Coupe Latine

The Coupe Latine ( French ) or Copa Latina ( Spanish ), Coppa Latina ( Italian ), and Copa Latina or Taça Latina ( Portuguese ), sometimes referred to in literature as the Latin Cup , was a cup competition for club teams in football that began in 1949 was played until 1957 and is considered a regionally limited forerunner of the European Cup .

Emergence

The idea for its founding dates back to the time after the Second World War , when comparable European competitions for club teams either no longer (such as the Tournoi International de Football from 1930 or the Mitropapokal  - last held in 1940) or not yet ( UEFA national championship competition , first took place in 1955/56 ). Undoubtedly, the plans for war-preventing European cooperation in business, research, law and politics ( OEEC , Council of Europe , Coal and Steel Union) that became manifest after the end of the war also promoted the realization of such a cup.

Participants and regulations

Only the respective national champions from Italy , France , Spain and Portugal , i.e. from European countries with Romance languages , were eligible to participate ; a representative from Romania , whose national language also belongs to the Romance languages, was not allowed, as were teams from Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg or other smaller countries.

The competition was held in the summer break after the end of the season, so that the four current national champions, in individual cases instead the runner-up (FC Valencia 1953 and AC Milan 1956) or the third-placed (AC Milan 1953), took part. The game was played in one of the participating countries alternately every year. The mode of play provided for two (drawn) semi-finals, the winners of which determined the cup winner and the losers the third-placed. So the Coupe Latine could be held within a few days.

After it was foreseeable that the European Cup of national champions would be permanent and the more attractive competition, the Coupe Latine was no longer played after 1957.

The tournaments at a glance

year	host	final			3rd place match
		winner	Result	finalist	3rd place	Result	4th Place
1949	Spain	CF Barcelona	2: 1	Sporting Lisbon	AC Turin	5: 3	Stade Reims
1950	Portugal	Benfica Lisbon	3: 3, 2: 1	Girondins Bordeaux	Atlético Madrid	2: 1	Lazio Rome
1951	Italy	AC Milan	5-0	Lille OSC	Atlético Madrid	3: 1	Sporting Lisbon
1952	France	CF Barcelona	1-0	OGC Nice	Juventus Turin	3: 2	Sporting Lisbon
1953	Portugal	Stade Reims	3-0	AC Milan	Sporting Lisbon	4: 1	Valencia CF
1954	not held because of the World Cup
1955	France	real Madrid	2-0	Stade Reims	AC Milan	3: 1	Belenenses Lisbon
1956	Italy	AC Milan	3: 1	Athletic Bilbao	Benfica Lisbon	2: 1	OGC Nice
1957	Spain	real Madrid	1-0	Benfica Lisbon	AC Milan	1-0	AS Saint-Etienne

Leaderboards

by clubs rank club Points* title Participate 1 AC Milan 15th 2 5 2 Benfica Lisbon 9 1 3 3 CF Barcelona 8th 2 2 real Madrid Stade Reims 1 3 6th Sporting Lisbon 7th 0 4th

by country rank country Points* title 1  Spain 24 4th 2  Italy 20th 2 3  France 19th 1 4th  Portugal 17th

* 4 points for the winner, 3 for the runner-up, etc.

Web links

• Details on rsssf.com (English)