Golden anniversary for vintage 1960 European Cup Final
It’s now 50 years since Real Madrid and Eintracht Frankfurt contested perhaps the greatest European Cup Final of all-time in front of over 130,000 spectators in Glasgow.
Many have come close to equalling 1960’s showpiece final in terms of entertainment value, but few have matched it in terms of significance. It marked Real’s fifth consecutive European Cup – as well as the highest-scoring final, which still hasn’t been surpassed half a century later.
A 10-goal thriller was comprehensively won by the Spanish outfit, who ended up putting their German opponents to the sword in a famous 7-3 demolition at Hampden Park.
With this Saturday’s Champions League Final being hosted at the Spanish giant’s home ground, the club have offered the surviving members of that immortal Eintracht team a chance to attend the Bernabeu this weekend to commemorate their participation in that historic final.
Adolf Bechtold, Dieter Lindner, Egon Loy, Friedel Lutz, Wolfgang Solz, Erwin Stein, Dieter Stinka and Hans Weilbächer will all make their way to Madrid this Saturday to watch Bayern Munich take on Inter Milan, joined by some of their Real Madrid counterparts from the 1959/60 campaign.
It’s a touching gesture thought up by Uefa and the German Football Association; and the veterans will have a chance to reminisce on the final which is largely remembered for the performances of two legendary players. The word “legend” is, of course, handed out all too frequently in football these days; but in Alfredo di Stefano and Ferenc Puskas, the 1960 final provided the perfect platform for two of the sport’s most iconic players to work their magic and inflict the damage.
Di Stefano, the 83-year-old Real Madrid legend, is now President of Honour at the Bernabeu; and he admitted that his side knew little about the threat of Eintracht Frankfurt going into the final because of the lack of coverage on television or film. This could explain why the German champions sensationally took the lead at Hampden Park through German international striker, Richard Kress.
“After they scored and had another ball hit the post, we got mad and ended up scoring seven,” the former prolific striker explained to Real Madrid’s official website.
The Blond Arrow’s words sum up the backlash perfectly. Always keen to delight the crowds, while winning matches, Real went on to win the match in style – almost insulted that the Germans had the audacity to take the lead. Two first-half goals from the Argentinian put the Spaniards firmly in the driving seat, before Puskas added a crucial third on the stroke of half-time.
It was the late Hungarian idol who would set the record for the most goals in a European Cup Final, though. A superb display of clinical finishing from the trusty left boot of the Galloping Major took the score from 3-1 to 6-1 over the course of 26 second-half minutes.
Not to be outdone, Di Stefano added a seventh goal to wrap up his hat-trick in the closing stages of the match, ensuring Real Madrid’s name would dominate the first five years of the competition’s life.
Those fortunate enough to have been involved in that great final – either by playing on the pitch or even spectating from the stands – will be hoping for a similarly enthralling match on Saturday evening.
But maybe, just maybe, a part of them will be hoping it isn’t.
The 1960 final rightfully stands out proudly as one of the defining moments in the competition’s history, and has done for 50 years now. Those lucky few who were able to say “I was there” will always want that memorable final to remain the most iconic.
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