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, Madrid, on 30 May 1957.
Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid hosted the final. | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 1 August 1956 – 30 May 1957 |
| Teams | 22 (from 21 associations) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Real Madrid (2nd title) |
| Runners-up | Fiorentina |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 44 |
| Goals scored | 170 (3.86 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,840,978 (41,840 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Dennis Viollet (Manchester United) 9 goals |
After the great success of the first tournament, six new nations entered representatives: Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, England, Luxembourg, Romania and Turkey. The Football League had not allowed Chelsea to enter in 1955, and continued its stance on the European Cup as it being a "distraction". However, against the wishes of the FA, Manchester United entered the competition as English champions, becoming the first English team to play in Europe. An additional place was awarded to third in 1955–56 La Liga Real Madrid as the competition's reigning champions, occupying the free berth left by Saar after its reunification with West Germany. As a result, Spain became the first association to provide two representatives to the premier European competition and it was only for Manchester United, who had won against Athletic Bilbao in the quarter-finals, that first ever meeting between two sides from the same country in the competition didn't happen.
This edition was the first to utilize play-off matches, after two legs were not enough to decide which team advances to the next round on three occasions: Borussia Dortmund won 7–0 against Spora Luxembourg in the preliminary round, while Nice and Real Madrid won 3–1 and 2–1, respectively, against Rangers and Rapid Wien in the first round.