May 18 – The Greatest Team Ever?
THE European Cup has seen it’s fair share of classic finals and legendary sides, but perhaps the best came today in 1960, as Real Madrid produced a footballing master-class to defeat Eintracht Frankfurt and claim their fifth successive title.
The tournament was the brainchild of French sports journalist and L’Equipe editor Gabriel Hanot who wanted to find out who the best side in Europe was. In the early days of the competition Real Madrid emphatically answered that one for him, winning the first five finals, saving their best for the shell-shocked German side.
Eintracht had earned their shot at the champs with a 12-4 aggregate thrashing of Rangers, and with the final being played at Hampden Park in Glasgow. This demolition of the ‘Gers had captured the imagination of the Glaswegian public, who turned out in their droves for the final, with the attendance topping the 127,000 mark.
If Eintracht had any ideas that their date in Scotland would have a fairytale ending then Madrid were quick to quash such notions. Real had also come into the final on a high, defeating their fiercest rivals Barcelona 6-2 over their two-legged semi-final.
In Alfredo Di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas the Spanish side had the two best players in the world turning out for them and the final turned into a personal duel between the two of these original Galacticos. Eintracht had the audacity to open the scoring when Richard Kress gave them an early lead, but Real came back with more gusto than a Glaswegian with a broken television, scoring six goals in a devastating spell either side of half-time.
At the end of a breathless 90 minutes of football Real had finished 7-3 winners, with Puskas edging Di Stefano out in the goal-scoring stakes by four to three. Such an effective, attacking display of football had rarely been seen before and Madrid had set a benchmark that not many club sides have come close to matching since. Their reward for a fifth successive title was to keep the original trophy and wear the Uefa badge of honour.
A further European Cup for Real followed in 1966, but this night in Glasgow proved to be the high-point of the side that dazzled Europe when continental football was in it’s infancy. Were they the best ever? Until we find a time-travelling Delorean and give Di Stefano and company a game against Cruijff’s 1970′s Ajax side or the early ’90′s Milan vintage we’ll never know, but if anyone ever wins five European Cup’s in row again we’ll do a lap of Bernabeu naked.
See football the way it’s supposed to be played below and join us tomorrow for some more end-of-season action.
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