TOThe tournament started in Lisbon in 2014 and its last stop, for now, is the National Stadium in Warsaw, where Madrid won its sixth European Super Cup. It is now more than a decade of iron-fisted dominance by the Chamartn team in European competitions. Since the Decima de Da Luz, 22 finals have been played between Champions League and Continental Super Cup. Half of them, 11 (six and five) are in the showcases of the Museo Blanco. Add to that the five Club World Cups that it has had the right to play in. It is a dominance, for being powerful and extensive in time, that has not been known until now.
Di Stefano’s Madrid
It remains a unique team, the one that won the first five European Cups. An unchallenged dominance between 1956 and 1960, the first five years of the competition. It had a reply with the Madrid yey of 1966, in which there were still champions from Madrid’s first triumphant cycle. But then a chasm of 32 years opened without winning in Europe. Without a European Super Cup in play, that team won the first Intercontinental Cup, in 1960. The 1966 one went to Pearol.
The best forwards in Spanish football: Di Stefano’s Madrid
Eusebio’s Benfica
He took over from Madrid with two consecutive final wins (1961 and 1962, the second against Madrid), but that was it. Then came the curse of Bela Guttmanand the five European Cup finals lost. The Lisbon team lost the two Intercontinental Cups they played, against Pearol and Santos.
The best international forwards of ‘El Gran Benfica’
HH and Luis Surez’s Inter
Another team that seemed set to mark a long era. They won the European Cup twice in a row (1964 and 1965) and in the next two they fell, respectively, in the semi-finals (Madrid) and final (Celtic). They beat Independiente in the two finals for what was considered the world crown.
Inter pays tribute to Luis Surez after his death
Cruyff’s Ajax
A team of authors that lasted as long as Johan in Amsterdam. They were European champions between 1971 and 1973. The first edition of the European Super Cup had the tulips as champions. And by crushing Milan: 1-0 in San Siro and 6-0 in Amsterdam, already with Cruyff in Barcelona. Of the two Intercontinental Cups they were able to play, they gave up two and won the 1972 one against Independiente. Ajax did not return to a European Cup final until 1995.
Cruyff’s three European Cups with Ajax
The Kaiser’s Bayern
Munich took over from Amsterdam as the capital of the European Cup, which Bayern won between 1974 and 1976. With Beckenbauer in charge, the team of Maier, Schwarzenbeck, Müller, Hoennes and Rummenigge never won the Super Cup. They lost to Anderlecht and Dynamo Kiev and the 1975 Super Cup was not played because the opponent was a team from the other side of the Wall, Magdeburg. Of the three International Cups, they gave up the first (it went to Atlético de Madrid), the 1975 Super Cup was not held because the dates were not agreed, and the 1976 Super Cup was won by Cruzeiro. Bayern I did not become European champion again until 2001.
Beckenbauer’s free kick goal that has never been seen again
The English domain
Six years in a row the European Cup ended in England thanks to Liverpool (1977, 1978 and 1981), Nottingham Forest (1979 and 1980) and Aston Villa (1982). In all those years the Intercontinental went to South America, except in 1978… because it was not played. In the Super Cup, each English team that won Europe won one.
Nottingham Forest were European champions in 1979 and 1980
Sacchi’s Milan
A cultural reference, a revolutionary model. They were European champions in 1989 and 1990, a team that continued under Capello and won the Champions League in 1994. They won those three Super Cups and two of the three Intercontinental Cups. The other, in 1994, was lost to Sao Paulo. Milan had to wait until 2003 to rule Europe again.
Sacchi’s Milan with Gullit, Van Basten and company
Guardiola’s Barcelona
This was Real Madrid 2-6 Barcelona: the day they created the false ‘9’ position
To the European Cup of Rijkaard in 2006, Barça joined those of 2009 and 2011 (with Guardiola) and the one of 2015 (with Luis Enrique). They have not managed to chain two Champions Leagues in a row. With the Club World Cup as the heir of the Intercontinental, Barça has won three out of four. The 2006 World Cup, against Inter de Porto Alegre, slipped away. That one also slipped away. Super Cup of Europe after being crushed by Sevilla: 3-0, the biggest difference since the final was played in a single match.
