You learn something new every day.
Diego Simeone’s Atletico Madrid side are just 90 minutes away from claiming their first ever European Cup after their success over Bayern Munich this week.
The La Liga challengers defeated the German outfit on away goals and will face either Real Madrid, or Manchester City, in the finale.
The Spanish side is fairly inexperienced at European level, with this startling statistic suggesting how much of an achievement it was for Simeone’s side to reach their second Champions Final in just three years.
https://twitter.com/EvilFootball/status/727570643244486662
The 2-1 reversal to Munich was the club’s 100th game in European competition, and their maiden match outside of Spain was against an Irish team, all the way back in 1958.
Tonight's Bayern win was @atletienglish's 100th European game.Their 1st was 1958 v Drumcondra(Irish)ATM winning 8-0 pic.twitter.com/1A7m7EPwjz
— AS USA (@English_AS) May 3, 2016
The opening leg of the European Cup qualifiers saw Atletico Madrid face Drumcondra in Spain, with the hosts winning 8-0.
The game, played in scorching Spanish sunshine, saw Atleti score six second-half goals at the Metropolitan Stadium.
The second leg was played at Dalymount Park on the 1 October 1958, and despite the Irishmen trying their best, they suffered a 5-1 loss.
Madrid’s star over both legs was Vavá, a player who scored in the 158 and 1962 World Cup Finals, and was hailed as the key player in Drumcondra’s destruction.
You could have bought a copy of the match programme on EBay for £9.99, but the ad has been since taken down.
RTE radio managed to get an interview with one of the management team before the game in 1958, which you can listen to here .
So if Atleti do manage to win the European Cup this season, perhaps some of the men who played in 1958 will be remembered by the Spanish giant.
