When Glasgow was chosen to host the 1960 European Cup final, the city expected to see two top teams from the continent battling it out for the right to be crowned champions of Europe. The city got their wish, and a little bit extra.
This was familiar territory for the Real Madrid side of the late 1950’s as they had not only competed in the first four European Cup finals, but they came out on top on every occasion with wins over Stade De Remis twice and once over Italian giants AC Milan and Fiorentina respectively. Eintracht Frankfurt however, found themselves in a European Cup final for the first time, and what a task they had on their hands, attempting to dethrone the kings of Europe, Real Madrid.

Both sides had impressive wins in their respective semi-finals. Eintracht Frankfurt put twelve past Glasgow Rangers over two legs, conceding four in an entertaining encounter which seen Glasgow Rangers dreams of playing a European Cup final in their own country thwarted by the Germans. In the other semi-final, Real Madrid had to overcome their bitter rivals, Catalan giants Barcelona. They did so in comfortable fashion, winning 6-2 on aggregate. The scene was set for a high scoring encounter in the final, and that was what these two teams produced for a bumper 135,000 crowd that packed themselves into Hampden Park.

A quiet start to the game from both sides was unexpected but this was to be the calm before the storm. Despite being massive underdogs, Eintracht Frankfurt took the lead via a well constructed goal by the German side. A measured pass from the midfield found Erwin Stein at the bye-line who crossed for Richard Kress at the near post to slot past Argentinean goalkeeper Rogelio Dominguez. This 17th minute goal could be compared to the David Narey goal for Scotland against Brazil in the 1982 World Cup in the sense that it seemed to get the opposition team angry. In Real Madrid’s case, really angry!

Alfredo Di Stefano got into the right positions in order for the Spanish side to take the lead for the first time in the match. The Argentinean pounced on defensive errors from the Eintracht Frankfurt’s three man defence and goalkeeper Egon Loy.

Alfredo Di Stefano puts Real Madrid 2-1 up as the huge Hampden Park crowd watches on

Despite these first two goals being simple finishes for a player like Di Stefano, there was some sublime approach play with Ferenc Puskas at the hub of the creative play for Real Madrid. Puskas then took over the role of goal scorer after another sweeping move from the pre match favourites. It was Puskas’ flick that sent Luis Del Sol clear, and despite Del Sol messing up his lines, Puskas was on hand for the follow up, comprehensively powering his shot into the roof of the net in spite of an acute angle to give Real Madrid a 3-1 lead at half time. There was no let up from Real Madrid after the break as they put together another passing move that baffled their German counterparts although it did lead to a dubious penalty after a defence splitting pass by Ferenc Puskas to Alfredo Di Stefano, the latter being obstructed on the edge of the box. Puskas stepped up and sent the goalkeeper the wrong way, surely giving Real Madrid their fifth successive European Cup.

Puskas went on to notch up another two goals, one of which was a cracking strike into the top left hand corner which gave Egon Loy no chance in the Eintracht Frankfurt goal. A great deal of credit must be reserved for the fighting qualities of the German side as they continued to press the Spaniards. This pressure paid off in the form of two consolation goals from Erwin Stein either side of a seventh goal for Real Madrid as Alfredo Di Stefano completed his hat trick with a clinical finish from just outside the box.

Real Madrid hold aloft the European Cup at Hampden Park

Ten goals, superb build up play, competitiveness from both sides and two hat tricks resulted in this football match being dubbed, ‘the greatest game’. With Eintracht Frankfurt giving a good account of themselves, most of the plaudits went to the champions for the fifth time. One of the most influential coaches of all time, Bill Shankly, said that “Real Madrid are the greatest club side the world has ever seen” and who would argue with him.

Real Madrid would not win the European Cup again until 1966 despite another final appearance in 1962 where Ferenc Puskas scored another hat trick in a European Cup final, a feat that has still never been reproduced.

The legacy of this match was not just the brand of football that was on display but it also began the transformation of the British game.  A young Alex Ferguson was present at this unforgettable game; Don Revie adopted the all white kit for his Leeds United team in the early 1960’s.  Not only that, established British managers like Jock Stein began to look at the European approach to football, whether it be the ‘Catenaccio’ style used by Helenio Herrera’s Inter Milan side or the ‘Harlem Globetrotter’ mentality used by Real Madrid in this magical European Cup final.    

As one football journalist put it after the match, “it was in that game when Real Madrid made football into art”. 

Long live the artists.