1968–69 European Cup

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1968–69 European Cup
Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid hosted the final.
Tournament details
Dates18 September 1968 – 28 May 1969
Teams32 (27 competed)
Final positions
ChampionsItaly Milan (2nd title)
Runners-upNetherlands Ajax
Tournament statistics
Matches played52
Goals scored176 (3.38 per match)
Attendance1,738,847 (33,439 per match)
Top scorer(s)Denis Law (Manchester United)
9 goals

The 1968–69 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won by Milan, who beat Ajax 4–1 in the final, giving Milan its first European Cup title since 1963, and its second overall. A number of Eastern Bloc clubs withdrew from the first two rounds when UEFA paired up all of the Eastern Bloc clubs against one another in the aftermath of the Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia.

Substitutions of two players at any game time were allowed; obligatory match dates were introduced (two weeks between the legs) and fixed on Wednesdays; the away goal rule was extended to the first and second rounds.[1]

Manchester United were the defending champions, but were eliminated by Eventual Champions Milan in the semi-finals.

Teams[edit]

Austria Rapid Wien (1st) Belgium Anderlecht (1st) Bulgaria Levski-Spartak (1st) Cyprus AEL Limassol (1st)
Czechoslovakia Spartak Trnava (1st) Denmark AB (1st) England Manchester City (1st) England Manchester United (2nd)TH
Finland Reipas Lahti (1st) France Saint-Étienne (1st) East Germany Carl Zeiss Jena (1st) West Germany Nürnberg (1st)
Greece AEK Athens (1st) Hungary Ferencváros (1st) Iceland Valur (1st) Republic of Ireland Waterford F.C. (1st)
Italy Milan (1st) Luxembourg Jeunesse Esch (1st) Malta Floriana (1st) Netherlands Ajax (1st)
Northern Ireland Glentoran (1st) Norway Rosenborg (1st) Poland Ruch Chorzów (1st) Portugal Benfica (1st)
Romania Steaua București (1st) Scotland Celtic (1st) Spain Real Madrid (1st) Sweden Malmö FF (1st)
Switzerland Zürich (1st) Turkey Fenerbahçe (1st) Soviet Union Dynamo Kyiv (1st) Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star Belgrade (1st)

Bracket[edit]

First round Second round Quarter-finals Semi-finals Final
                  
Sweden Malmö FF 2 1 3
Italy Milan 1 4 5
Italy Milan Bye
Soviet Union Dynamo Kyiv (w)
Poland Ruch Chorzów (o)
Italy Milan 0 1 1
Scotland Celtic 0 0 0
France Saint-Étienne 2 0 2
Scotland Celtic 0 4 4
Scotland Celtic 5 1 6
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star Belgrade 1 1 2
Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star Belgrade (w)
East Germany FC Carl Zeiss Jena (o)
Italy Milan 2 0 2
England Manchester United 0 1 1
Republic of Ireland Waterford 1 1 2
England Manchester United 3 7 10
England Manchester United 3 1 4
Belgium Anderlecht 0 3 3
Belgium Anderlecht 3 2 5
Northern Ireland Glentoran 0 2 2
England Manchester United 3 0 3
Austria Rapid Wien 0 0 0
Norway Rosenborg 1 3 4
Austria Rapid Wien 3 3 6
Austria Rapid Wien 1 1 2
Spain Real Madrid 0 2 2
Spain Real Madrid 6 6 12
Cyprus AEL Limassol 0 0 0
Italy Milan 4
Netherlands Ajax 1
West Germany Nurnberg 1 0 1
Netherlands Ajax 1 4 5
Netherlands Ajax 2 2 4
Turkey Fenerbahçe 0 0 0
England Manchester City 0 1 1
Turkey Fenerbahçe 0 2 2
Netherlands Ajax 1 3 4 (3)
Portugal Benfica 3 1 4 (0)
Iceland Valur 0 1 1
Portugal S.L. Benfica 0 8 8
Portugal Benfica Bye
Bulgaria PFC Levski Sofia (w)
Hungary Ferencváros (o)
Netherlands Ajax 3 0 3
Czechoslovakia Spartak Trnava 0 2 2
Malta Floriana 1 0 1
Finland Reipas Lahti 1 2 3
Finland Reipas Lahti 1 1 2
Czechoslovakia Spartak Trnava 9 7 16
Romania Steaua București 3 0 3
Czechoslovakia Spartak Trnava 1 4 5
Czechoslovakia Spartak Trnava 2 1 3
Greece AEK Athens 1 1 2
Greece AEK Athens 3 2 5
Luxembourg Jeunesse Esch 0 3 3
Greece AEK Athens 0 2 2
Denmark AB 0 0 0
Switzerland Zürich 1 2 3
Denmark AB 3 1 4

First round[edit]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Malmö FF Sweden 3–5 Italy Milan 2–1 1–4
Dynamo Kyiv Soviet Union (w/o) Poland Ruch Chorzów
Saint-Étienne France 2–4 Scotland Celtic 2–0 0–4
Red Star Belgrade Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (w/o) East Germany Carl Zeiss Jena
Waterford F.C. Republic of Ireland 2–10 England Manchester United 1–3 1–7
Anderlecht Belgium 5–2 Northern Ireland Glentoran 3–0 2–2
Rosenborg Norway 4–6 Austria Rapid Wien 1–3 3–3
Real Madrid Spain 12–0 Cyprus AEL Limassol 6–0 6–0
Nürnberg West Germany 1–5 Netherlands Ajax 1–1 0–4
Manchester City England 1–2 Turkey Fenerbahçe 0–0 1–2
Valur Iceland 1–8 Portugal Benfica 0–0 1–8
Levski-Spartak Bulgaria (w/o) Hungary Ferencváros
Floriana Malta 1–3 Finland Reipas Lahti 1–1 0–2
Steaua București Romania 3–5 Czechoslovakia Spartak Trnava 3–1 0–4
AEK Athens Greece 5–3 Luxembourg Jeunesse Esch 3–0 2–3
Zürich Switzerland 3–4 Denmark AB 1–3 2–1

First leg[edit]

Malmö FF Sweden2–1Italy Milan
Olsberg 45'
Elmstedt 50'
Report Rivera 58'
Attendance: 23,118


Waterford United Republic of Ireland1–3England Manchester United
Matthews 65' Report Law 8', 41', 55'

Anderlecht Belgium3–0Northern Ireland Glentoran
Bergholtz 18'
Peeters 23'
Nordahl 87'
Report

Rosenborg Norway1–3Austria Rapid Wien
Iversen 16' Report Bjerregaard 28'
Kaltenbrunner 65'
Grausam 86'
Attendance: 22,321

Real Madrid Spain6–0Cyprus AEL Limassol
Pirri 10', 14', 63'
Amancio 17'
Pérez 27'
Bueno 75'
Report
Attendance: 15,995
Referee: William Gow (Wales)

Nürnberg West Germany1–1Netherlands Ajax
Volkert 6' Report Cruyff 80'

Manchester City England0–0Turkey Fenerbahçe
Report

Valur Iceland0–0Portugal Benfica
Report

Floriana Malta1–1Finland Reipas Lahti
Galea 37' (pen.) Report Aalto 28'
Attendance: 10,162
Referee: Jim Finney (England)


AEK Athens Greece3–0Luxembourg Jeunesse Esch
Papaioannou 27'
Papageorgiou 58'
Karafeskos 60' (pen.)
Report
Attendance: 16,205
Referee: Fabio Monti (Italy)

Zürich Switzerland1–3Denmark AB
Winiger 50' Report Hansen 22'
Wiberg 25'
Petersen 62'
Attendance: 17,000

Second leg[edit]

Milan Italy4–1Sweden Malmö FF
Prati 32', 69'
Sormani 62'
Rivera 88'
Report Ljungberg 16'
Attendance: 61,932

Milan won 5–3 on aggregate.


Celtic Scotland4–0France Saint-Étienne
Gemmell 44' (pen.)
Craig 59'
Chalmers 66'
McBride 87'
Report
Attendance: 73,059

Celtic won 4–2 on aggregate.


Manchester United England7–1Republic of Ireland Waterford United
Stiles 37'
Law 41', 47', 60', 71'
Burns 68'
Charlton 84'
Report Casey 69'

Manchester United won 10–2 on aggregate.


Glentoran Northern Ireland2–2Belgium Anderlecht
Morrow 27'
Johnston 55'
Report Devrindt 24'
Bergholtz 58'
Attendance: 12,384

Anderlecht won 5–2 on aggregate.


