1968–69 European Cup
European football tournament
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The 1968–69 season of the European Cup football club tournament was won by AC 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.
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AC Milan (2nd title)
AjaxSantiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid hosted the final. | |
| Tournament details | |
|---|---|
| Dates | 18 September 1968 – 28 May 1969 |
| Teams | 32 (27 competed) |
| Final positions | |
| Champions | AC Milan (2nd title) |
| Runners-up | Ajax |
| Tournament statistics | |
| Matches played | 52 |
| Goals scored | 176 (3.38 per match) |
| Attendance | 1,738,847 (33,439 per match) |
| Top scorer(s) | Denis Law (Manchester United) 9 goals |
← 1967–68 1969–70 → | |
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
A total of 32 teams participated in the competition.
Thirty-one leagues were represented, with England being represented by its most recent champion, Manchester City, as well as defending European champion, Manchester United.
Real Madrid made their 14th consecutive appearance in the competition, while Anderlecht and Benfica each made their ninth appearances. Nürnberg and Steaua București both made their first appearances in the competition since the 1961-62 European Cup.
This year's competition included only five debutants: Denmark's AB, Cyprus's AEL Limassol, England's Manchester City, Norway's Rosenborg, and Czechoslovakia's Spartak Trnava. This was the smallest number to date.
 Rapid Wien (1st) |
 Anderlecht (1st) |
 Levski-Spartak (1st) |
 AEL Limassol (1st) |
 Spartak Trnava (1st) |
 AB (1st) |
 Manchester City (1st) |
Manchester United (2nd)TH |
 Reipas Lahti (1st) |
 Saint-Étienne (1st) |
 Carl Zeiss Jena (1st) |
 Nürnberg (1st) |
 AEK Athens (1st) |
 Ferencváros (1st) |
 Valur (1st) |
 Waterford (1st) |
| Milan (1st) |
 Jeunesse Esch (1st) |
 Floriana (1st) |
Ajax (1st) |
 Glentoran (1st) |
 Rosenborg (1st) |
 Ruch Chorzów (1st) |
 Benfica (1st) |
 Steaua București (1st) |
 Celtic (1st) |
 Real Madrid (1st) |
 Malmö FF (1st) |
 Zürich (1st) |
 Fenerbahçe (1st) |
 Dynamo Kyiv (1st) |
 Red Star Belgrade (1st) |
Bracket
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 |
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 Limassol |
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
| Saint-Étienne | 2–0 | Celtic |
|---|---|---|
Keïta  15'H. Revelli 36' |
Report |
| Waterford | 1–3 | Manchester United |
|---|---|---|
| Matthews 65' |
Report | Law 8', 41', 55' |
| Rosenborg | 1–3 | Rapid Wien |
|---|---|---|
| Iversen 16' |
Report | Bjerregaard 28' Kaltenbrunner 65'Grausam 86' |
| Real Madrid | 6–0 | AEL Limassol |
|---|---|---|
| Pirri 10', 14', 63' Amancio 17'Pérez 27'Bueno 75' |
Report |
| Floriana | 1–1 | Reipas Lahti |
|---|---|---|
| Galea 37' (pen.) |
Report | Aalto 28' |
| Steaua București | 3–1 | Spartak Trnava |
|---|---|---|
| Creiniceanu 18' Voinea 30'Constantin 51' |
Report | Kuna 75' |
| AEK Athens | 3–0 | Jeunesse Esch |
|---|---|---|
| Papaioannou 27' Papageorgiou 58'Karafeskos 60' (pen.) |
Report |
Second leg
Milan won 5–3 on aggregate.
Celtic won 4–2 on aggregate.
Manchester United won 10–2 on aggregate.
Anderlecht won 5–2 on aggregate.
| Rapid Wien | 3–3 | Rosenborg |
|---|---|---|
| Lindman 10', 80' Kaltenbrunner 17' |
Report | Iversen 21', 34', 87' |
Rapid Wien won 6–4 on aggregate.
| AEL Limassol | 0–6 | Real Madrid |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Velázquez 7', 10' José Luis 9'Veloso 84'Ortega 86'Zunzunegui 87' |
Real Madrid won 12–0 on aggregate.
