Sunday, August 31, 2014

31 August 1979 - Bayern Spoils The Party

On 31 August 1979, Bayern Munich defeated hosts Real Madrid in the opening match of the inaugural Trofeo Santiago Bernabéu.

Founded in honor of former Real Madrid manager and President Santiago Bernabéu, who died over one year earlier on 2 June 1978, the Trofeo is a preseason mini-tournament originally contested by Real and three invited teams. In 1978, those teams were Bayern Munich, Ajax, and Milan.

Bayern quickly took an 0-2 lead with goals in the 2nd and 16th minutes. Real pulled one back in the 19th minute, but was unable to equalize and the match ended 1-2. Bayern advanced to the Final against Ajax, who had beaten Milan on penalties, and scored two late goals to win 2-0 and claim the first Santiago Bernabéu trophy.

In 1987, the Trofeo abandoned the four-team format and has since been played as a single match between Real and one other team.

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