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Few people around Europe doubted that, having squeezed past the
dangerous Germans of Hamburg, Barcelona would inherit Real Madrid’s
title of champions of Europe. Not only had they knocked Real out
of the competition – something that no other team had achieved
in the first five years of the tournament – but they had a
forward line that was comparable to that which had famously dominated
the European Cup so far. Instead of Canario, Puskas, Gento, Di Stefano
and Del Sol, Bacelona had the skill and dribbling ability of Kubala,
the powerful heading and shooting of Kocsis, the speed and finishing
of Evaristo, the creativity and imagination of Suarez and the pace
and power of Czibor. Behind them was Ramallets, the captain and
first choice Spanish goalkeeper for a decade. Now 37, he was close
to retirement and saw the European Cup Final as the perfect way
to crown his career. Kubala at 34 was also to retire after the game,
while, due to Barcelona’s financial problems resulting from
the building of their new stadium, Suarez was about to be sold to
Internazionale to rejoin his old coach, Helenio Herrera. In addition,
Barcelona also had some experience of playing in European finals.
The success of the European Cup had now led to the introduction
of the European Cup-Winners Cup and, before that, teams from the
continents major cities had taken part in the Inter-Cities Fairs
Cup which Barcelona had won twice.
In Benfica’s only previous European Cup campaign, they had
been knocked out in the first round. Not that this came as a great
shock to anyone as the same had happened to the Portuguese representatives
in four out of the competitions five years – the exception
being Sporting Lisbon who reached the dizzy heights of the second
round in 1958-59. It had, therefore, been an achievement to get
past Hearts (5-1) in the opening round and then Ujpest Dozsa (7-4),
but for Benfica to then beat Aarhus and Rapid Vienna to reach the
final was beyond their wildest dreams. One man who was probably
less surprised than most, however, was Bela Guttmann. Guttmann was
a Hungarian who had played for MTK Budapest before turning his hand
to management. He had gone to Holland where he won the Dutch title
with Enschede, then to Italy where he won with Milan, before going
to South America where he won championships with Penarol in Uruguay
and Sao Paolo in Brazil, and then moving to Portugal where he won
the league with Porto. In 1959 he joined Benfica where he signed
a two year contract on the cool and logical assumption that if he
won the league he would wish to guide them in the European Cup the
following season. Despite making only one signing in Jose Augusto,
who would go on to become arguably the finest right winger in Europe,
Guttmann transformed the team by changing their previous 4-2-4 team
system to a WM formation. Sure enough, Benfica won the championship
in his first campaign, losing only one match in the process, and
now here they were in the European Cup Final. Guttmann had created
a formidable team based around the big, brave and agile Pereira
in goal, the rock-like Germano in the centre of defence, the creativity
and intelligence of Coluna in midfield, and the remarkable goal
scoring of Aguas who averaged a goal a game over the course of nearly
500 matches in Portugal and had already scored ten goals in eight
European Cup games up until the final.
Despite the various qualities that Benfica possessed, however,
they were rated as clear outsiders for the final and, as the game
began in Berne’s Wankdorf Stadium, it came as no surprise
that Barcelona were the overwhelmingly dominant team. The opening
quarter of the match saw the Spaniards control the game and pepper
the Benfica goal. Time and again the Portuguese goal came under
attack as Suarez pulled the strings in the middle of the field,
only for Barca to be denied by the tackles and interceptions of
Germano or the athleticism of Pereira. Such desperate defending
could not stop Barcelona for long, however, and a sweeping move
down the right involving Kubala and Suarez on 21 minutes ended with
Suarez crossing to Kocsis who headed powerfully into the net. 1-0
to Barcelona and the script was being followed perfectly. But then,
ten minutes later, came the remarkable events that changed the game
completely.
