Madrid triumph on home soil

Having lifted the inaugural European Champion Clubs' Cup in Paris a year earlier, Real Madrid CF retained the trophy at their Santiago Bernabéu Stadium, defeating ACF Fiorentina 2-0.

With their Italian opponents fielding forwards Giuseppe Virgili, Miguel Montuori and Julinho, the hosts exercised caution in a first half of few chances. The 120,000 people packed into the famous ground witnessed local favourite Alfredo di Stéfano create the best chance of the opening 45 minutes, his superb drive being met with a flying save from Giuliano Sarti in the Fiorentina goal.

Solid defending kept Madrid at bay until the 69th minute, when a lapse in the visitors' defence let Enrique Mateos in on goal and after the Spanish international was upended in the area, it was left to Di Stéfano to convert the ensuing penalty. Six minutes later the vast majority of the huge crowd were in raptures when Francisco 'Paco' Gento sprinted clear before lifting the ball over the advancing Sarti and in off the underside of the crossbar.

Los Merengues held out for victory and with chants of 'Hala Madrid' ringing around the stadium amid thousands of white handkerchiefs being waved, captain Miguel Muñoz and his team-mates made their way up into the Palco de Honor before raising the trophy for the second time.

Goalscorer and Madrid legend Di Stéfano recalled fond memories of the encounter, particularly the heat on that day in late May. "It was very hot as it was summer here in Spain," he told UEFA.com. "The sun was so powerful that it would burn your skin. Fiorentina had won their league and they had a great defence, as has always been the case with Italian sides throughout history. It took us ages to breach that backline."

Gento, meanwhile, insisted his team never lost belief despite not finding the opening goal until late in the game. "We had a lot of faith in our ability and we knew that because we were on top in the match we would be able to score sooner or later. Mateos was awarded the penalty which Alfredo put away, while my second goal allowed us to relax a little."