Ajax won 5–1 on aggregate.
| Fenerbahçe | 2–1 | Manchester City |
|---|---|---|
| Çevrim 48' Altıparmak 76' |
Report | Coleman 11' |
Fenerbahçe won 2–1 on aggregate.
| Benfica | 8–1 | Valur |
|---|---|---|
| Simões 4' Jacinto 7'Torres 11', 47', 79'Eusébio 20'Coluna 27'José Augusto 48' |
Report | Gunnarsson 68' |
Benfica won 8–1 on aggregate.
| Reipas Lahti | 2–0 | Floriana |
|---|---|---|
| Holtari 56' (57) |
Report |
Reipas Lahti won 3–1 on aggregate.
| Spartak Trnava | 4–0 | Steaua București |
|---|---|---|
| Švec 4' Adamec 58', 76', 80' |
Report |
Spartak Trnava won 5–3 on aggregate.
| Jeunesse Esch | 3–2 | AEK Athens |
|---|---|---|
| Hoffmann 6' Drouet 40'Langer 77' |
Report | Ventouris 16', 33' |
AEK Athens won 5–3 on aggregate.
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
| Manchester United | 3–0 | Anderlecht |
|---|---|---|
| Kidd 52' Law 70', 78' |
Report |
| Rapid Wien | 1–0 | Real Madrid |
|---|---|---|
| Kaltenbrunner 55' |
Report |
| Ajax | 2–0 | Fenerbahçe |
|---|---|---|
| Nuninga 14' Muller 74' |
Report |
| Reipas Lahti | 1–9 | Spartak Trnava |
|---|---|---|
| Hyvärinen 88' |
Report | Hagara 14' Kabát 20', 80'Švec 23', 61'Kuna 52'Martinkovič 57', 65'Adamec 64' |
The home leg of Reipas Lahti was played in Vienna just before the Rapid Wien–Real Madrid match.[7]
| AEK Athens | 0–0 | AB |
|---|---|---|
| Report |
Second leg
| Red Star Belgrade | 1–1 | Celtic |
|---|---|---|
| Ostojić 90' |
Report | Wallace 72' |
Celtic won 6–2 on aggregate.
| Anderlecht | 3–1 | Manchester United |
|---|---|---|
| Mulder 18' Bergholtz 38', 78' |
Report | Sartori 8' |
Manchester United won 4–3 on aggregate.
| Real Madrid | 2–1 | Rapid Wien |
|---|---|---|
| Velázquez 41' Pirri 83' |
Report | Bjerregaard 48' |
Rapid Wien won 2–2 on away goals.
| Fenerbahçe | 0–2 | Ajax |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Keizer 55' Nuninga 88' |
Ajax won 4–0 on aggregate.
| Spartak Trnava | 7–1 | 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.
| AB | 0–2 | AEK Athens |
|---|---|---|
| Report | Stamatiadis 25' Papaioannou 81' |
AEK Athens won 2–0 on aggregate.
Quarter-finals
| Team 1 | Agg. | Team 2 | 1st leg | 2nd leg | Play-off |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Milan |
1–0 | Celtic |
0–0 | 1–0 | |
| Manchester United |
3–0 | Rapid Wien |
3–0 | 0–0 | |
| Ajax |
4–4 | Benfica |
1–3 | 3–1 | 3–0 |
| Spartak Trnava |
3–2 | AEK Athens |
2–1 | 1–1 |
First leg
| Manchester United | 3–0 | Rapid Wien |
|---|---|---|
| Best 44', 70' Morgan 70' |
Report |
| Ajax | 1–3 | Benfica |
|---|---|---|
| Danielsson 48' |
Report | Santos 31' (pen.) Torres 36'José Augusto 61' |
| Spartak Trnava | 2–1 | AEK Athens |
|---|---|---|
| Jarábek 25' Kabát 44' |
Report | Sevastopoulos 60' |
Second leg
Milan won 1–0 on aggregate.
Manchester United won 3–0 on aggregate.
4–4 on aggregate. Tie is decided by a tie-breaker match on neutral ground.
| AEK Athens | 1–1 | Spartak Trnava |
|---|---|---|
| Papaioannou 77' |
Report | Švec 23' |
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
| Milan | 2–0 | Manchester United |
|---|---|---|
| Sormani 33' Hamrin 49' |
Report |
Second leg
| Manchester United | 1–0 | Milan |
|---|---|---|
| Charlton 70' |
Report |
Milan won 2–1 on aggregate.
| Spartak Trnava | 2–0 | Ajax |
|---|---|---|
| Kuna 27', 49' |
Report |
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 |
| Ladislav Kuna |
Spartak Trnava |
5 | |
| José Augusto Torres |
Benfica |
5 | |
| 7 | Gerard Bergholtz |
Anderlecht |
4 |
| Inge Danielsson |
Ajax |
4 | |
| Odd Iversen |
Rosenborg |
4 | |
| Pirri |
Real Madrid |
4 | |
| Valér Švec |
Spartak Trnava |
4 |