The 1959–60 season was Real Madrid Club de Fútbol's 57th season in existence and the club's 29th consecutive season in the top flight of Spanish football.

Summary

During the summer French playmaker Raymond Kopa returned to

Just Fontaine Just Louis Fontaine (18 August 193328 February 2023) was a French professional footballer who played as a striker. He scored the most goals ever in a single edition of the FIFA World Cup, with thirteen in six matches in the 1958 tournament. In ...

Stade de Reims Stade de Reims () is a French professional football club based in Reims. The club was formed in 1931 and plays in Ligue 2, the second tier of football in France. Reims plays home matches at the Stade Auguste Delaune. Reims is one of the mo ...

after three successful campaigns at Chamartín. Chairman Santiago Bernabéu, impressed by Brazil's style of play at the

1958 FIFA World Cup The 1958 FIFA World Cup was the 6th FIFA World Cup, a quadrennial football tournament for men's senior national teams. It was played in Sweden from 8 to 29 June 1958. It was the first and only FIFA World Cup to be played in a Nordic country. Br ...

, made an offer to buy

Pelé Edson Arantes do Nascimento (; 23 October 1940 – 29 December 2022), better known by his nickname Pelé (), was a Brazilian professional Association football, footballer who played as a Forward (association football), forward. Widely reg ...

from

Santos FC Santos Futebol Clube () is a Brazilian sports club based in Vila Belmiro, a ''bairro'' in the city of Santos, São Paulo, Santos. It plays in the Campeonato Paulista, the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo's premier State football lea ...

however, it was rejected by the player. Then, the club hired a new manager, former Brazilian tournament winner

Manuel Fleitas Solich Manuel Agustín Fleitas Solich (30 December 1900 – 24 March 1984) was a Paraguayan association football, football player and coach. He was known as "El Brujo" (the Wizard). Career as a player Fleitas Solich played for Club Nacional of Paragu ...

from

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

and transferred in Brazilian World Cup winner playmaker Didí (who only played 19 matches and abandoned the team in January). Also, from América-RJ, came Brazilian midfielder Canário and in April arrived from

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

youngstar Luis del Sol, who played a superb season. In the Spanish league, Madrid and

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

finished tied in points (46). Although Real scored a record 92 goals in 30 rounds, it finished second on a goal average tie-breaker. After the squad lost the league title mathematically in round 29, Fleitas was fired. Then, former club player

Miguel Muñoz Miguel Muñoz Mozún (19 January 1922 – 16 July 1990) was a Spanish football player and manager. A midfielder, he spent the majority of his career at Real Madrid before going on to coach the club, where he is widely considered one of the mos ...

took the head coach job in time for the semi-finals and final of the European Cup and the Copa del Generalísimo campaign. In 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 ...

, the team won its fifth consecutive title. In the round of sixteen, they won the series against

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 ...

from Luxembourg (12–2, including four goals for Puskas, three for Enrique Mateos) and in the quarter-finals defeated French champions Nice 7–2, the second leg in front of 100,000 spectators. In the semi-finals against

CF Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of Spanish football. Founded in 1899 by ...

, without star player

László Kubala László Kubala (10 June 1927 – 17 May 2002) was a Hungarian professional association football, footballer. He played as a forward (association football), forward for Ferencvárosi TC, Ferencváros, ŠK Slovan Bratislava, Slovan Bratislava, F ...

who was out due to a technical decision by coach

Helenio Herrera Helenio Herrera Gavilán (; 10 April 1910 – 9 November 1997) was an Argentina, Argentine and naturalised France, French association football, football player and Manager (association football), manager. He is best remembered for his success ...

, the team won both legs of the series with a 3–1 score (Alfredo Di Stéfano and Puskas were crucial to achieving victory), reaching 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 ...

for the fifth time in a row. In the title match, the squad (this time with Puskas as starter) defeated West German champions

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

by a 7–3 score in front of 120,000 spectators at Hampden Park, Glasgow. In the

Copa del Generalísimo The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanish f ...

, the team defeated Barakaldo (4–1), Cultural Leonesa (9–0) and

Sporting Gijón Sporting may refer to: *Sport, recreational games and play *Sporting (neighborhood), in Alexandria, Egypt Sports clubs *Alexandria Sporting Club, a sports club from Alexandria, Egypt *BFA Sporting, a football club from Beirut, Lebanon *Real Sporti ...

(13–1), reaching the semi-finals against

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

: in Bilbao, the basque team won 3–0; nevertheless Real Madrid mounted an incredible comeback in the second leg, winning 8–1 in Madrid. In the

, at Chamartín, the team lost 3–1 to Atlético Madrid in front of 100,000 spectators.

Squad

Transfers

Competitions

Overall

La Liga

League table

Position by round

Matches

bdfutbol – partidos
/ref> Kickoff times are in

CET CET or cet may refer to: Places * Cet, Albania * Cet, standard astronomical abbreviation for the constellation Cetus * Colchester Town railway station (National Rail code CET), in Colchester, England Arts, entertainment, and media * Comcast En ...

Copa del Generalísimo

Final

European Cup

First round

Quarter-finals

Semi-finals

Final

Statistics

Players statistics

References

Real Madrid – 1959–60
BDFutbol {{DEFAULTSORT:1959-60 Real Madrid C.F. season Real Real Madrid CF seasons 1960s in Madrid 1950s in Madrid UEFA Champions League–winning seasons