Page 6 - Microsoft Word - BOOK 1 edition 6 .docx

COUPE DES CLUBS CHAMPIONS EUROPÉENS

(FINALE – PARIS : PARC DES PRINCES)

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(Pierre Delauney 13 juin 1956)

You are going to watch the first final of a football competition, which

includes the all of Europe.

Sixteen teams (all champions of their respective country) have taken part in

this tournament, which started in September 1955. Each team has to play two

games in each round in order to try to qualify for the next round : one at home

and the other one away from home.

This competition has been created thanks to the Sports newspaper

“L’QUIPE”. The organisation of this competition is the responsibility of the

UEFA (the Union of the European Football Associations), which is made of

thirty federations on the continent.

Is it necessary to elaborate on the brilliance of the STADE DE REIMS

(1955 Champion) in this competition this year? They have beaten every team in

their path indisputably. Reims is undefeated as they have won four games and

have drawn two away from home.

REAL MADRID is by far the best finalist that Reims could have hoped for.

They have beaten each opponent by a big margin and with a lot of class.

It is great to be able to see these two very talented teams meeting each

other in the final. We still have in mind this famous game in the latin cup, in

June 1955, when both teams met in the final. Reims did lose but had to play a

difficult game against Milan two days before the final, which may explain why

they did not appear so competitive against Madrid. Will the STADE DE REIMS

be able to take his revenge on the same ground (i.e. Parc des Princes in Paris)

that they last played Madrid? We know the volatility of this team in the French

league, but the team has a lot of international players with a lot of experience in

its ranks; amongst them is Kopa ‘the virtuoso’. Surely, this will play in his favour.