On 29 May 1968, at Wembley in London, Manchester United beat Benfica 4-1 after extra time and became the first English team to win the European Cup. On 29 May 2027 it will be 59 years since that night. It was the answer of a club that, ten years earlier, had lost a whole generation in Munich.

Ten years after Munich

In February 1958 the Munich air disaster cost the lives of eight United players, while two more never played again. Matt Busby survived and rebuilt the team from scratch. Two survivors of that tragedy played in the Wembley final, Bobby Charlton and Bill Foulkes.

The road to London went through Malta's Hibernians, Sarajevo and Górnik Zabrze. In the semi-final United beat Real Madrid 1-0 in Manchester and went through with a thrilling 3-3 in Madrid, where Foulkes also scored.

Eusébio's Benfica edged past Glentoran on away goals and then knocked out Saint-Étienne and Vasas. In the semi-final they beat Juventus twice, 3-0 on aggregate.

Wembley, black-market tickets and 250 million viewers

Demand for tickets was enormous. On the Monday before the final, standing tickets that cost 10 shillings were selling on the black market for £7. More than 92,000 spectators were in the stadium and, according to estimates, 250 million Europeans watched on television.

Benfica had asked for 10,000 tickets and United for 30,000. The referee was Italian Concetto Lo Bello.

United played without Denis Law, who had had knee surgery a few days earlier and was still in hospital during the final. Nobby Stiles, on the other hand, recovered from a knee knock in time and played.

Blue and white instead of red

Both teams normally wore red, so both had to change. United wore an all-blue Umbro strip, plain, with a round neck. Benfica appeared in white.

That blue shirt became one of the most loved in the club's history. In 2018, for the 50th anniversary of the final, United released a special commemorative shirt in the same dark blue.

The match: from 1-1 to three goals in seven minutes

The first half was rough and ended 0-0. George Best was fouled again and again, while Eusébio hit the crossbar with a powerful shot. In the 53rd minute Charlton opened the scoring with a header from a David Sadler cross.

Benfica equalised through Jaime Graça shortly before the end of normal time. In the closing minutes Eusébio had two big chances, but Alex Stepney saved both, and the Portuguese star applauded him.

In extra time United pulled away. In the 93rd minute Best picked up the ball after a long Stepney goal kick and a Kidd header, went round the goalkeeper as well and made it 2-1. Brian Kidd, on his 19th birthday, headed in the 3-1 and Charlton completed the 4-1 in the 99th minute.

The heroes of the night

Charlton, captain and scorer of two goals, was the symbol of the rebirth. Best brought the magic, Kidd the youthful drive and Stepney the big save. Man of the match was winger John Aston.

After the final whistle Busby said it was the most wonderful thing that had happened in his life. He was later knighted and became "Sir Matt" to everyone.

Why it went down in history

One year after Celtic, United brought the trophy to England for the first time. Above all, though, the final closed a ten-year cycle that had begun with the grief of Munich.

What followed was less glittering. United lost the Intercontinental Cup to Estudiantes and the following season went out in the semi-finals to Milan. But the Wembley night stayed in the club's memory forever.

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Photo: Bobby Charlton at Schiphol airport, October 1966 – Ron Kroon / Anefo, Nationaal Archief, Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC0.