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| Real Madrid squad 1955 |
On 8th September 1955, Real Madrid sealed a 2-0 away win over Servette in their first ever game in Europe's top club competition.
If Real Madrid can boast 10 European Cups in their trophy cabinet it is largely thanks to the eleven pioneers who laid the foundations of their legend in Geneva 60 years ago.
With enormous expectation, Real Madrid wrote the first page of their European history in front of some 7,000 fans. Everything the club is now in 2015 is thanks to that very first European Cup game.
Bernabéu: The vision behind the future of the game
After Wolverhampton Wanderers beat Hungarian side Honved in a friendly, the British press proclaimed the English team "world club champions". That brought about the idea of a European championship. Real Madrid president Santiago Bernabéu was present at a meeting which outlined the foundations of football's most prestigious club competition.
Match report
It was a bank holiday in Geneva on 8th September 1955 to commemorate the Huguegots massacred by Catholics on St. Bartholomew's Day in 1572.
The scores were level at the break. Di Stéfano rallied his teammates with the following memorable words inside the dressing room: "Are we really unable to put a goal past these clockmakers?" They went on to score two, courtesy of Miguel Muñoz and Rial. "Without that first win we might not have won the others. I'm thrilled to have played in that game, the competition has gone on to become the best in the world and Real Madrid have lifted it many times since our win", said Pérez-Payá.
Real Madrid dominated the return leg and beat the Swiss side 5-0 to kick off an outstanding run of results which led them to their first final, and their first European Cup crown, against Stade de Reims in Paris.
