European Cup Trivia

[ursus arctos]

Miguel Muñoz of Real Madrid

Defeated Eintracht Frankfurt and Partizan, lost to Benfica and Inter between those two titles.

Also won three as a player.

[Alex Anderson]

Just missing the mic drop from ursus there. Perfection.

Well done, sir.

[Alex Anderson]

manager in 3 C1 finals.... Paisley (Liverpool), Ernst Happel (Brugge, Hamburg, Feyenoord)

Helenio Herrera, Uddo Lattek, Ottmar Hitzfeld, Luis van Gaal ... I'll have spelled some of them wrong ... and probably missed someone ...

[Alex Anderson]

The European Cup Trivia Thread 2018 Champions League Final DRINKING GAME
(Part 1 - rigor that mortis)




Phil Thompson with an unknown team-mate in an unknown year in a mystery city



To liven them up, have a swig every time you hear one of these blandly predictable factoids coming out your telly during Saturday’s live broadcast of the 63rd final of the European Champion Clubs’ Cup/UEFA Champions League [64th if you count the replayed 1974 final as two – which no-one should or does]:



Recommended dosage per factoid: One solid mouthful of Tennent’s Lager direct from a pre-chilled 440ml can (not the pint cans; they’re just wrong. And anyone even considering a “keg” can just fuck-off out the road of my final – yes, I said MY FINAL - and spend the whole weekend playing Fortnite and watching Disney Star Wars spin-offs like they really want to because if there’s one thing I will not tolerate on Champions League Final Night it’s corporate sell-outs) or one shot glass-sized shot of Messer Schmitt Herbal Schnapps, currently on offer at Morrisons Anniesland for less than eight quid but available at most good UK retailers for under a tenner … OR YOUR REGIONAL EQUIVALENTS.


Pre-game, first-half:


Final’s never been staged in the Ukraine before, far less Kiev.


This is the 29th time a Spanish club has appeared in the final. They’ve won 17 so far.


Only four Spanish clubs have ever reached the final – only Barcelona and Real have won it.


[Somebody] playing tonight played for Spain in the Euro 2012 final on this same ground – [somebody] who once played for Liverpool scored in that game.


This is the 20th time an English club has appeared in the final. They’ve won 12 so far.


Five different English clubs have won the final – including Liverpool – and another two have only finished runners-up.


A Liverpool win tonight takes England one clear of Italy into second place on the blah … blah … blah.


This is the second time the final’s been staged in the former Soviet Union, after Moscow in 2008 [For those watching British coverage this should get Man U and Chelsea into the conversation nice and early lest the viewing figures plummet. England’s chances at this summer’s World Cup will already have come up as they played Sweden and Italy here during Euro 2012]


Third time the final’s been staged in Eastern Europe (add Belgrade, 1973) [You can gripe about Berlin and Istanbul all you want; this is a list of what you’ll hear – not what’s right].


Ronaldo could be on his fifth winner’s medal tonight, his fourth with Real.


Francisco “Paco” Gento holds the all-time record with six winner’s medals – all with Real in the 1950s and 60s.


“There’s Andrei Shevchenko, the UEFA match ambassador, with the trophy. Big hero in these parts, of course. Liverpool fans will remember him missing the decisive penalty in Istanbul the last time they won the trophy … but we should remember he converted the winning penalty for Milan two years earlier at Old Trafford. Sorry, Rio – you were saying something about Frank never having even tried for his boxing license …”


Every one of Liverpool’s final wins has come against teams playing in all-white.


This would be the first time Liverpool have won it on a Saturday.


Zinedine Zidane can equal Carlo Ancelotti and Bob Paisley’s record of managing three winning finalists and Paisley’s record of managing the same club to three wins.


Zidane could become the first manager to manage three successes in three straight finals.


No manager has ever won the trophy more than twice with Real Madrid (“which is amazing when you consider how many times they’ve … blah … blah … etc.”)


Alan Kennedy.


Alan Kennedy.


Alan Kennedy.


Paris.


Paris.


1981.


Barney Rubble.


Parc des Princes.


1981.


Paris.


Alan Kennedy.



"They can't ALL be drunk ..."


Real Madrid are looking to win their thirteenth title – their seventh of the Champions League era.


Although Joe Fagan and Rafa Benitez lost finals, Jurgen Klopp should know every Liverpool manager to reach the final won his first one and always returned for another go.


Real have already won both incarnations of the competition more times than anyone else – six European Cups, six Champions Leagues.


A Liverpool win tonight would take them clear in third-place in the all-time winners list with six, one behind Milan and one in front of Bayern Munich and Barcelona.


