The 1968–69 season of the European Cup

UEFA Champions League

The UEFA Champions League, known simply the Champions League and originally known as the European Champion Clubs' Cup or European Cup, is an annual international club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations since 1955 for the top football clubs in Europe. It...

 football club tournament was won by Milan

A.C. Milan

Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...

, who beat Ajax 4–1 in the final

1969 European Cup Final

The 1969 European Cup Final was a football match held at the Santiago Bernabéu, Madrid, on 28 May 1969, that saw Milan of Italy play against Ajax of the Netherlands to determine who would be the champions of Europe that season...

, giving Milan its first European Cup title since 1963, and its second overall. A number of Eastern European clubs withdrew from the first two rounds when UEFA

UEFA

The Union of European Football Associations , almost always referred to by its acronym UEFA is the administrative and controlling body for European association football, futsal and beach soccer....

 paired up all of the Eastern European clubs against one another.

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 whole competition.

Manchester United

Manchester United F.C.

Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...

, the defending champions

1968 European Cup Final

The 1968 European Cup Final was the 13th European Cup Final and the culmination of the 1967–68 European Cup, a club football tournament for the champions of European leagues. The match was held at Wembley Stadium, London, on 29 May 1968, between Manchester United of England and Benfica of Portugal...

, were eliminated by Milan in the semi-finals.

First round

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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 Vienna 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

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¹ Rapid Vienna progressed to the Quarter-finals on away goals.

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 Vienna 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

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¹ Ajax progressed to the Semi-finals over Benfica by winning a third, tie-breaking match, 3–0.

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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Ajax 4–4 Benfica on aggregate. Ajax won 3–0 the tie-breaking match.
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Spartak Trnava won 3–2 on aggregate.

Semi-finals

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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 Denis Law Denis Law is a retired Scottish football player, who enjoyed a long and successful career as a striker from the 1950s to the 1970s....	Manchester United Manchester United F.C. Manchester United Football Club is an English professional football club, based in Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, that plays in the Premier League. Founded as Newton Heath LYR Football Club in 1878, the club changed its name to Manchester United in 1902 and moved to Old Trafford in 1910.The 1958...	9
2	Johan Cruyff Johan Cruyff Hendrik Johannes Cruijff OON , known as Johan Cruyff, is a retired Dutch footballer and is currently the manager of the Catalan national team as well as a member of the AFC Ajax board of directors. He won the Ballon d'Or three times, in 1971, 1973 and 1974, which is a record jointly held with...	Ajax	6
	Pierino Prati Pierino Prati Pierino Prati is a retired Italian footballer who played for A.C. Milan and was part of their European Cup victory in 1969, scoring a hat-trick in the 4-1 defeat of Ajax in the final. He is the last man to have scored a hat trick in the Champions League/European Cup Final...	Milan A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...	6
4	Jozef Adamec Jozef Adamec Jozef Adamec is former Slovak football player and manager, one of the most famous Slovak football players of all time.He played mostly for Spartak Trnava...	Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava is a Slovak football club based in Trnava, Slovakia. Historically it is one of the most successful clubs in Slovakia, having won the Czechoslovak First League and the Czechoslovak Cup five times, and reaching semifinal of European Cup once and quarterfinal twice. The club plays...	5
	Valér Švec Valér Švec Valér Švec was a Slovak football player and coach. He played for FC Spartak Trnava.He coached Spartak Trnava, Inter Bratislava, Zbrojovka Brno, Tatran Prešov, