You Come As Quietly As You Go...

In some situations, one would think you as a nightcreeper. Stealthily you slink in, silently blending yourself with the shadows of the dark. Only in this case, you're doing it virtually.

Haven't been seeing you around much, but your presence is felt. Have you gone into hiding?? I don't know. You seem to come when we go & go when we come. It's not as if I don't welcome you, I do. But at least say something to mark your presence. It feels a little stalker-ish but I know it's you. I don't think I will ever understand why you do what you do but I'll give you the benefit of doubt that you have your reasons. Maybe it's your way of looking out for me?? I don't know & I don't wish to delve deeper.

Ahh, heck. Actually, it doesn't matter much. You're not like Luis who gives comments at every of my blog entries & I don't expect you to do the same. Just don't come at me with a paring knife while I'm off-guard, 'kay??

Moving on. In commemoration of the upcoming matches tonight & tomorrow, I've received an email from some person regarding the 50 glorious years of Champions League. Celebrating half a century since it's wake, an article was sent out depicting the more memorable matches played during the season-long competition. Footie-lovers might want to glance through this one. Then again, maybe not. It's a little long, though.

50 Years Of Europe's Greatest Club Competition

The Champions League Group stage gets underway across the continent this week and as ever interest in this fascinating tournament will be intense. So it is timely to recall that the inaugural European Cup was launched exactly fifty years ago, and to trace the origins and history of a competition that has since been won by some of the greatest names in European club football. Some other big names are still trying desperately to add the Cup to their list of honours.

Back in March 1955 a vote at Uefa's meeting in Vienna failed to produce the necessary majority in favour of staging a European-wide cup competition for national league champions. It was a familiar story – the idea had been kicked around since the mid-1920s but the proposals were always rejected. But something happened in 1955 that galvanised opinion and suddenly produced decisive action.

The then English champions, Wolverhampton Wanderers, had pioneered the staging of floodlit friendly matches against some of the leading European clubs, and when they followed up the thrashing of Spartak Moscow at Molineux with victory over Hungarian champions Honved – who included the incomparable Ferenc Puskas and other members of the 'Magnificent Magyars' in their side – Wolves boss Stan Cullis proudly proclaimed that Wolves were now unofficial champions of the world.

His boast stung the rest of Europe into action and L'Equipe, the French sports newspaper, responded by inviting what they regarded as the top 18 clubs in Europe (not all of them reigning champions) to a meeting in Paris. Sixteen teams attended – including Chelsea, the new English League champions - and all 16 readily agreed to a European Cup played on a home and away basis. The tournament was sanctioned by Fifa on May 8, 1955 - coincidentally the tenth anniversary of VE Day. Fifa only imposed one restriction, which was that all entrants had to have the blessing of their national associations.

Ironically, that ruling prevented Chelsea from taking part, because the myopic Football League asked the Blues to “reconsider,” claiming ludicrously that the extra fixtures might be difficult to fulfil and could damage the League's own programme. Despite such insular self-interest from England, the tournament proceeded. Hibernian, the Scottish entrants, reached the semi-final, had no problem with fixture congestion and made a healthy £25,000 profit from their involvement. That was a slap in the face for the Football League but the real story of that first tournament in 1955-56, apart from its resounding financial success, was the story of Real Madrid.

Club president Santiago Bernabeu, the 1920s centre-forward of Real Madrid and subsequently its spiritual leader, had long cherished the idea of a cup for European champions, because he felt it would be a tournament worthy of the team that played in the pure white and the stadium he had built for them. Fittingly, Real won that inaugural competition, beating Reims 4-3 in the sell-out final in Paris with the heart and soul of their side, Alfredo di Stefano, creating all four goals.