Liverpool have worn all-red in all their previous seven finals (proving Shankly was right to change them into a mono-coloured kit in the 1960s after he saw how it worked for one Real Madrid [italics will be heavily implied])


The capacity of Kiev’s Olympic Stadium is blah blah, tonight’s crowd is blah blah [cue “many more Liverpool fans here than their official allocation"] – still some way short of the record attendance when Real won it at Hampden in 1960 in front of [if at this point they say 135,000 – NO DRINKS! Instead, scream “135,000 tickets went on sale ya tube! And then tweet @BTSport with “the actual turnout on 18 May 1960 was 127,621; Still the record but we expect some accuracy from a subscription channel.” Or your regional variant]


This is the ninth repeat final. [again, you can get as pedantic as you want about the 1974 replay but that’s not what this list is about …]


No two clubs have ever met in the final three times.


This is Real Madrid’s fourth repeat final, Liverpool’s second.


The bad news for Liverpool fans is Real won their second finals against each of Stade de Reims, Atletico Madrid and Juventus.


The good news for Liverpool, bearing in mind what happened in 1981, is Real’s second meeting of a repeat final always ends with the same result as the first ...


Drop an E with yer hawf


KEEP READING ... THIS IS A TWO-POSTER ... PRINT THEM OFF IF THAT HELPS ... I WOULD ADVISE LAMINATING ...

[Alex Anderson]

The European Cup Trivia Thread 2018 Champions League Final DRINKING GAME
(Part 2 - let the bland facts roll)





Approved toasts: Each factoid swig should be preceded with a cry of “Factoid!” or “Trivia!” and the swift imbibement followed immediately with can or glass clank on the sofa-side table and a gasp of Heaven preserve us in the name of holy saint Pierino Prati or Stat’s the way – u-huh, u-huh – I like it. The body parts of anyone shouting “Dilly Dilly!” will be found in the same skip as the people who shouted “Wazzuuup” in real life.


Let the factoids continue ...


Andy Robertson could be the first Scotsman to play in a winning final since Paul Lambert, for Jurgen Klopp’s old club, back in 1997.


Andy Robertson could be the first Scot to score in the final since John Robertson’s winner for Nottingham Forest in 1980 versus HSV [which they’ll pronounce “Hamburg”], at Real Madrid’s home.


Kenny Dalglish ... Wembley 78 ... Shankly ... Ian St John ... rich heritage ... big thighs and a huge bushy mauser.


As the goals go in:


There hasn’t ever been more than ten goals scored in a final (1960, Real 7-3 Eintracht), after that it was the eight of Benfica 5 – 3 Real Madrid in 1962.


Ronaldo, playing in his fifth final, is looking to score in his fourth tonight.


Ronaldo – with one for Man U in 2008, a penalty for Real in 2014 and two against Juve in Cardiff last season - is already the only man other than Alfredo Di Stefano to score in more than two finals.


In seven final appearances, Di Stefano scored seven. Ronaldo needs a hat-trick tonight to match that total.


Nobody has scored a hat-trick in the final since Pierino Prati got three of Milan’s four against Ajax in the Bernabeu in 1969. [As Pierino Prati is the patron saint of the European Cup Trivia Thread please feel free to have two drinks – or one drink and a packet of Golden Wonder Cheese ‘n Onion {the 6-packs have been on sale for a quid for over a year now and they’re kicking Walkers’ ass – every packet of Golden Wonder you buy means less money for Gary Lineker} or your regional equivalent]


Only three men have scored a hat-trick in the history of the final.


Only Puskas has scored four in a final.


Only Puskas has scored a hat-trick in two different finals.


Only the 1960 final featured a hat-trick by two different players – Puskas (4) and Di Stefano (3).


Amazingly, in 1960 the goals were shared between just four players whereas, in 2005, a total of six goals were divided between five – the highest number of different scorers in any one final.


We could have a Portugese, Spaniard, Welshman and Frenchman among the forwards for Real tonight as well as the Brazilian, Egyptian and Senegalese up front for Liverpool – were they all to score it would provide the biggest number of nationalities on the score-sheet in a final since the five during Liverpool v Milan in Istanbul in 2005 (Maldini of Italy, Crespo of Argentina, Gerrard of England, Smicer the Czech and Alonso of Spain).





As the goals don’t go in:


There hasn’t been a goalless final since 2003 (Milan beating Juve on penalties at Old Trafford)


Real Madrid have scored in normal time in 15 of their previous 16 finals. The exception – the only final in which they haven’t scored in any way – was 1981, versus Liverpool.


Alan Kennedy scored the only goal that night.


In the Parc des Princes.


In Paris.


He was a full-back.


If there’s a few bookings or ropey tackles (i.e., if Ramos is fit):


There’s only ever been three red cards shown in the final.


First man ever sent off in the final was one Jens Lehmann of Arsenal in 2006. We then had Didier Drogba for Chelsea in 2008 and Juan Cuadrado of Juventus towards the end of events in Cardiff last year.


The referee is the first official but probably second actual Serb to take the final, after Milivoje Gugulović – the only “Yugoslavian” ever to referee the final – handled Ajax versus Juventus in Belgrade back in 1973.


If it goes to extra time and penalties:


Liverpool took part in the first ever penalty shoot-out in the final.


Liverpool are the only side to win two finals on penalties.


Eleven previous finals have been decided on penalties.


The only other final unresolved after extra was decided by a replay - that was in 1974, between ...


Aw, fuck it. That'll do us, eh. There’s a Wiki page with anything else you might need. Happy drinking and remember two things before kick-off:

(1) hide the chip pan

(2) Rugby players love drinking games.

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ADD TO THIS LIST IN THE COMING DAYS. BUT – REMEMBER – IF YOU CANNOT IMAGINE IT IN THE IN-GAME VOICE OF CLYVE TYLDESLEY, OR EVEN THE PERMA-ORGASMIC TONES OF PETER DRURY, THEN IT’S JUST FAR TOO INTERESTING A FACTOID TO QUALIFY.

[Kevin S]

mate.

[Third rate Leszno]

Nice factoids, Alex. If I may, a couple of rather bitter factoids from me:

Despite having hosted the final of Euro 2012 to prove once and for all that it absolutely does have the infrastructure to cope with an event of this magnitude, Kiev airport has finally worked out that it's run out of capacity and at 5 days notice, refused landing slots to a number of charter flights on the Friday and Saturday of this Final weekend.

Demand for flights was greater than usual because of the inaccessibility of the venue by road. Did you know that most major car rental companies won't let you take a car across the border into Ukraine? Or that Kiev is a really, really long way from fucking anywhere? It's 8 hours from Lviv by road for fuck's sake.

Two thousand Real Madrid fans didn't take up their tickets because of the difficulty of reaching Kiev, and despite the many thousands of Liverpool fans who've bought up all the available spare tickets from a market generously swelled by profiteering corporate wankers that Uefa have deemed to be more deserving than people who actually follow their teams and can name more than a handful of their players, many thousands more are watching at home because their charter flights were cancelled at short notice and the only routes left available would cost you about £1500 each including accommodation, and that's only if you'd had the foresight to book hotels online before the gouging cunts began ratcheting their rates up by 10, 20 and 30 times.... but still, never mind that, it's a wonderful stadium and isn't it terrific that we can award such a prestigious event to a thoroughly suitable destination in Kiev?



So yeah, I'll be watching the fucker at home.

[Rogin the Armchair fan]

Nice factoids, Alex. If I may, a couple of rather bitter factoids from me:

Despite having hosted the final of Euro 2012 to prove once and for all that it absolutely does have the infrastructure to cope with an event of this magnitude, Kiev airport has finally worked out that it's run out of capacity and at 5 days notice, refused landing slots to a number of charter flights on the Friday and Saturday of this Final weekend.

Demand for flights was greater than usual because of the inaccessibility of the venue by road. Did you know that most major car rental companies won't let you take a car across the border into Ukraine? Or that Kiev is a really, really long way from fucking anywhere? It's 8 hours from Lviv by road for fuck's sake.

Two thousand Real Madrid fans didn't take up their tickets because of the difficulty of reaching Kiev, and despite the many thousands of Liverpool fans who've bought up all the available spare tickets from a market generously swelled by profiteering corporate wankers that Uefa have deemed to be more deserving than people who actually follow their teams and can name more than a handful of their players, many thousands more are watching at home because their charter flights were cancelled at short notice and the only routes left available would cost you about £1500 each including accommodation, and that's only if you'd had the foresight to book hotels online before the gouging cunts began ratcheting their rates up by 10, 20 and 30 times.... but still, never mind that, it's a wonderful stadium and isn't it terrific that we can award such a prestigious event to a thoroughly suitable destination in Kiev?



So yeah, I'll be watching the fucker at home.

I went to the 2012 London Olympics mate. And all of the above was true about that.

[Third rate Leszno]

I was fucking sat at home for that as well, but on that occasion I didn't have tickets, flights and hotel all sorted 5 days beforehand, only for an airport to finally wake up to the fact that they'd run out of space.

[Alex Anderson]

That's horrendous, TRLB. Absolute fucking scandal. So sorry mate. Everyone properly invested in this tournament - the people who give it the gravitas which allows it to attract such sponsorship - are the first ones to be fucked over. Always.

