History Of Champions League - Eke Emmanuel

The champions league will soon back in that light, its proper to give sport lovers the detailed information on history of champions league

The first pan-European tournament was the
Challenge Cup, a competition between clubs in
the Austro-Hungarian Empire .[12] The Mitropa
Cup, a competition modelled after the Challenge
Cup, was created in 1927 by Zeid Edilbi and
played between Central European clubs. [13] In
1930, the Coupe des Nations (French : Nations
Cup), the first attempt to create a cup for national
champion clubs of Europe, was played and
organised by Swiss club Servette .[14] Held in
Geneva, it brought together ten champions from
across the continent. The tournament was won
by Újpest of Hungary. [14] Latin European nations
came together to form the Latin Cup in 1949. [15]
After receiving reports from his journalists over
the highly successful Campeonato
Sudamericano de Campeones of 1948, Gabriel
Hanot, editor of L'Équipe , began proposing the
creation of a continent-wide tournament. [16]
After Stan Cullis declared Wolverhampton
Wanderers "Champions of the World" following a
successful run of friendlies in the 1950s, in
particular a 3–2 friendly victory against
Budapest Honvéd, Hanot finally managed to
convince UEFA to put into practice such a
tournament.[3] It was conceived in Paris in 1955
as the European Champion Clubs' Cup.

The first edition of the European Cup took place
during the 1955–56 season. [17][18] Sixteen
teams participated: Milan (Italy), AGF Aarhus
(Denmark), Anderlecht (Belgium), Djurgården
(Sweden), Gwardia Warszawa (Poland),
Hibernian (Scotland), Partizan ( Yugoslavia), PSV
Eindhoven (Netherlands), Rapid Wien (Austria),
Real Madrid (Spain), Rot-Weiss Essen (West
Germany ), Saarbrücken ( Saar), Servette
(Switzerland), Sporting CP (Portugal), Stade de
Reims (France), and Vörös Lobogó (Hungary).
[17][18] The first European Cup match took place
on 4 September 1955, and ended in a 3–3 draw
between Sporting CP and Partizan.[17][18] The
first goal in European Cup history was scored by
João Baptista Martins of Sporting CP. [17][18]
The inaugural final took place at the Parc des
Princes between Stade de Reims and Real
Madrid. [17][18][19] The Spanish squad came
back from behind to win 4–3 thanks to goals
from Alfredo Di Stéfano and Marquitos, as well
as two goals from Héctor Rial .[17][18][19]
Real Madrid successfully defended the trophy
next season in their home stadium, the Santiago
Bernabéu, against Fiorentina.[20][21] After a
scoreless first half, Real Madrid scored twice in
six minutes to defeat the Italians. [19][20][21] In
1958 , Milan failed to capitalize after going ahead
on the scoreline twice, only for Real Madrid to
equalize. [22][23]

The final held in Heysel
Stadium went to extra time when Francisco
Gento scored the game-winning goal to allow
Real Madrid to retain the title for the third
consecutive season. [19][22][23] In a rematch of
the first final, Real Madrid faced Stade Reims at
the Neckarstadion for the 1958–59 season final,
easily winning 2–0. [19][24][25] West German
side Eintracht Frankfurt became the first non-
Latin team to reach the European Cup final. [26]
[27] The 1959–60 season finale still holds the
record for the most goals scored, but the record
is overshadowed by the 7–3 thrashing Eintracht
Frankfurt received in Hampden Park, courtesy of
four goals by Ferenc Puskás and a hat-trick by
Alfredo Di Stéfano.[19][26][27] This was Real
Madrid's fifth consecutive title, a record that still
stands today. [9]

Los Merengues reign ended in the 1960–61
season when bitter rivals Barcelona dethroned
them in the quarter-finals. [28][29] Barcelona
themselves, however, would be defeated in the
final by Portuguese outfit Benfica 3–2 at
Wankdorf Stadium .[28][29][30] Reinforced by
Eusébio, Benfica defeated Real Madrid 5–3 at
the Olympic Stadium in Amsterdam and kept the
title for a second, consecutive season . [30][31]
[32] Benfica wanted to repeat Real Madrid's
successful run of the 1950s after reaching the
showpiece event of the 1962–63 European Cup,
but a brace from Brazilian-Italian José Altafini at
the Wembley Stadium gave the spoils to Milan,
making the trophy leave the Iberian Peninsula
for the first time ever. [33][34][35] Internazionale
beat an ageing-Real Madrid 3–1 in the Ernst-
Happel-Stadion to win the 1963–64 season and
replicate their local-rival's success. [36][37][38]
The title stayed in the city of Milan for the third
year in a row after Inter beat Benfica 1–0 at
their home ground, the San Siro.[39][40][41] The
2014 final was the first same-city final, out of all
the top teams in Europe.