The stuff Reims were made of

The European Champion Clubs' Cup final returns to Paris on Wednesday exactly half a century after the first final, and if Arsenal FC and FC Barcelona produce as much excitement as Stade de Reims Champagne and Real Madrid CF did in 1956, the Stade de France crowd are in for a treat.

Kopa inspiration
More than 38,000 fans crammed inside the Parc des Princes to witness the inaugural final, with the majority hoping that the French champions Reims would prevail. Inspired by their brilliant striker Raymond Kopa, Albert Batteux's team had reached the final in exhilarating style - beating Danish club AGF Århus, the Hungarians of Vörös Lobogo and Scottish side Hibernian FC - and were regarded by many as favourites.

'Everybody was excited'
While the media coverage was far less intense than nowadays, there was still a huge sense of anticipation ahead of Madrid's visit. "The mere fact we were playing Real Madrid was an important event because they were already regarded as the biggest club in the world," former Reims midfielder Michel Hidalgo told uefa.com. "They not only had Spanish stars but also foreign stars like Alfredo di Stéfano. Everybody was excited. It was obvious even then that the European Cup was very special."

Hidalgo confidence
Madrid had overcome the mighty AC Milan en route to Paris, but Hidalgo was still optimistic before the game. "We knew about Madrid but we also had an excellent side and we all believed we would win, particularly having beaten the Hungarians who were one of the best teams around," he said. The French confidence appeared well founded when Michel Leblond and Jean Templin put the red-and-whites 2-0 up inside ten minutes.

Two-goal lead
"I remember heading in the opening goal but the rest of the game is a bit of a blur," said former defender Leblond. "The biggest problem for us was our defending. Defence was never Reims' strong point and we were missing our best defender, Armand Penverne, for the final." Madrid exploited those defensive frailties, as Di Stéfano reduced the arrears before laying on a second goal for fellow Argentinian Héctor Rial. Reims raised their game again after the interval, though, and with the fans behind them, the French side started to get on top. When Hidalgo converted Kopa's free-kick just after the hour it looked as though the trophy would be staying in France.

'It hurt a lot'
However, defender Manuel Marquitos equalised on 67 minutes and Rial made it 4-3 eleven minutes from time. "Football can be cruel," Kopa told uefa.com. "When you think we were 3-2 up with only a quarter of the match left, it's difficult to accept that we lost." Kopa would make up for the disappointment by winning the trophy in Madrid colours for each of the next three seasons. "It hurt a lot but looking back I count myself lucky that Real won in 1956," continued the France legend. "Otherwise they wouldn't have been in the competition the following year and I might not have ended up with three winners' medals!"

'Incredible team'
It proved to be the closest Reims, currently in Ligue 2, would come to conquering Europe. Seven-times domestic champions, they lost again to Madrid in the final three years later, this time 2-0, and French fans had to wait until Olympique de Marseille's 1992/93 triumph to claim continental supremacy. "We just had the misfortune to be around at the same time as that incredible Real Madrid team," reflected Dominique Colonna, the Reims goalkeeper in 1959. "If it wasn't for them, Reims might have dominated Europe for years."