It was the start of a period of unprecedented dominance that created the legend of Real Madrid and earned them adulation throughout the world. For Real proceeded to win each of the next four finals, culminating in what remains arguably the best-ever European Cup tie of all time – the 1960 final. Fiorentina (2-0 in 1957, Madrid, 124,000 spectators), AC Milan (3-2 after extra-time, 1958, Brussels, 67,000), Reims again (2-0, 1959, Stuttgart, 80,000), and Eintracht Frankfurt (7-3, 1960, Glasgow, 135,000) all tried but failed to break Real's monopoly on the final. Their stunning success had set the standard and ensured that the European Cup not only captured the public's imagination but also generated handsome revenue.

The first name other than Real Madrid to be engaved on the imposing silverware was that of Portugal's champions, Benfica. Brilliant coach Bela Guttman's side, featuring the fabulous Eusebio, beat Real's arch-rivals Barcelona 3-2 i the 1961 final before overcoming Real themselves 5-3 in 1962. But in 1963 Benfica were the runners-up at Wembley as AC Milan became the first Italian side to claim the coveted trophy – lifted by captain Cesare Maldini, Paolo's father, after Gianni Rivera had set up both goals in a 2-1 win.

The following two years saw Milan's city rivals Internazionale lift the Cup under the guidance of astute Argentine tactician Helenio Herrera, who devised the ultra-effective catenaccio defensive system. Neither Real Madrid (1-3, 1964) nor Benfica (0-1, 1965) could get the better of Inter.

But in 1966 in Brussels, Real Madrid became champions again, beating Partizan Belgrade 2-1. A year later Jock Stein's Celtic – The Lions of Lisbon – stunned Inter with a superb 2-1 victory, and in 1968 the Cup came to England for the first time. Fittingly, it was won by Manchester United. They, and in particular their manager Matt Busby, had defied the Football League in 1956 and entered the European Cup. The League had predictably tried to “dissuade” them, saying “their participation was not in the best interests of the League.” With the foresight and guts that characterised the man, Busby disagreed. He thought his exciting young team – the 'Busby Babes' - would benefit from the experience, and that England had a lot to learn from Europe. They were beaten by Real in the 1957 semi-final and the following year, on the way home from Belgrade having reached the semis again, their plane crashed at Munich in appalling conditions. Eight players were killed as a result; Busby was left fighting for his life. He survived to rebuild United, and lead them to European Cup glory at Wembley 10 years later, where the Red Devils beat Eusebio's Benfica 4-1 after extra-time.

In 1969 Ajax, with Johan Cruyff catching the eye, reached their first final but were well beaten 4-1 by AC Milan. The Dutch were back next year though – this time in the shape of Feyenoord, who beat Celtic 2-1 after extra-time. Now Ajax came into their own, reeling off three successive victories: against Panathinaikos (2-0, 1971), Inter (2-0, 1972) and Juventus (1-0, 1973), with Cruyff pulling the strings for Rinus Michels' great side.

But Germany was about to take centre-stage, with the powerful Bayern Munich side of Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Muller sweeping all before them. Bayern stormed to three successive victories, beating Atletico Madrid 4-0 in a replay (1974), Leeds United 2-0 (1975) and St Etienne 1-0 (1976).

The theme of domination by particular nations continued, with now English clubs stepping up to the plate. Bob Paisley's Liverpool beat Borussia Moenchengladbach 3-1 in Rome in 1977, then retained the Cup in 1978 with a 1-0 win over FC Brugge. In 1979 Brian Clough's Nottingham Forest lifted the trophy with a 1-0 victory over Malmo. Forest also retained the Cup, beating SV Hamburg 1-0 in Madrid in 1980. Then Liverpool beat Real Madrid 1-0 before Aston Villa inflicted a 1-0 defeat on Bayern Munich in 1982 to make it six straight English wins. Hamburg interrupted the run by defeating Juventus 1-0 in 1983, but Liverpool lifted the crown again in 1984. They beat Roma 4-2 in the first penalty shoot-out, after the teams drew 1-1 at Rome's Olimpico Stadium.

