International football competition

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 Football League 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.[1] An additional place was awarded to 🍎 third in 1955–56 La Liga Real Madrid as the competition's reigning champions, occupying the free berth left by Saar after 🍎 its reunification with West Germany. As a result, Spain became the first association to provide two representatives to the premier 🍎 European competition and it was only for Manchester United, who had won against Athletic Bilbao in the quarter-finals, that first 🍎 ever meeting between two sides from the same country in the competition didn't happen.

This edition was the first to utilize 🍎 play-off matches, after two legs were not enough to decide which team advances to the next round on three occasions: 🍎 Borussia Dortmund won 7–0 against Spora Luxembourg in the preliminary round, while Nice and Real Madrid won 3–1 and 2–1, 🍎 respectively, against Rangers and Rapid Wien in the first round.

Teams [ edit ]