The 1956âÂÂ57 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 2âÂÂ0 in the final at the Santiago Bernabéu, 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. An additional place was awarded to third in 1955âÂÂ56 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 7âÂÂ0 against Spora Luxembourg in the preliminary round, while Nice and Real Madrid won 3âÂÂ1 and 2âÂÂ1, respectively, against Rangers and Rapid Wien in the first round.
A total of 22 teams participated in the competition.
AGF, Anderlecht, Rapid Wien and Real Madrid returned to the competition, after participating in the inaugural edition.
Galatasaray was the only team, other than the title holder, who didn't enter as a national association champion, as Süper Lig was not founded until 1959.
The draw for the preliminary round took place in UEFA headquarters in Paris on 29 June 1956. The 21 challengers of Real Madrid were grouped geographically into three pots. The first four teams drawn in each pot would play the preliminary round in September, while the remaining three clubs received byes.
The calendar was decided by the involved teams, with all matches to be played by 1 October.
Borussia Dortmund 5âÂÂ5 Spora Luxembourg on aggregate; play-off needed.
Slovan UNV Bratislava won 4âÂÂ2 on aggregate.
Athletic Bilbao won 5âÂÂ3 on aggregate.
Manchester United won 12âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
Nice won 6âÂÂ2 on aggregate.
Dinamo BucureÃÂti won 4âÂÂ3 on aggregate.
Borussia Dortmund won play-off 7âÂÂ0.
Red Star Belgrade won 6âÂÂ3 on aggregate.
Real Madrid 5âÂÂ5 Rapid Wien on aggregate; play-off needed.
Nice 3âÂÂ3 Rangers on aggregate; play-off needed.
Manchester United won 3âÂÂ2 on aggregate.
Fiorentina won 2âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
Grasshopper won 2âÂÂ1 on aggregate.
Athletic Bilbao won 6âÂÂ5 on aggregate.
CDNA Sofia won 10âÂÂ4 on aggregate.
Nice won play-off 3âÂÂ1.
Real Madrid won play-off 2âÂÂ0.
Manchester United won 6âÂÂ5 on aggregate.
Red Star Belgrade won 4âÂÂ3 on aggregate.
Fiorentina won 5âÂÂ3 on aggregate.
Real Madrid won 6âÂÂ2 on aggregate.
Fiorentina won 1âÂÂ0 on aggregate.
Real Madrid won 5âÂÂ3 on aggregate.
The top scorers from the 1956âÂÂ57 European Cup (including preliminary round) were as follows: