GNK Dinamo Zagreb Profile

Formed: 1911
Nickname: Modri

UEFA club competition honours
• None

Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
• Yugoslavian league title: 9 (1982)
• Croatian league title: 13 (2011)
• Yugoslavian Cup: 9 (1983)
• Croatian Cup: 11 (2011)

History
• GNK Dinamo Zagreb were founded in 1911 as 1. HŠK Građanski. They won five league titles before being disbanded by the Yugoslav Communist Party and reformed, in homage to FC Dinamo Moskva, as Dinamo Zagreb in June 1945.

• Dinamo finished runners-up in the Yugoslav First League in 1946/47 before claiming their first title under their new guise the following campaign. A first Yugoslav Cup was lifted in 1951 and two more titles ensued in 1954 and 1958.

• The first signs of progress in European competition came in the 1960s with a run to the 1961 UEFA European Cup Winners’ Cup semi-final and a 4-1 defeat by Valencia CF in the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup showpiece two years later. In 1967, Ivan Horvat’s side, boasting internationals including Slaven Zambata and Rudolf Belin, became the first Yugoslavian team to win a European club trophy, the ‘Golden Generation’ securing the Inter-Cities Fairs Cup with a 2-0 aggregate victory against Leeds United AFC.

• Following Croatia’s declaration of independence in 1991, Dinamo were renamed HAŠK Građanski and then NK Croatia, who became the predominant footballing force in the country, winning five consecutive titles from 1996 to the turn of the century and appearing twice in the UEFA Champions League group stage. Following objections by supporters, the prefix Dinamo was restored in February 2000.

• Dinamo have enjoyed a resurgence in recent years, winning six successive Prva Liga titles from 2006-2011, the most impressive of which came in 2006/07 when Branko Ivanković’s charges amassed 92 out of a possible 99 points. The same coach also masterminded a remarkable sequence of 28 consecutive league victories from 8 November 2006 until 23 September 2007.

Club records
Most appearances: Dražen Ladić (802)
Most goals: Igor Cvitanović (304)
Record victory: 10-1 against NK Pazinka (Croatian first division, 12 December, 1993)
Record defeat: 6-0 on two occasions, most recently at FK Velež (Yugoslavian first division, 1970)

 

From: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2012/clubs/club=50164/profile/index.html

Olympique Lyonnais Profile

Formed: 1950
Nickname: Les Gones (The Kids)

UEFA club competition honours
• None

Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
League title: 7 (2008)
French Cup: 4 (2008)
League Cup: 1 (2001)

History
• Though they can trace their origins back to the end of the 19th century, Lyon in their current form were founded by a group of local enthusiasts as late as 1950. Local surgeon Albert Trillat suggested the team’s name and that the players wear the city’s colours of red and blue; a year later the club won the French second division.

• Lyon spent the bulk of the next 30 years in the top flight, winning the French Cup three times and revelling in the exploits of Jean Djorkaeff, Nestor Combin and the hero of the 1960s, Fleury Di Nallo. Until recent years, those cup exploits were Lyon’s only major honours, the club spending a long period in the shadows of local rivals AS Saint-Étienne.

• After losing several key players towards the end of the 1970s, including Bernard Lacombe and Raymond Domenech, Lyon were relegated in 1983 after 29 years in the élite division.

• The gloom was lifted with the arrival of ambitious young software magnate Jean-Michel Aulas in 1987, the new chairman promising to get Lyon into Europe within four years. They met that target too, after first securing promotion under Domenech in 1988/89, and with Florian Maurice and then Sonny Anderson grabbing the goals they started making headway in the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League.

• With Jacques Santini at the helm, Lyon lifted the League Cup in 2000/01, a triumph that presaged a sustained era of success. They claimed their first ever Ligue 1 title the following season and went on to pick up six more in a row as a succession of coaches, including Paul Le Guen and Gérard Houllier, profited from the club’s excellent organisation behind the scenes.

• Lyon reached the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals three years running between 2004 and 2006 and surpassed that feat in 2009/10, losing against FC Bayern München in the last four.

Club Records
Most appearances: Serge Chiesa (541 matches)
Most goals: Fleury Di Nallo (222 goals)
Record victory: 10-0 twice, most recently at home against Sports Réunis Dellois (French Cup, 8 January 1956)
Record defeat: 7-0 three times, most recently at AJ Auxerre (Ligue 1, 25 October 1996)

 

From: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2012/clubs/club=5312/profile/index.html

Real Madrid CF Profile

Formed: 1902
Nickname: Los Merengues (The Meringues)

UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets)
• European Champion Clubs’ Cup: 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1966, 1998, 2000, 2002; (1962), (1964), (1981)
• UEFA Cup: 1985, 1986
• UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup: (1971), (1983)
• UEFA Super Cup: 2002; (1998), (2000)

Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
• League title: 31 (2008)
• Spanish Cup: 18 (2011)

History
• Following four consecutive Copa del Rey triumphs between 1905 and 1908, Madrid were given their royal title in 1920 and became one of the founding members of the Liga on its 1929 inception. A team including legendary goalkeeper Ricardo Zamora were champions in 1931/32 and 1932/33.

