1961-1970
A
glorious cycle was drawing to an end after two defeats in two different
European Cup finals against Benfica and Inter Milan, respectively. The decline
of the players that had thrilled the whole of Europe ended with their departure
from the Club. Miguel Muñoz's generational reshuffle was eventually successful.
The so called "Ye-Yés” regained the European crown by winning the Club's
sixth European Cup.
Madricide against
Barcelona
Real
Madrid were eliminated from the European Cup for the first time in November
1960 against Barcelona. English referees Ellis and Leafe played a big role in
the Madridista defeat. The former allowed an unfair penalty to Barcelona at the
Bernabéu and the match eventually ended with a 2-2 score. The latter disallowed
four Real Madrid goals at the Camp Nou and Barcelona won 2-1. The international
press heavily criticised Ellis and Leafe's performance and coined the term Madricide to
describe Real Madrid's unjust elimination.
Barcelona
get thrashed eleven days later
Real
Madrid took revenge from their defeat against Barcelona a few days later by
defeating the Catalans 5-3 at the Camp Nou on 4 December.
Exhibition
at Maracaná
On
8 February 1961, the Whites played at Maracaná Stadium for the first time. They
faced Vasco da Gama and earned a 2-0 score before half-time thanks to goals by
Del Sol and Canario. Real Madrid were tired in the last 45 minutes and the game
eventually ended in a 2-2 draw.
Seven
Madridistas in the 1962 World Cup
Pablo
Hernández Coronado was the Spanish national coach for the Chile 1962 World Cup.
He stirred up some controversy by not including Amancio on the squad list, but
nevertheless called up Di Stéfano, Santamaría, Puskas, Pachín, Del Sol, Gento
and Araquistain. Unfortunately, Di Stéfano got injured and had to miss the
tournament.
Di
Stéfano kidnapped for three days
Alfredo
Di Stéfano was kidnapped at the Potomac Hotel in Caracas, where Real Madrid
were staying during the World Club Championship. He was taken away the night of
the 21 August 1963 by the Libebration Front of Venezuela. "I thought they
were going to kill me," wrote the player in his autobiography Gracias,
Vieja. The kidnapping had great impact and his captors got the publicity they
wanted. Di Stéfano was freed three days later.
The
first Real Madrid City is inaugurated
The
1956 General Assemby approved the construction of the first Real Madrid City.
The grounds were inaugurated seven years later thanks to Real Madrid
Vicepresident Álvaro Bustamante, who promoted the idea. The opening took place
on 18 May 1963. A very important international athletics meeting took place as
part of the inauguration.
Di
Stéfano's bitter farewell
On
27 June 1964, Alfredo Di Stéfano played his last official match as a Real
Madrid man at Vienna's Prater Stadium against Inter Milan in the ninth European
Cup final, which the Italian side won 3-1. Di Stéfano had a confrontation with
coach Miguel Muñoz and Santiago Bernabéu took the latter's side. The President
offered the player to stay at the Club to do other jobs, but he refused and
signed for Español.
Five
consecutive League titles... Again
Real
Madrid are the only side to have won the League five consecutive times twice in
the competition's 76-year history. The first time they achieved this was
between the 1960/61 and 1964-65 seasons and they repeated the feat between the
1985-86 and 1989-90 seasons. No other Spanish team has been able to break this
record.
The
"Ye-Yés" crown themselves as European champions
Miguel
Muñoz's generational reshuffle of the team in 1964 was successful two years
later. On 11 May 1966, Real Madrid won their sixth European Cup title at Brussel's
Heysel Stadium against Partizan Belgrade, whom they defeated 2-1. This was the
"Ye-Ye" team. "Ye-Ye" was how youngsters were called in
Spain in the Sixties, especially those who looked like the Beatles. The team
back then was formed by Araquistain; Pachín, De Felipe, Sanchís; Pirri, Zoco;
Serena, Amancio, Grosso, Velázquez and Gento.
A
tribute to three excellent players
Three
tribute games were held to honour three legendary players at the end of the
Sixties: José Emilio Santamaría (15-9-66), Alfredo di Stéfano (7-6-67) and
Ferenc Puskas (26-6-69). The threesome were already a symbol of Real Madrid
greatness and of the Club's history. The three became coaches at the end of
their careers as players. Needless to say, the crowd gave them an incredibly
warm ovation
Source : http://www.realmadrid.com
