⭐ Onefootball's greatest ever teams: In 4th place is ... | OneFootball

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Lewis Ambrose·3 June 2020

⭐ Onefootball's greatest ever teams: In 4th place is ...

Article image:⭐ Onefootball's greatest ever teams: In 4th place is ...

The Onefootball countdown of the 20 greatest club sides ever goes on.

And just missing out on the podium, in fourth, is …


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Real Madrid 1955-60

Article image:⭐ Onefootball's greatest ever teams: In 4th place is ...

Why are they here?

  • Won the first five European Cups (1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960)
  • CL dominance
  • Spanish titles

The stars

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  1. Alfredo Di Stéfano – the heartbeat
  2. Ferenc Puskás – the goal machine
  3. Francisco Gento – football’s only six-time European Cup winner

The European Cup, now the Champions League, was founded in 1955. Real Madrid were the only team to win it until 1961.

A pre-cursor to the Galácticos and the root of Real Madrid’s lifelong love affair with being crowned the champions of Europe, Real Madrid won the inaugural competition (1956) and then the following four.

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The team was built around star names, chiefly Alfredo Di Stéfano. In the days before tactics had really taken a hold, almost every club lined up with the W-M formation of the time, with three defenders, two midfielders, and a front five.

Di Stéfano, signed in 1953, played as the ‘striker’ but was truly the heartbeat of the team.

It was as though he had set up his own command centre at the heart of the game. He was as strong as he was subtle. You just could not keep your eyes off him.

The Argentine would drop all the way back to the defence to collect the ball and dictate play. He would move forward with his precise passing or his excellent dribbling, he would burst into the box to score over and over again.

He did, in fact, score in all five of this side’s European Cup final successes, and ended his Madrid career with 216 goals in 284 LaLiga appearances.

On the flanks, Francisco Gento and Raymond Kopa were superb creative forces.

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Together, the firepower of this formidable side saw them average over 2.7 goals per game in LaLiga.

Further back, José Santamaría, nicknamed ‘The Wall’, marshalled the backline. But it was the attack that led this team to glory.

Madrid couldn’t record domestic dominance, winning two titles (1957, 1958) in those five seasons, but their legend is built on their European glory.

Di Stéfano was the undoubted star and key man until 1958, when 31-year-old Ferenc Puskás signed. Talk about Galácticos.

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Despite his portly figure, Puskás had a huge impact, becoming the team’s top scorer in successive seasons and allowing Di Stéfano to move into a more natural deeper role, where he could dictate play even more freely.

Having missed the 1959 European Cup final, Puskás scored four in the 7-3 win over Frankfurt in 1960.

Not only did this team have huge success, but they created an entire dynasty. One that is still felt to this day.