• With the Chamartin Stadium in ruins following the Spanish Civil War, board member Santiago Bernabéu led construction of the venue that now bears his name, opening in 1947. The club then pulled the masterstroke of signing Alfredo di Stéfano, and with Francisco Gento and Miguel Muñoz, Madrid set about dominating European football.

• Los Merengues won the first five instalments of the European Champion Clubs’ Cup, and completed the quintet in memorable fashion in 1960. Spearheaded by Di Stéfano and Hungary’s Ferénc Puskas, Madrid beat Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3 in the Hampden Park final. Winger Gento went on to play in the European Cup victory of 1966, with new stars such as Amancio and Pirri.

• The next classic Madrid side came in the 1980s with the ‘Quinta del Buitre’, The Vulture Squad, led by Emilio Butragueño, winning successive league titles between 1986 and 1990. The dominance of Johan Cruyff’s FC Barcelona overshadowed Madrid in the early 1990s, but the emergence of Raúl González heralded a new beginning. Madrid won the 1997/98 UEFA Champions League, Predrag Mijatović scoring the only goal of the final against Juventus. A more convincing 3-0 victory against Valencia CF followed in the 1999/2000 showpiece.

• The likes of Ronaldo, Luís Figo and Zinédine Zidane led Madrid to a ninth European Cup in 2001/02, the latter scoring a memorable winner to see off Bayer 04 Leverkusen 2-1 in Glasgow. The summer of 2009 brought a new influx of stars, including Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo – for a world record €94m – and although Barcelona reigned in Spain and Europe, Madrid did beat their rivals in the 2011 Spanish Cup final.

Club records
Most appearances: Raúl González (759)
Most goals: Raúl González (330)
Record victory: Madrid 9-0 B 1913 Odense (European Champion Clubs’ Cup, 25 October 1961)
Madrid 11-2 Elche CF (Liga, February 1960)
Record defeat: RCD Espanyol 8-1 Madrid (Liga, 5 March 1930)

 

From: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2012/clubs/club=50051/profile/index.html

Ajax FC profile

 

Formed: 1900
Nickname: Godenzonen (Sons of the Gods)

UEFA club competition honours (runners-up in brackets)
• European Champion Clubs’ Cup: 1971, 1972, 1973, 1995; (1969), (1996)
• UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup: 1987; (1988)
• UEFA Cup: 1992
• UEFA Super Cup: 1973, 1995; (1987)

Domestic honours (most recent triumph in brackets)
• League title: 30 (2011)
• Dutch Cup: 18 (2010)

History
• Founded at the turn of last century, Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax were soon promoted to the top flight under Irishman John Kirwan but lasted just three years before relegation. During that spell the club adopted red and white as their original black – the other shade on Amsterdam’s tricolour flag – clashed with Sparta Rotterdam.

• Englishman Jack Reynolds’ 32 years in charge from 1915 – punctuated briefly – brought eight league titles, but it was not until the 1960s that the club’s first golden era truly began. Fighting relegation midway through the 1964/65 campaign, Ajax appointed Rinus Michels, an astute tactician who deployed an adventurous 4-2-4 formation tailor-made for the emerging Johan Cruyff and the likes of Sjaak Swart and Piet Keizer.

• It was, however, not until the emergence of ‘Total Football’ that the club truly made their mark. ‘Gloria Ajax’ claimed six Eredivisie championships between 1966 and 1973, an achievement eclipsed by three successive European Champion Clubs’ Cup wins from 1971, the latter two coming under Romanian Ştefan Kovács.

• Michels had departed for FC Barcelona, Cruyff (1973) and Johan Neeskens (1974) following him. Ajax’s form dipped before Cruyff returned as coach and led them to the 1987 UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup. The prolific Marco van Basten, Frank Rijkaard and Dennis Bergkamp all eventually left, their departures making way for the emergence of an exciting new wave of academy players.

• Edwin van der Sar, Frank and Ronald de Boer, Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids and Patrick Kluivert all leapt off Ajax’s famed production line, Louis van Gaal taking Ajax to UEFA Champions League success in 1995 with a 1-0 win against AC Milan. Runners-up the following season, Ajax again lost their stellar names and even if Wesley Sneijder, Rafael van der Vaart and Nigel de Jong are among recent academy graduates they have recently been overshadowed on the domestic scene by PSV Eindhoven.

• With Dutch legend Frank de Boer as manager, Ajax claimed their first league title in seven years with a dramatic victory over FC Twente on the last day of the 2010/11 season.

Club records
Most appearances: Sjaak Swart (463)
Most goals: Piet van Reenen (237)
Record victory: Ajax 14-0 Red Boys Differdange (UEFA Cup, 3 October 1984)
Record defeat: Feyenoord 9-4 Ajax (Eredivisie, 29 November 1964)

From: http://www.uefa.com/uefachampionsleague/season=2012/clubs/club=50143/index.html