On 13 September 1959, Olympiacos made its debut in Europe against Milan for the 1959–60 European Cup and became the first Greek club that ever played in the European competitions. The first leg was held at the Karaiskakis Stadium in Piraeus and Olympiacos took the lead with a goal by (1–0), which was the first goal ever scored by a Greek club (and by a Greek player as well) in the European competitions. Milan's prolific goalscorer José Altafini equalised the match with a header in the 33rd minute, after a cross by Giancarlo Danova. Ilias Yfantis scored an outstanding goal and gave Olympiacos the lead again in the 45th minute of the game, when he controlled the ball between Cesare Maldini and and unleashed a powerful volley, burying the ball into the back of the net (2–1). Altafini scored his second goal once again with a header (72nd minute), after a free-kick by Nils Liedholm. The match ended 2–2, with Olympiacos putting in a great performance against the Italian champions, despite the fact that they had no foreign players in their roster, while Milan had four world-class foreign players, such as Altafini, Liedholm, Juan Alberto Schiaffino and Ernesto Grillo. In the second leg Milan won 3–1 (Giancarlo Danova 12', 26', 85'; 68') and qualified for the next round, despite Olympiacos' good performance especially in the second half.