ), commonly known as Red Star Belgrade in English-language media, is a Serbian professional football club based in Be ...

of Yugoslavia were Fiorentina's opponents in the semi-finals. The first leg was played in Belgrade and went goalless until two minutes from the end, when Maurilio Prini scored for the Italians. The second leg went goalless, and Fiorentina won the tie to become the first Italian side to reach the European Cup final.

Match

The final was held at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium on 30 May 1957. Leo Horn of the Netherlands refereed the game. A penalty from Di Stéfano and a goal from Gento gave Madrid a 2–0 victory and retention of the title. This was their second European Cup victory in as many years.

Details

Notes

References

External links

European Cup 1956/57 from RSSSF
* {{ACF Fiorentina matches 1 European European Cup Final 1957 European Cup Final 1957 Football in Madrid UEFA Champions League Finals International club association football competitions hosted by Spain

Euro The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...

May 1957 sports events in Europe 1950s in Madrid Sports competitions in Madrid