1956–57 European Cup
1956–57 European Cup
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 1 August 1956 – 30 May 1957 |
| Teams | 22 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |  Real Madrid(2nd title) |
| Runners-up |  Fiorentina |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 44 |
| Goals scored | 170 (3.86 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) |  Dennis Viollet (9 goals) |
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.
After the great success of the first tournament, six new nations entered representatives: Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, England, Luxembourg, Romania and Turkey. The English Football Association ("FA") 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 Real Madrid as the competition's reigning champions, occupying the free berth left by Saar after its reunification with West Germany.
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 1 August 1956 – 30 May 1957 |
| Teams | 22 |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | Real Madrid(2nd title) |
| Runners-up | Fiorentina |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 44 |
| Goals scored | 170 (3.86 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Dennis Viollet (9 goals) |
Preliminary round
Location of teams in the 1956–57 European Cup
The draw for the preliminary round took place in UEFA headquarters in Paris on 29 June 1956.[2] The 21 challengers of Real Madrid were grouped geographically into three pots. The first four teams drawn in each pot would play the preliminary round in September, while the remaining three clubs received byes.
| Pot 1 Eastern Europe | Pot 2 North-Western Europe | Pot 3 South-Central Europe | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Drawn | Match 1 |  Slovan UNV Bratislava |  Nice |  Porto |
 CWKS Warsaw |  AGF Aarhus | Athletic Bilbao | ||
| Match 2 |  Galatasaray |  Anderlecht |  Borussia Dortmund | |
 Dinamo București | Manchester United |  Spora Luxembourg | ||
| Byes |  Budapest Honvéd |  Rangers | Fiorentina | |
 Rapid Wien |  Norrköping |  Grasshopper | ||
 CDNA Sofia |  Rapid JC |  Red Star Belgrade | ||
The calendar was decided by the involved teams, with all matches to be played by 1 October.
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Play-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Borussia Dortmund | 5–5 | Spora Luxembourg | 4–3 | 1–2 | 7–0 |
| Dinamo București | 4–3 | Galatasaray | 3–1 | 1–2 | |
| Slovan UNV Bratislava | 4–2 | CWKS Warsaw | 4–0 | 0–2 | |
| Anderlecht | 0–12 | Manchester United | 0–2 | 0–10 | |
| AGF Aarhus | 2–6 | Nice | 1–1 | 1–5 | |
| Porto | 3–5 | Athletic Bilbao | 1–2 | 2–3 |
First leg
Second leg
Borussia Dortmund 5–5 Spora Luxembourg on aggregate; play-off needed.
Slovan UNV Bratislava won 4–2 on aggregate.
Manchester United won 12–0 on aggregate.
Athletic Bilbao won 5–3 on aggregate.
Nice won 6–2 on aggregate.
Dinamo București won 4–3 on aggregate.
Play-off
First round
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Play-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manchester United | 3–2 | Borussia Dortmund | 3–2 | 0–0 | |
| CDNA Sofia | 10–4 | Dinamo București | 8–1 | 2–3 | |
| Rangers | 3–3 | Nice | 2–1 | 1–2 | 1–3 |
| Slovan UNV Bratislava | 1–2 | Grasshopper | 1–0 | 0–2 | |
| Real Madrid | 5–5 | Rapid Wien | 4–2 | 1–3 | 2–0 |
| Rapid JC | 3–6 | Red Star Belgrade | 3–4 | 0–2 | |
| Fiorentina | 2–1 | Norrköping | 1–1 | 1–0 | |
| Athletic Bilbao | 6–5 |  Budapest Honvéd | 3–2 | 3–31 |
1 Second leg played at Heysel Stadium, Brussels
First leg
Second leg
Red Star Belgrade won 6–3 on aggregate
Nice 3–3 Rangers on aggregate; play-off needed.
Real Madrid 5–5 Rapid Wien on aggregate; play-off needed.
Manchester United won 3–2 on aggregate
Fiorentina won 2–1 on aggregate
Grasshopper won 2–1 on aggregate
Athletic Bilbao won 6–5 on aggregate
CDNA Sofia won 10–4 on aggregate
Play-off
Quarter-finals
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Athletic Bilbao | 5–6 | Manchester United | 5–3 | 0–3 |
| Fiorentina | 5–3 | Grasshopper | 3–1 | 2–2 |
| Real Madrid | 6–2 | Nice | 3–0 | 3–2 |
| Red Star Belgrade | 4–3 | CDNA Sofia | 3–1 | 1–2 |
First leg
Second leg
Manchester United won 6–5 on aggregate
Red Star Belgrade won 4–3 on aggregate
Fiorentina won 5–3 on aggregate
Real Madrid won 6–2 on aggregate
Semi-finals
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Red Star Belgrade | 0–1 | Fiorentina | 0–1 | 0–0 |
| Real Madrid | 5–3 | Manchester United | 3–1 | 2–2 |
First leg
Second leg
Fiorentina won 1–0 on aggregate
Real Madrid won 5–3 on aggregate
Final
Top scorers
| Rank | Name | Team | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dennis Viollet | Manchester United | 9 |
| 2 | Tommy Taylor | Manchester United | 8 |
| 3 | Alfredo Di Stéfano | Real Madrid | 7 |
| 4 | Alfred Preißler | Borussia Dortmund | 6 |
| 5 | José Artetxe | Athletic Bilbao | 5 |
| Jacques Foix | Nice | 5 | |
| Bora Kostić | Red Star Belgrade | 5 | |
| 8 | Jacky Faivre | Nice | 4 |
| Ivan Petkov Kolev | CDNA Sofia | 4 | |
| 10 | Marc Boreux | Spora Luxembourg | 3 |
| Ernst Happel | Rapid Wien | 3 | |
| Joseíto | Real Madrid | 3 | |
| Alfred Kelbassa | Borussia Dortmund | 3 | |
| Enrique Mateos | Real Madrid | 3 | |
| Armando Merodio | Athletic Bilbao | 3 | |
 Billy Whelan | Manchester United | 3 |