Ninth final for Madrid devotee

Alberto Ocejo has been travelling the world watching Real Madrid CF for more than 40 years, and in that time he has seen them play in no fewer than eight European Cup finals. Nowadays he lives in Mexico City, from where he has flown with his son to watch his ninth, tonight against Bayer 04 Leverkusen at Hampden Park.

Car journey
Back in 1959 Alberto lived in Madrid, which meant a car journey to Stuttgart for his very first final - Real Madrid CF against Stade de Reims, a re-run of the first ever final three years earlier. As in 1956, Madrid emerged victorious, thanks to goals by Enrique Mateos in the first minute and then the peerless Alfredo Di Stéfano just after the break.

Best of all time
"That was a great team," said Alberto. "For me Di Stefano was the best player of all time - better even than Pele. He could defend, attack, shoot well and he was a great organiser. He gave instructions to all the players. He was the chief of the team. I've seen many players, and he was the best."

First Hampden visit
The following year brought Alberto's first visit to Hampden, and what a memorable night it was as Madrid beat Eintracht Frankfurt 7-3. "It was the best final of all," said Alberto. "There were 134,000 people, it was very exciting, very noisy.

Better than Azteca
"We often go to the Azteca stadium in Mexico City, but Hampden Park that night was more impressive than the Azteca stadium. Both teams played excellently so it was a very good match. Madrid had Canario, Del Sol, Kopa and, of course, Di Stefano."

'Not so funny'
Madrid's next two finals were not such happy affairs for Alberto as his team lost, in 1964 to Internazionale FC and, two years earlier, to SL Benfica. "I was always happy when Madrid won, but it was not so funny when they lost," he said.

'Games were better'
"Benfica had Eusebio, Simões, Colona and Real Madrid lost because Benfica had those great players. The game nowadays is more professional, then it was very slow. Maybe the games were better, but players have to give more nowadays."

Six medals for Gento
In 1966, for the 2-1 victory over FK Partizan, Madrid were captained by Franciso Gento, still the only player to have won six European Cup winners' medals. "Gento was born in Santander, the same town as my father," Alberto said, "and he was a friend of mine there. But then he went to play for Madrid and I didn't see him again.

'Very influential'
"He was a left-winger, very fast, but he was taught well by the Argentinian, Héctor Rial. Gento used to run, and carry on running right into the stands, but Rial told him how to stop and pass sometimes. Rial was a very influential player for Madrid. He went on to coach RCD Espanyol."

'Ugly final'
It was a comparatively long wait for Madrid's next final, but once again, for Alberto, it was not the most memorable as Madrid lost 1-0 to Liverpool FC in Paris in 1981. "Liverpool weren't a great team," he said. "It was an ugly final, too tight. I don't remember it as a good game. There were few shots on goal."

Zidane lost
In 1998, however, in Amsterdam against Juventus FC, it was a different story as Madrid won 1-0. "A nice match," sais Alberto. "I remember Mijatovic scoring 15 minutes from time, and Zidane lost that day - but he'll win tonight."

Valencia vanquished
Two years ago, Madrid won 3-0 against Valencia CF, and Alberto says: "Valencia didn't have the experience to cope with that. It was a very easy win. It didn't have the taste of good winning. Tradition and experience count for a lot, and Valencia just didn't have any, so I think that's why they lost. Leverkusen also don't have the experience, and that's a very important factor."

'Current team is better'
|Looking back over the past 40 years or more, Alberto sees similarities between the current Madrid side and the one of the late 1950s and early 1960s. "It's very similar because both teams possess the best players of their time, but I think the current team is better because the players are better.

The one to beat
"Nowadays though the big difference is that Real Madrid has become the biggest footballing institution in the world, so all teams go flat out to beat them. If they beat Madrid, it saves their season; if not, it's just another defeat. Everybody wants to beat Real Madrid."