Rangers and Celtic fans have been moved from their season ticket seats for years now on UCL match days so the corporate junket meisters can get a better view. I've never had a seat central enough to suffer that particular injustice but I've bumped into cunts in suits and lanyards pishing themselves laughing on the concourse after we've just been horsed at home by Sevilla or whoever.

But that's just the thin end of a disgusting wedge - as nothing compared mate. Nothing. Total sympathy. Those fucking shysters.

[Third rate Leszno]

Ah well, in the interests of fairness to the fine city of Kiev there’s a lot I could blame myself for as well - not booking earlier, not taking Tuesday off to make a concerted effort to book independent flights, not checking with the company who sold us the flights that they had actually confirmed their landing slots, not wimping out of a day trip just because the airport make the return flights a free-for-all where 14000 people in varying states of drunkenness battle their way onto any plane, going anywhere and if you’re lucky it’s the city where you left your car on the way out....

But I’ve had my whinge and I’m over it now. Still looking forward to it.

[seand]

Jaysus I better starting booking my flights and accommodation forthe 2019 Europa League final in Baku, asap

[Third rate Leszno]

Yeah, imagine if two well-supported teams get to Baku? That will be a logistical clusterfuck and a half.

The 2020 final venue should be announced today - either the Ataturk in Istanbul or the Luz in Lisbon.

[ad hoc]

I reckon Baku will be better. It's further to fly, but Azerbaijan is a dictatorship with significant cash and an interest in presenting a positive face to the world. Plus the airport is good and big (it's kind of a regional hub), and I suspect the hotel infrastructure is pretty good too. Kiev on the other hand is the capital of a country which is in crisis, still in the middle of a war, with limited resources.

[Kevin S]

Baku manages to host an F1 Grand Prix and all that entails on their streets, so I reckon they'll be dandy.

[Alex Anderson]

FACTOID!!

(Oops. No. Sorry. Bit premature there ...)

[Kevin S]

You looking for some kind of question like...

Locations which have hosted the ECCC/UCL Final and a Formula 1 Grand Prix?

I'll start.

Barcelona
Camp Nou (1989, 1999)
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (1991-present)

[Kevin S]

Brussels
Heysel (1958, 1966, 1974, 1985 )
Circuit Nivelles-Baulers (1972, 1974)

[Kevin S]

Madrid
Santiago Bernabéu (1957, 1969, 1980, 2010)
Circuito del Jarama (1967, 1968, 1976-81)

[Kevin S]

Milan
Stadio Giuseppe Meazza (1965, 1970, 2001, 2016)
Autodromo Nazionale Monza (every year except 1980)

[Third rate Leszno]

You looking for some kind of question like...

Locations which have hosted the ECCC/UCL Final and a Formula 1 Grand Prix?

I'll start.

Barcelona
Camp Nou (1989, 1999)
Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya (1991-present)

Don’t forget Montjuic for 4 years between 1969-75.

[Kevin S]

Berlin
Olympiastadion (2015)
AVUS (1959)

[Kevin S]

Don’t forget Montjuic for 4 years between 1969-75.

Nice! Hadn't checked to see where that was.

[Kevin S]

Istanbul
Atatürk Olympic Stadium (2005)
Istanbul Park Otodrom (2005–2011)

[Alex Anderson]

TRIVIA!

No - no - sorry ... wrong again, Alex ... no alcohol shall touch my lips ... this stuff is far too interesting to get mentioned during Saturday's coverage. I'm actually learning something here. This is the kinda stuff which makes me wish ursus would start a European Cup Trivia thread ...

I know fuck-all about motor racing. But my wife did teacher-training in Glasgow with a girl from Belfast who had a boyfriend from Nelson - lovely bloke - who has a garage in Accrington or Burnley or somewhere roundabout and one of the times we all met up we were trying to find common ground and he told me he'd been to one of those events where they cover the pitch of a stadium in soil and make, like, a dirt track kinda circuit where they can have what I called "scramblers" when I was a kid - those bikes they steal these days and race up canal toe-paths at 2 in the morning - racing round and then they have these kinda trucks or cars doing it on the same course before or after, at the same event - I can't remember what they're called but I don't think they're Monster Trucks (which my nephew loved before he, tragically, got into Hibs) - but anyway he'd seen this at the AUF SCHALKE IN GLESENKIRCHEN (2004)

... and I've seen another one on telly as I flicked through Eurosport, at THE STADE DE FRANCE (2000, 2006)

All I know about Formula 1 is Monaco - and they played in that final in 2004 ... and hosted a whole lot of European Champion clubs in their first European game since winning it - ye, know, in the Super Cup final ... which doesn't count but ...

Sorry. Pathetic. First sign of someone who doesn't have any answers to contribute - tries to subtly change the topic ...