Santiago Bernabéu Yeste and European success (1945–1978)

Santiago Bernabéu Yeste became president of Real Madrid in 1945.[10] Under his presidency, the club, its stadium Santiago Bernabéu and its training facilities Ciudad Deportiva were rebulit after the Spanish Civil War damages. Beginning in 1953, he embarked upon a strategy of signing world-class players from abroad, the most prominent of them being Alfredo Di Stéfano.[11]

In 1955, acting upon the idea proposed by the French sports journalist and editor of L'Équipe Gabriel Hanot, Bernabéu, Bedrignan and Gusztáv Sebes created an exhibition tournament of invited teams from around Europe that would eventually become what today is known as the UEFA Champions League.[12] It was under Bernabéu's guidance that Real Madrid established itself as a major force in both Spanish and European football. The club won the European Cup five times in a row between 1956 and 1960, which included the 7–3 Hampden Park final against Eintracht Frankfurt in 1960.[11] After these five consecutive successes, Real was permanently awarded the original cup and earning the right to wear the UEFA badge of honour.[13] The club won the European Cup for a sixth time in 1966 defeating FK Partizan 2–1 in the final with a team composed entirely of same nationality players, a first in the competition.[14] This team became known as the "Ye-yé". The name "Ye-yé" came from the "Yeah, yeah, yeah" chorus in the Beatles' song "She Loves You" after four members of the team posed for Diario Marca dressed in Beatles wigs. The Ye-yé generation was also European Cup runner-up in 1962 and 1964.[14]

In the 1970s, Real Madrid won 5 league championships and 3 Spanish Cups.[15] The club played its first UEFA Cup Winners' Cup final in 1971 and lost to English side Chelsea 2–1.[16] On 2 July 1978, club president Santiago Bernabéu died while the World Cup was being played in Argentina. The International Federation of Association Football (FIFA) decreed three days of mourning to honour him during the tournament.[17] The following year, the club organized the first edition of the Santiago Bernabéu Trophy in the memory of its former president.

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