Rapid Wien Austria3–3Norway Rosenborg
Lindman 10', 80'
Kaltenbrunner 17'
Report Iversen 21', 34', 87'
Attendance: 1,570

Rapid Wien won 6–4 on aggregate.


Real Madrid won 12–0 on aggregate.


Ajax Netherlands4–0West Germany Nürnberg
Swart 22', 51'
Groot 86' (pen.)
Cruyff 89'
Report

Ajax won 5–1 on aggregate.


Fenerbahçe won 2–1 on aggregate.


Benfica Portugal8–1Iceland Valur
Simões 4'
Jacinto 7'
Torres 11', 47', 79'
Eusébio 20'
Coluna 27'
José Augusto 48'
Report Gunnarsson 68'
Attendance: 24,389

Benfica won 8–1 on aggregate.


Reipas Lahti Finland2–0Malta Floriana
Holtari 56' (57) Report
Attendance: 2,212

Reipas Lahti won 3–1 on aggregate.


Spartak Trnava Czechoslovakia4–0Romania Steaua București
Švec 4'
Adamec 58', 76', 80'
Report
Attendance: 11,879

Spartak Trnava won 5–3 on aggregate.


Jeunesse Esch Luxembourg3–2Greece AEK Athens
Hoffmann 6'
Drouet 40'
Langer 77'
Report Ventouris 16', 33'

AEK Athens won 5–3 on aggregate.


AB Denmark1–2Switzerland Zürich
Petersen 53' Report Künzli 42', 80'

AB won 4–3 on aggregate.

Second round[edit]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Milan Italy Bye
Celtic Scotland 6–2 Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star Belgrade 5–1 1–1
Manchester United England 4–3 Belgium Anderlecht 3–0 1–3
Rapid Wien Austria 2–2 (a) Spain Real Madrid 1–0 1–2
Ajax Netherlands 4–0 Turkey Fenerbahçe 2–0 2–0
Benfica Portugal Bye
Reipas Lahti Finland 2–16 Czechoslovakia Spartak Trnava 1–9 1–7
AEK Athens Greece 2–0 Denmark AB 0–0 2–0

First leg[edit]

Celtic Scotland5–1Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Red Star Belgrade
Murdoch 3'
Johnstone 46', 81'
Lennox 48'
Wallace 74'
Report Lazarević 39'
Attendance: 65,248

Manchester United England3–0Belgium Anderlecht
Kidd 52'
Law 70', 78'
Report

Rapid Wien Austria1–0Spain Real Madrid
Kaltenbrunner 55' Report

Ajax Netherlands2–0Turkey Fenerbahçe
Nuninga 14'
Muller 74'
Report
Attendance: 54,812

Reipas Lahti Finland1–9Czechoslovakia Spartak Trnava
Hyvärinen 88' Report Hagara 14'
Kabát 20', 80'
Švec 23', 61'
Kuna 52'
Martinkovič 57', 65'
Adamec 64'
Attendance: 6,000

The home leg of Reipas Lahti was played in Vienna just before the Rapid WienReal Madrid match.[7]


AEK Athens Greece0–0Denmark AB
Report
Attendance: 8,161

Second leg[edit]

Red Star Belgrade Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia1–1Scotland Celtic
Ostojić 90' Report Wallace 72'

Celtic won 6–2 on aggregate.


Manchester United won 4–3 on aggregate.


Rapid Wien won 2–2 on away goals.


Fenerbahçe Turkey0–2Netherlands Ajax
Report Keizer 55'
Nuninga 88'
Attendance: 33,863

Ajax won 4–0 on aggregate.


Spartak Trnava Czechoslovakia7–1Finland Reipas Lahti
Hagara 15'
Dobiaš 20', 49' (pen.), 64'
Kuna 27'
Adamec 37'
Hrušecký 53'
Report Niskakoski 75'

Spartak Trnava won 16–2 on aggregate.


AEK Athens won 2–0 on aggregate.

