Home European cup final tickets | History | Gallery | Contact
GALLERY '50 / 1950 Decade / 1958 European cup final tickets
1958
Final, Heysel Stadium, Brussels, 28 May 1958
Real Madrid 3 vs. Milan AC 2 after extra-time
69' 0-1 M: Schiaffino
74' 1-1 RM: Di Stefano
78' 1-2 M: Grillo
79' 2-2 RM: Rial
107'
3-2 RM: Gento
Real
Madrid (trainer Carniglia) Alonso; Atienza, Santamaría, Lesmes;
Santistebán, Zarraga, Kopa, Joseito, Di Stéfano, Rial, Gento
Milan AC (trainer Viani) Soldan; Fontana, C.Maldini, Beraldo; Bergamaschi, Radice;
Danova, Liedholm, Schiaffino, Grillo, Cucchiaroni
Referee: Alsteen (Belgium)
The
1957/58 competition began with Red Star Belgrade putting nine goals
in one game past Stade Dudelange of Luxembourg, AC Milan being taken
to a replay which they eventually won 4-2 against Rapid Vienna, and
Gwardia Warsaw becoming the first team to be eliminated by the
drawing of lots. After Gwardia and Wismut Karl-Marx-Stadt of East
Germany had both won their home legs by the same 3-1 score line,
their tie went to a replay which ended 1-1. With penalty shootouts
yet to be introduced, it was Wismut who drew correctly and proceeded
to the next round. The holders from Madrid cruised through to the
semi-finals with comfortable wins over Antwerp (8-1) and Seville
(10-2), but this was to be overshadowed by tragic events elsewhere in
the competition.
Having reached the semi-finals at their first
attempt, Manchester United looked likely to pose the strongest
challenge to Real Madrid’s attempt to win the European Cup for the
third year in a row. Their young team was now a year older and they
had picked up valuable European experience. Shamrock Rovers and Dukla
Prague were eliminated with relative ease in the early rounds before
United were drawn in the last eight against their fellow beaten
semi-finalists from a year earlier, Red Star Belgrade. The first leg
in Manchester was a thrilling affair which saw the Yugoslavs take a
surprise lead when Tasic hit the ball from 25 yards out into the top
corner of the net after 35 minutes. For a while it looked as though
United might be travelling to Belgrade with a deficit which would be
difficult to pull back, but it was Duncan Edwards who dragged his
team back into the tie. It was a storming Edwards run and pass that
found Scanlon on the wing, and his cross was smashed home by Bobby
Charlton on 63 minutes. And with just nine minutes remaining it was
Edwards who found Eddie Colman, and he slid the ball home for the
winner. Three weeks later, following a memorable 5-4 win at Arsenal
on the previous Saturday, United travelled to Belgrade for the second
leg. Incredibly, considering the closeness of the first game, United
had the tie virtually wrapped up after just 17 minutes following a
second minute goal from Viollet and two from Charlton. The home team
rallied in the second half and their third goal, an 89th minute
penalty, gave the United party a few nervous moments, but the Busby
Babes were safely through to the semi-finals with high hopes of
improving on their performance a year earlier.
The plane
journey home from Belgrade to Manchester necessitated a stop in
Munich for refuelling. It was there that the plane crashed, leaving
eight of the players dead and many more injured. (Munich
Air Disaster)
The
remnants of United's team was drawn against Milan in the semi-finals
and, although their patched up side – which also lacked Bobby
Charlton who was away on international duty – showed great
character in coming back from being a goal down to win the first leg
at Old Trafford by 2-1, they were beaten by four goals in the return
game and it was the Italians who proceeded to the final in Brussels.
Despite the widely held horror at what had happened at
Munich, football went on. In the other semi-final, a Di Stefano hat
trick had given Real Madrid a 4-0 first leg lead over Vasas Budapest,
and they progressed to a third successive final after a 2-0 defeat in
Hungary. Standing between Real and yet another European title was a
Milan team that had a forward line containing the most expensive
player in the world, Uruguayan World Cup winner Juan Schiaffino and
the Swedish Olympic Games winner Nils Liedholm. Attempting to keep
them at bay would be Real’s latest acquisition, the giant Uruguayan
centre-back Jose Santamaria, another star of the 1954 World Cup,
brought in to replace the now retired Munoz.
The spectators
who flocked to the Heysel Stadium to see the
first final to be played in a neutral country were unaware that earlier in the day, Rial had turned his ankle while
visiting the nearby Atomium. His participation in the final was
initially in some doubt, but he was eventually passed fit to play.
Surprisingly, it was Milan who took the lead just short of the hour
mark when Schiaffino scored the first goal of the game on the counter
attack and, shortly afterwards, Cucchiaroni hit the post for the
Italian side. Alfredo Di Stefano, however, was now at the height of
his powers and was not going to let Real’s title be taken away
without a fight. He popped up all over the pitch, clearing from
defence, creating danger from midfield, and threatening the opponents
goal in attack, and it was Di Stefano who, with just 15 minutes
remaining, scored the goal that brought Real level. Four minutes
later Grillo put Milan ahead once more, but their lead stood for only
a minute before Rial brushed aside any worries about his fitness when
he brought Real level again. While di Stefano was prompting the Real
side, Milan’s Swedish inside-left, Nils Liedholm, was in brilliant
form and he nearly won the match for the Italians in the final
moments of normal time when his shot hit the bar. With the scores
level at 2-2, a European Cup Final went to extra time for the first
time, but the outcome was to prove the same as those finals that had
gone before as Gento, moments after hitting the post, shot home at
the near post to score the goal that won the Cup for Real Madrid for
the third time, although Milan had surely given the champions their
toughest test so far.
Real’s feat of winning the first three
European Cups was undoubtedly an incredible achievement, but at the
end of the 1957-58 tournament, the thoughts of the football world
were focused less on Madrid than on Manchester where the team that
had been most likely to challenge the dominance of Real over the next
decade had been torn apart by the tragedy at Munich. As a gesture to
Manchester United, they were invited by UEFA to take part in the
European Cup again the following year in addition to the League
Champions Wolverhampton Wanderers. UEFA President Schwartz announced
that the executive committee had decided to convey the invitation in
view of the great loss suffered by the club in the Munich disaster as
it might be helpful to United and their younger players to become
re-established in the football world. It would, however, take a
decade before Manchester United truly regained the position in
European football that they had lost.