RIP Paco Gento
The only football player to ever lift 6 CL trophies; an absolute legend. Leaving us at the age of 88, he was also the last survivor of Madrids Golden Era, which is generally considered to have spanned from Di Stefano's signing in 1953, to Madrid's CL final defeat against Benfica in 1962.
In Madrid's Golden Age, when the club won 5 consecutive CLs, everyone in the 5-men front line had their unique trait fow which they were remembered. The best remembered quintent was as follows:
Di Stefano was a jack of all trades. He was everywhwere; he ran back down and began creating chances, and he ran upfront to finish them. Good with both head and feet, he knew what to do both with and without the ball. Probably the first truly tactically aware striker, and by far the most complete player of his era; considered by many of the world class players that came after him to be way ahead of his time and some like Cruyff would describe him as perhaps the most influential player ever due to how he changed the concept of the game.
Puskás was a physical beast and a highly prolific goal scorer. Even while being considerably overwight throughout much of his carreer, he was unstoppable. Even if he never played as a 9, he was a goal scoring machine as he shoved off defenders like flies and had the most powerful shot of his time, which earned him the nickname "Cañoncito Pum" (little boom cannon).
Rial was the warrior of the front line. While he's unfortunately the least remembered of the legendary quintet, that's only because he did the dirty job. He worked his ass off to open spaces, push back defenders (often literally), and occasionally come out of nowhere to deliver a header. Due to his phisically demanding playstyle, he at times struggled with injuries, leaving his role to be covered by other players, most notably Del Sol.
Kopa was pure magic and skill, at least by olden standards. His dribbling skills alone were already filling up stadia in France before he caught Santiago Bernabéu's eye. Once spotted after the first ever CL, he was immediately signed. His class fueled the dreams of fans, and the nightmares of defenders. Once he left to retire in his beloved Reims, Canário took over his role. He too was a flashy player, but he lacked the consistency of the frenchman.
And, finally, Gento, was considered to be the fastest winger in Europe at the time. He may not have had the magic Kopa displayed on the opposite wing, or the goal scoring proficiency of Puskás and Di Stefano, but his speed allowed him to outpace pretty much every defender, and his crosses were a treat to the strikers. It can't be overstated just how insane it is to play in such a competitive Real Madrid for 18 consecutive seasons, starting regularly in 16 of them. He's the only player to have been a starter in both the Di Stefano Golden Era (1953-62) where 5 CLs and 6 Ligas were won, and the Madrid Ye-Yé Era (1963-1971) where 1 CL and 7 Ligas were won. In total, the man lifted 6 CLs and 12 Ligas. To this date, nobody has come even close to him.
RIP LEGEND
This post was edited by zarkadon on Jan 18 2022 08:27am