1968–69 European Cup

1968–69 European Cup

Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid hosted the final.
Tournament details
Dates	18 September 1968 – 28 May 1969
Teams	32
Final positions
Champions	Milan (2nd title)
Runners-up	Ajax
Tournament statistics
Matches played	52
Goals scored	176 (3.38 per match)
Attendance	1,851,281 (35,602 per match)
Top scorer(s)	Denis Law (9 goals)
← 1967–68 1969–70 →

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.

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

Bracket[]

	First round						Second round						Quarter-finals						Semi-finals						Final
	Malmö FF	2	1	3
	Milan	1	4	5			Milan			Bye
	Dynamo Kyiv			(w)
	Ruch Chorzów			(o)									Milan	0	1	1
	Saint-Étienne	0	2	2									Celtic	0	0	0
	Celtic	0	4	4			Celtic	5	1	6
	Red Star Belgrade			(w)			Red Star Belgrade	1	1	2
	FC Carl Zeiss Jena			(o)															Milan	2	0	2
	Waterford	1	1	2															Manchester United	0	1	1
	Manchester United	3	7	10			Manchester United	3	1	4
	Anderlecht	3	2	5			Anderlecht	0	3	3
	Glentoran	0	2	2									Manchester United	3	0	3
	Rosenborg	1	3	4									Rapid Wien	0	0	0
	Rapid Wien	3	3	6			Rapid Wien	1	1	2
	Real Madrid	6	6	12			Real Madrid	0	2	2
	AEL	0	0	0																					Milan	4
	Nurnberg	1	0	1																					Ajax	1
	Ajax	1	4	5			Ajax	2	2	4
	Manchester City	0	1	1			Fenerbahçe	0	0	0
	Fenerbahçe	0	2	2									Ajax	1	3	4
	Valur	0	1	1									Benfica	3	1	4
	S.L. Benfica	0	8	8			Benfica			Bye
	PFC Levski Sofia			(w)
	Ferencváros			(o)															Ajax	3	0	3
	Floriana	1	0	1															Spartak Trnava	0	2	2
	Reipas Lahti	1	2	3			Reipas Lahti	1	1	2
	Steaua București	3	0	3			Spartak Trnava	9	7	16
	Spartak Trnava	1	4	5									Spartak Trnava	2	1	3
	AEK Athens	3	2	5									AEK Athens	1	1	2
	Jeunesse Esch	0	3	3			AEK Athens	0	2	2
	Zürich	1	2	3			AB	0	0	0
	AB	3	1	4

First round[]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Malmö FF	3–5	Milan	2–1	1–4
Dynamo Kyiv	(w/o)	Ruch Chorzów	–	–
Saint-Étienne	2–4	Celtic	2–0	0–4
Red Star Belgrade	(w/o)	Carl Zeiss Jena	–	–
Waterford F.C.	2–10	Manchester United	1–3	1–7
Anderlecht	5–2	Glentoran	3–0	2–2
Rosenborg	4–6	Rapid Wien	1–3	3–3
Real Madrid	12–0	AEL	6–0	6–0
Nürnberg	1–5	Ajax	1–1	0–4
Manchester City	1–2	Fenerbahçe	0–0	1–2
Valur	1–8	Benfica	0–0	1–8
Levski-Spartak	(w/o)	Ferencváros	–	–
Floriana	1–3	Reipas Lahti	1–1	0–2
Steaua București	3–5	Spartak Trnava	3–1	0–4
AEK Athens	5–3	Jeunesse Esch	3–0	2–3
Zürich	3–4	AB	1–3	2–1

First leg[]

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Second leg[]

Milan won 5–3 on aggregate.

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Celtic won 4–2 on aggregate.

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Manchester United won 10–2 on aggregate.

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Anderlecht won 5–2 on aggregate.

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Rapid Wien won 6–4 on aggregate.

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Real Madrid won 12–0 on aggregate.

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Ajax won 5–1 on aggregate.

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Fenerbahçe won 2–1 on aggregate.

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Benfica won 8–1 on aggregate.

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Reipas Lahti won 3–1 on aggregate.

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Spartak Trnava won 5–3 on aggregate.

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AEK Athens won 5–3 on aggregate.

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AB won 4–3 on aggregate.

Second round[]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Milan	Bye	–	–	–
Celtic	6–2	Red Star Belgrade	5–1	1–1
Manchester United	4–3	Anderlecht	3–0	1–3
Rapid Wien	2–2 (a)	Real Madrid	1–0	1–2
Ajax	4–0	Fenerbahçe	2–0	2–0
Benfica	Bye	–	–	–
Reipas Lahti	2–16	Spartak Trnava	1–9	1–7
AEK Athens	2–0	AB	0–0	2–0

First leg[]

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Second leg[]

Celtic won 6–2 on aggregate.

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Manchester United won 4–3 on aggregate.

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Rapid Wien won 2–2 on away goals.

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Ajax won 4–0 on aggregate.

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Spartak Trnava won 16–2 on aggregate.

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AEK Athens won 2–0 on aggregate.

Quarter-finals[]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Milan	1–0	Celtic	0–0	1–0
Manchester United	3–0	Rapid Wien	3–0	0–0
Ajax	4–41	Benfica	1–3	3–1
Spartak Trnava	3–2	AEK Athens	2–1	1–1

¹ Ajax beat Benfica 3–0 in a play-off to reach the semi-finals.

First leg[]

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Second leg[]

Milan won 1–0 on aggregate.

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Manchester United won 3–0 on aggregate.

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

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Spartak Trnava won 3–2 on aggregate.

Tie-breakers[]

Ajax win the tie-breaker.

Semi-finals[]

Team 1	Agg.	Team 2	1st leg	2nd leg
Milan	2–1	Manchester United	2–0	0–1
Ajax	3–2	Spartak Trnava	3–0	0–2

First leg[]

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Second leg[]

Milan won 2–1 on aggregate.

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Ajax won 3–2 on aggregate.

Final[]

Top scorers[]

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

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

External links[]

• 1968–69 All matches – season at UEFA website
• European Cup results at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation
• All scorers 1968–69 European Cup according to protocols UEFA
• 1968-69 European Cup – results and line-ups (archive)