In football’s modern age, the pinnacle of club competition is the Champions League.
Of course, there is an argument to be made for the Club World Cup, each continent’s champion facing off in one competition. But it would be hard to argue that clubs and fans put the same onus on the competition as they do for the Champions League.
For the players, the same notion holds true. In their youth, players dream of one day winning Europe’s major prize for their club. It is unlikely that many harbour the same emotion for the intercontinental competition.
Naturally, football’s ever-evolving nature could cause a shift in the emotional weighting fans place on each competition. With the growth of the heavily bankrolled Saudi Pro League, fans in years to come may place more gravitas on a worldwide competition, but for the time being, European tournaments maintain themselves as the top club competitions.
But what came before its creation? How did each nation’s best domestic sides challenge themselves on the international stage?
Most football fans know about the European Cup that came before the Champions League. Indeed, you may hear the teasing jeers in pub conversations about how Nottingham Forest have won as many European titles as Manchester City, or Aston Villa fans reminiscing about that great day in 1982.
But even this was not the birth of organised competition between Europe’s elite.
There was for instance, the Mitropa Cup, contested by the successor states of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.
However, probably most prominently (due to the Mitropa Cup’s post-World War Two decline) was the Latin Cup – for many the true predecessor to UEFA’s European Cup.
The Latin Cup’s Format
The Latin Cup was a short tournament hosted on an annual basis for every year of its existence (other than 1954, where the cup was not contested due to its clash with the World Cup).
It consisted of only four teams – typically the league champions heralding from France, Italy, Spain and Portugal. These sides faced off in a typical knockout format – two semi-finals, a final and a third-place playoff.
The competition took place in one host country in the league off-season. This was in order to be more cost-effective for the competing teams – minimising travel as much as was possible.
The Cup’s History
The competition’s inaugural year was 1949. It saw Barcelona, Torino, Reims and Sporting CP facing off for the cup.
Barcelona captured the title after defeating Sporting 2-1 in the final in Madrid, however, Sporting’s Fernando Peyroteo also enjoyed an impressive tournament – claiming the top scorers title.
Barcelona’s victory would become indicative of Spain’s dominance for the duration of the tournament’s existence, as Spanish clubs captured four titles across the eight years that the cup was contested. With Barcelona adding to their initial victory by adding another title to their trophy cabinet in 1952 – triumphing over Nice 1-0 in Paris.
Real Madrid matched their El Clásico rivals with two trophies of their own, later on in the decade. Winning the trophy in 1955 and 1957, seeing off Reims, and then Benfica two years later in their home stadium (The Santiago Bernabéu). This would be the last year of the competition’s existence.
Ultimately, every competing nation would prove victorious over their European counterparts at least once in the tournaments existence – through an AC Milan double in 1951 and 1956, and one title apiece for Benfica and Reims.
There were anomalies amongst the typical format of the competition, often as a result of scheduling issues.
For instance, fourth-placed Lazio partook in the 1950 occurrence of the competition as many players from the higher placed clubs were called up to the 1950 World Cup in Brazil, which was ultimately won by Uruguay.
Similarly, Nice elected not to partake the following year due to favouring participation in the Copa Rio – a competition pitting European and South American club sides against one another. Instead, second-placed Lille travelled as France’s representatives.
The tournament was discontinued in 1957 due to the creation of the European Cup the year prior – Real Madrid were victorious in the first five years that the European Cup was contested, before falling to Benfica in 1962 – they also took the Latin Cup title home in its final year.
Final Thoughts
The Latin Cup was integral to the existence of the modern Champions League as we know it.
Along with other competitions of its time – such as the aforementioned Mitropa Cup – it proved the necessity for inter-club competition between Europe’s elite.
Without the groundwork that was laid by the Latin Cup, club football could have a completely different look today.