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.
After the great success of the first tournament, six new nations entered representatives: Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, England, Luxembourg, Romania and Turkey. The English Football Association 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.

Preliminary round

The draw for the preliminary round took place in UEFA headquarters in Paris on 29 June 1956. 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.
The calendar was decided by the involved teams, with all matches to be played by 1 October.

First leg

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Second leg

Borussia Dortmund 5–5 Spora Luxembourg on aggregate; play-off needed.
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Slovan UNV Bratislava won 4–2 on aggregate.
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Manchester United won 12–0 on aggregate.
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Athletic Bilbao won 5–3 on aggregate.
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Nice won 6–2 on aggregate.
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Dinamo București won 4–3 on aggregate.

Play-off

First round

First leg

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Second leg

Red Star Belgrade won 6–3 on aggregate
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Nice 3–3 Rangers on aggregate; play-off needed.
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Real Madrid 5–5 Rapid Wien on aggregate; play-off needed.
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Manchester United won 3–2 on aggregate
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Fiorentina won 2–1 on aggregate
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Grasshopper won 2–1 on aggregate
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Athletic Bilbao won 6–5 on aggregate
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CDNA Sofia won 10–4 on aggregate

Play-off

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Quarter-finals

First leg

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Second leg

Manchester United won 6–5 on aggregate
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Red Star Belgrade won 4–3 on aggregate
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Fiorentina won 5–3 on aggregate
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Real Madrid won 6–2 on aggregate

Semi-finals

First leg

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Second leg

Fiorentina won 1–0 on aggregate
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Real Madrid won 5–3 on aggregate

Final

Top scorers

The top scorers from the 1956–57 European Cup were as follows:
RankNameTeamGoals
1 Dennis Viollet Manchester United9
2 Tommy Taylor Manchester United8
3 Alfredo Di Stéfano Real Madrid7
4 Alfred Preißler Borussia Dortmund6
5 José Artetxe Athletic Bilbao5
5 Jacques Foix Nice5
5 Bora Kostić Red Star Belgrade5
8 Jacky Faivre Nice4
8 Ivan Petkov Kolev CDNA Sofia4
10 Marc Boreux Spora Luxembourg3
10 Ernst Happel Rapid Wien3
10 Joseíto Real Madrid3
10 Alfred Kelbassa Borussia Dortmund3
10 Enrique Mateos Real Madrid3
10 Armando Merodio Athletic Bilbao3
10 Billy Whelan Manchester United3