The 1961 European Cup final was held at the Wankdorf Stadium, Bern on 31 May 1961, and was contested by Spanish side Barcelona against Portuguese side Benfica. 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.
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.
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.
BarcelonaRound BenficaOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd legOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd leg Lierse5–02–0 (H)3–0 (A)Prelim. round Heart of Midlothian5–12–1 (A)3–0 (H) Real Madrid4–32–2 (A)2–1 (H)First round Újpesti Dózsa7–46–2 (H)1–2 (A) Spartak Hradec Králové5–14–0 (H)1–1 (A)Quarter-finals AGF Aarhus7–23–1 (H)4–1 (A) Hamburger SV2–2(Replay: 1–0)1–0 (H)1–2 (A)Semi-finals Rapid Wien4–13–0 (H)1–1 (A)
Match Summary Prior to the European Cup final at Wankdorf Stadium, Bern, on 31 May 1961, Barcelona were labelled as the heavy favourites in the media. Sándor Kocsis gave the Catalan side the lead in the 21st minute of the match. With Benfica having just tied the game 1–1 in the 31st minute with José Águas, referee Gottfried Dienst awarded a controversial own goal to Benfica a minute later, when a misplaced defensive header drifted back towards Barcelona's goalkeeper and captain Antoni Ramallets, who pushed the ball against the crossbar, and it subsequently appeared to bounce along his goal line.
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. In the 75th minute, Zoltán Czibor scored the final goal of the match for Barcelona to bring the score to 3–2. Benfica went on to lift the trophy for the first time.
Details
GK 1 Antoni Ramallets (c)RB 2 FonchoCB 3 Enric GensanaLB 4 Sígfrid GràciaRH 5 Martí VergésLH 6 Jesús GarayOR 7 László KubalaIR 8 Sándor KocsisCF 9 EvaristoIL 10 Luis SuárezOL 11 Zoltán Czibor Manager: Enrique Orizaola GK 1 Costa PereiraRB 2 Mário JoãoCB 3 GermanoLB 4 Ângelo MartinsRH 5 José Neto LH 6 Fernando CruzOR 7 José AugustoIR 8 SantanaCF 9 José Águas (c)IL 10 Mário ColunaOL 11 Domiciano CavémManager: Béla Guttmann
See also 1960–61 FC Barcelona season 1960–61 S.L. Benfica season 1961 European Cup Winners' Cup final 1961 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final 1961 Intercontinental Cup FC Barcelona in international football S.L. Benfica in international football
Notes
References
External links 1960–61 season at the UEFA website