Quarter-finals[edit]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Milan Italy 1–0 Scotland Celtic 0–0 1–0
Manchester United England 3–0 Austria Rapid Wien 3–0 0–0
Ajax Netherlands 4–41 Portugal Benfica 1–3 3–1
Spartak Trnava Czechoslovakia 3–2 Greece AEK Athens 2–1 1–1

1 Ajax beat Benfica 3–0 in a play-off.

First leg[edit]

Milan Italy0–0Scotland Celtic
Report

Manchester United England3–0Austria Rapid Wien
Best 44', 70'
Morgan 70'
Report
Attendance: 62,726

Ajax Netherlands1–3Portugal Benfica
Danielsson 48' Report Santos 31' (pen.)
Torres 36'
José Augusto 61'

Spartak Trnava Czechoslovakia2–1Greece AEK Athens
Jarábek 25'
Kabát 44'
Report Sevastopoulos 60'
Attendance: 10,747

Second leg[edit]

Celtic Scotland0–1Italy Milan
Report Prati 12'

Milan won 1–0 on aggregate.


Rapid Wien Austria0–0England Manchester United
Report
Attendance: 50,234

Manchester United won 3–0 on aggregate.


Benfica Portugal1–3Netherlands Ajax
Torres 70' Report Danielsson 9'
Cruyff 12', 32'
Attendance: 31,019[9]

4–4 on aggregate. Tie is decided by a tie-breaker match on neutral ground.


AEK Athens Greece1–1Czechoslovakia Spartak Trnava
Papaioannou 77' Report Švec 23'
Attendance: 29,842

Spartak Trnava won 3–2 on aggregate.

Tie-breakers[edit]

Ajax Netherlands3–0 (a.e.t.)Portugal Benfica
Cruyff 93'
Danielsson 105', 108'
Report

Ajax win the tie-breaker.

Semi-finals[edit]

Team 1 Agg.Tooltip Aggregate score Team 2 1st leg 2nd leg
Milan Italy 2–1 England Manchester United 2–0 0–1
Ajax Netherlands 3–2 Czechoslovakia Spartak Trnava 3–0 0–2

First leg[edit]

Milan Italy2–0England Manchester United
Sormani 33'
Hamrin 49'
Report
Attendance: 80,050

Ajax Netherlands3–0Czechoslovakia Spartak Trnava
Cruyff 27'
Swart 52'
Keizer 60'
Report
Attendance: 55,490

Second leg[edit]

Manchester United England1–0Italy Milan
Charlton 70' Report
Attendance: 63,103

Milan won 2–1 on aggregate.


Spartak Trnava Czechoslovakia2–0Netherlands Ajax
Kuna 27', 49' Report
Attendance: 22,938

Ajax won 3–2 on aggregate.

Final[edit]

Milan Italy4–1Netherlands Ajax
Prati 7', 40', 75'
Sormani 67'
Report Vasović 60' (pen.)

Top scorers[edit]

The top scorers from the 1968–69 European Cup are as follows:

Rank Name Team Goals
1 Scotland Denis Law England Manchester United 9
2 Netherlands Johan Cruyff Netherlands Ajax 6
Italy Pierino Prati Italy Milan 6
4 Czechoslovakia Jozef Adamec Czechoslovakia Spartak Trnava 5
Czechoslovakia Ladislav Kuna Czechoslovakia Spartak Trnava 5
Portugal José Augusto Torres Portugal Benfica 5
7 Netherlands Gerard Bergholtz Belgium Anderlecht 4
Sweden Inge Danielsson Netherlands Ajax 4
Norway Odd Iversen Norway Rosenborg 4
Spain Pirri Spain Real Madrid 4
Czechoslovakia Valér Švec Czechoslovakia Spartak Trnava 4

References[edit]

  1. ^ UEFA.com (5 June 2018). "How the European calendar took shape | Inside UEFA". UEFA.com. Retrieved 24 January 2024.
  2. ^ "Nürnberg v Ajax, 18 September 1968" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  3. ^ "Steaua București v Spartak Trnava, 18 September 1968" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  4. ^ "Manchester United v Anderlecht, 13 November 1968" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  5. ^ "Rapid Wien v Real Madrid, 20 November 1968" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  6. ^ "Reipas Lahti v Spartak Trnava, 20 November 1968" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  7. ^ "Kerran näinkin: Suomalaisjalkapalloilijat tekemässä lajinsa historiaa" [For once: Finnish footballers about to make history in their sport]. Helsingin Sanomat. 21 November 1968. Retrieved 6 June 2023.
  8. ^ "Real Madrid v Rapid Wien, 4 December 1968" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 13 March 2022.
  9. ^ "Benfica v Ajax, 19 February 1969" (JSON). Union of European Football Associations. Retrieved 13 March 2022.

External links[edit]