1961 European Cup final

The 1961 European Cup final was held at the Wankdorf Stadium, Bern on 31 May 1961, and was contested by Portuguese side Benfica against Spanish side Barcelona. This was the first final not to include Real Madrid, who had won the previous five finals. Benfica lifted the trophy for the first time, beating Barcelona 3–2.

1961 European Cup final

Match programme cover
Event	1960–61 European Cup
Benfica Barcelona 3 2
Date	31 May 1961
Venue	Wankdorf Stadium, Bern
Referee	Gottfried Dienst (Switzerland)
Attendance	26,732[1]
← 1960 1962 →

Benfica midfielder Mario Coluna broke his nose in the eighth minute of the match; not wanting to risk further damage, when Domiciano Cavém put over a cross in the 55th minute, Coluna hung back outside the penalty area. The ball was cleared directly to him and he volleyed it home for Benfica's third goal of the match.^[2]

Route to the final

Five-time defending champions Real Madrid were knocked out in the first round by Barcelona, their bitter domestic rivals. After defeating Czechoslovak champions Hradec Králové in the quarter-finals, Barcelona initially drew 2–2 on aggregate with West German champions Hamburger SV in the semi-finals. Since this was before UEFA competitions began using the away goals rule, in order to determine who would advance to the final, a replay was scheduled to be played at a neutral site on 3 May. Barça would qualify for the final by winning the replay 1–0 at the King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels, with Evaristo scoring the decisive goal.^[3]

Meanwhile, Benfica reached the final of the competition by eliminating Austrian champions Rapid Wien in a 4–1 semi-final aggregate win. This marked the first time that a team from Portugal had ever progressed this far into the competition.

Benfica				Round	Barcelona
Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg		Opponent	Agg.	1st leg	2nd leg
Heart of Midlothian	5–1	2–1 (A)	3–0 (H)	Prelim. round	Lierse	5–0	2–0 (H)	3–0 (A)
Újpesti Dózsa	7–4	6–2 (H)	1–2 (A)	First round	Real Madrid	4–3	2–2 (A)	2–1 (H)
AGF Aarhus	7–2	3–1 (H)	4–1 (A)	Quarter-finals	Spartak Hradec Králové	5–1	4–0 (H)	1–1 (A)
Rapid Wien	4–1	3–0 (H)	1–1 (A)	Semi-finals	Hamburger SV	2–2 (Replay: 1–0)	1–0 (H)	1–2 (A)

Match

Details

31 May 1961

19:00 CEST

Benfica	3–2	Barcelona
Águas 31' Ramallets 32' (o.g.) Coluna 55'	Report	Kocsis 21' Czibor 75'

Wankdorf Stadium, Bern

Attendance: 26,732^[1]

Referee: Gottfried Dienst (Switzerland)

Benfica

Barcelona

GK 1 Costa Pereira RB 2 Mário João CB 3 Germano LB 4 Ângelo Martins RH 5 José Neto LH 6 Fernando Cruz OR 7 José Augusto IR 8 Santana CF 9 José Águas (c) IL 10 Mário Coluna OL 11 Domiciano Cavém Manager: Béla Guttmann

GK 1 Antoni Ramallets (c) RB 2 Foncho CB 3 Enric Gensana LB 4 Sígfrid Gràcia RH 5 Martí Vergés LH 6 Jesús Garay OR 7 [a] László Kubala IR 8 Sándor Kocsis CF 9 Evaristo IL 10 Luis Suárez OL 11 Zoltán Czibor Manager: Enrique Orizaola

See also

• 1960–61 European Cup
• FC Barcelona in international football
• S.L. Benfica in international football

Notes

1. Along with Kocsis and Czibor, Kubala was one of three Hungarian-born players in Barcelona's line-up. However, Kubala was the only one to adopt Spanish nationality, having fled communist rule in his homeland in 1948 and subsequently taken refuge in Spain. He had begun representing Spain in international play in 1953.^[4]