Real Madrid defeated Stade de Reims in the
first ever European Cup final in 1956

The 1955–56 European Cup, the first ever season of UEFA's premier club football tournament, was participated by 16 teams. Real Madrid defeated Servette 7-0 on aggregate in the first knockout round. Real Madrid faced a tough challenge from Partizan in the quarter finals. The Los Blancos won 4-0 at home but were beaten 3-0 at Belgrade. The capital side then faced AC Milan at home in the first leg of semi final, which ended 4-2 in the favour of Real Madrid. At Milan, Real Madrid suffered a 2-1 loss but nonetheless qualified to the final on 4-3 aggregate. 

The final was played at Parc des Princes in Paris between Real Madrid and Stade de Reims. The match started brightly for Reims, with Michel Leblond and Jean Templin scoring to make it 2–0 inside ten minutes, but by half time Real levelled the scores, through goals from Alfredo Di Stéfano and Héctor Rial. The French side took the lead again on 62 minutes through Michel Hidalgo, but Marquitos and Rial scored in the 67th and 79th minutes respectively to win the cup for Madrid.