A rare Benfica attack saw Cavem send in a low cross from the left
wing towards the edge of the penalty area. For no apparent reason,
the experienced and dependable Ramallets charged out of his goal
without any chance of getting to the ball. The ball went straight
to Aguas who merely had to guide it into the empty net gaping in
front of him for the eleventh and simplest goal of his European
Cup campaign. As if that was not enough for Barcelona, worse followed
just moments later. From the kick-off, Benfica were back on the
attack, but the ball fell to Barcelona’s right-back Foncho
to clear. Unfortunately for him, Foncho sliced the ball up into
the air. As Ramallets came out to punch it away he was blinded by
the late afternoon sunlight which shone in his eyes and, as he and
the hapless Foncho came together he sent the ball back onto his
own post and into the net.
Ramallets was never the same again. The man who had guarded his
goal so dependably for so many years for both Barcelona and Spain
had been found wanting on the biggest occasion of his career. He
said later: ‘Yes it was a really big disappointment. You can
imagine. I was 37 and I thought of retiring. I managed to play a
few more games after that but it affected me a lot.’
Ramallets was not the only one to be affected. The whole Barcelona
team had been so sure that they would win that this double blow
appeared to knock the stuffing out of them. For the rest of the
first half it was complete Benfica domination apart from one incident
which saw a Kocsis header cleared off the line by Joao. The interval
gave the Spanish side some respite, but it changed nothing as the
Benfica dominance continued into the second half and it came as
no surprise when a Coluna volley from 25 yards out found the net
to put Benfica even further ahead.
There was still half an hour left, but the way that Benfica had
controlled the game since they first took the lead convinced most
observers that the game was effectively over. There was, however,
still plenty of drama remaining. With the situation now desperate,
Kubala decided to move inside to the centre of midfield and he immediately
took hold of the game. Now the waves of attacks were heading in
the opposite direction as Barcelona’s collection of stars
suddenly showed what they were capable of. Benfica were forced into
desperate defending as the shots rained in on their goal. Pereira
in goal was forced into a number of crucial and spectacular saves,
while Kocsis amazingly headed the ball against a post when presented
with an open goal.
With 15 minutes to go, Czibor hit a long range shot that soared
over the defence, past Pereira and into the top corner of the net
to bring the score back to 3-2. Now it really was a case of backs
to the wall for Benfica. It seemed impossible for the Portuguese
defence to hold out until the end of the game. Evaristo hit the
bar, Czibor caught the outside of the post, while Kubala, with time
nearly out, hit a shot that struck the inside of the left hand post,
rebounded behind Pereira onto the right post and came out for Benfica
to clear again. Barcelona shirts swarmed around the Benfica penalty
area and created chance after chance, but in the end, time ran out
and Benfica held on to become European champions.
Barcelona were crushed. They had been so sure that they would win
the Final and now here they were, beaten by an unrated Portuguese
side and, having lost out to Real Madrid in the Spanish Championship,
unable to attempt any assault on the European Cup for at least another
year. In European terms, Barcelona were to stay in Real Madrid’s
shadow for many years to come. They had been the first side to dent
Real’s European invincibility, but they had no trophy to show
for it and, having squandered what had seemed to be a golden opportunity
to inherit what had belonged to Madrid for so long, it would take
them another 30 years to finally get their hands on the European
Cup.
Benfica, meanwhile, had begun the new European era as the champions
and were able to celebrate a triumph that had been widely unexpected
outside Lisbon. Now, however, their challenge had really begun as
they set out to prove that this win was no mere flash in the pan.
Next season Real Madrid would be back, along with a host of other
top teams from around the continent. Could Benfica replicate the
sort of dominance that Real Madrid had held over the European Cup,
or would they turn out to be just one season wonders?
1961 European Cup Final (Berne)
Benfica 3 Barcelona 2
Benfica: Pereira, Joao, Germano, Angelo, Neto,
Cruz, Jose Augusto, Santana, Aguas (capt), Coluna, Cavem
Scorers: Aguas, Ramallets (og), Coluna
Barcelona: Ramallets (capt), Foncho, Garay, Gracia,
Verges, Gensana, Kubala, Suarez, Evaristo, Kocsis, Czibor
Scorers: Kocsis, Czibor
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