Madrid didn’t know Cup was the Real deal

MADRID: Real Madrid players had little idea what the European Cup was when the record winners played their first fixture in the competition exactly 60 years ago yesterday, according to club great Paco Gento.

Real beat Swiss side Servette 2-0 in Geneva on September 8, 1955 and claimed the first of five straight titles by beating Stade de Reims 4-3 in the final in Paris the following June.

The tournament was an initiative of French sports daily and its then-editor Gabriel Hanot. World governing body Fifa gave their backing under the condition it was organised by their European counterpart Uefa.

“I must confess that we had no idea how significant the tournament would become,” Spaniard Gento was quoted as saying in an interview with Spanish sports daily yesterday.

“We went to play and that was it,” added the 81-year-old former left winger, who is the only player to win the competition six times.

“Nobody explained to us what would happen, neither the competition format nor that it was going to be something important for many years to come.

“I don’t think we really realised what it all meant until we won the first title in the final in Paris.

“Then we were able to see what the European Cup was all about. It was something indescribable.”

Real, the world’s richest club by income, have amassed 10 continental crowns, their latest coming in 2014 when they beat Atletico Madrid in the final in Lisbon. – Reuters