Liverpool made it to the final the next year, too; but the 1985 final was the European Cup's darkest hour as 39 people lost their lives when Liverpool fans rushed their Juventus counterparts in an adjacent section of the crumbling Heysel Stadium terrace, causing a wall to collapse in the panic-stricken stampede. The game was incidental to the tragedy, but Juve won it 1-0 with a Michel Platini penalty. The aftermath saw English clubs banned from Europe, but an Englishman, Terry Venables, led Barcelona to the 1986 final. He couldn't break Barca's duck in the competiton though, Steaua Bucharest winning 2-0 on penalties after a disappointing goalless draw in Seville.

Porto beat Bayern Munich 2-1 in 1987 and PSV Eindhoven were the victors the following year, beating Benfica 6-5 on penalties after a 0-0 draw. Then the partnership between president Silvio Berlusconi and coach Arrigo Sacchi at Milan began to bear fruit. Sacchi, recruited from Parma, brought in the three Dutchmen Ruud Gullit, Frank Rijkaard and Marco van Basten, and Milan thrashed Steaua Bucharest 4-0 in the 1989 European Cup final. They retained the Cup by beating Benfica 1-0 in 1990.

Red Star Belgade were the 1991 winners, 5-3 on penalties after drawing 0-0 with Olympique Marseille. And Barcelona finally won the trophy in 1992 with a 1-0 win over Sampdoria.

The tournament then underwent a major change following pressure from Europe's biggest clubs. The Champions League format was ushered in and, although it extended entry beyond the champion club of each country and so was something of a misnomer, it has proved a compelling spectacle and resounding financial success, albeit with a few more tweaks to the format in recent years.

First winners of the new era were Marseille, who beat AC Milan 1-0 to become the first French club to win a European trophy after a wait of nearly 40 years following the nation's initiative in bringing the European Cup into being. However, OM were subsequently stripped of the title after being found guilty of bribery allegations. Meanwhile Milan also featured in the next two finals, thumping Barcelona 4-0 in 1994 but losing 1-0 to Ajax in 1995. Ajax then lost 4-2 on penalties to Juventus after a 1-1 draw, but Juve were themselves beaten 3-1 by Borussia Dortmund in 1997. Juve tasted defeat again the following year, 1-0 at the hands of Real Madrid who thus claimed their first title for 32 years, and their seventh overall.

Manchester United came from behind to clinch a last-gasp victory (2-1) over Bayern Munich in 1999, before Real Madrid beat Valencia 3-0 in 2000 to burnish their reputation further. Bayern made up for that 1999 disappointment by beating Valencia in 2001, albeit 5-4 on penalties after a 1-1 draw. But Madrid had recaptured the taste for European success and in 2002 they beat Bayer Leverkusen 2-0 for their ninth success in the competition.

AC Milan confirmed their position as the second most successful side in European Cup history by beating Juventus 3-2 on penalties in Glasgow after the all-Italian affair had finished goalless. The 2004 final saw two relatively unfancied sides, Porto and Monaco, contest the final in Gelsenkirchen. It was the Portuguese club, managed by Jose Mourinho, who triumphed 3-0.

And last May the tournament saw its most remarkable final as Liverpool, trailing 3-0 to Milan at half-time, stormed back to draw 3-3 before winning the penalty shoot-out 3-2 in Istanbul.

And so to the 2005-06 campaign in which Liverpool, despite finishing fifth in the EPL last season, were allowed to defend their title by entering at the first qualifying round stage. They have come through three qualifying ties to take their place in this week's Group Stage alongside the great and the good of European soccer. The Reds have won the Cup five times, putting them behind Real (nine), Milan (six), but ahead of Ajax (four) and Bayern Munich (four). A total of 21 different clubs have won the competition, from 10 different countries (including the discredited French win in 1993). Spanish, Italian and English clubs have won 30 of the 50 titles – each country boasting 10 wins. Germany and Holland both have six wins, Portugal four, and Scotland, Romania, the former Republic of Yugoslavia and France one each, though the Marseille's victory was subsequently taken from them.

There we go. And you can have that as your morning coffee. That's one lengthy article. More like a history of the Champions League, though. Will be back with probably a photoblog; it's been quite awhile since I did one of those.

Laterz...
Lenny JC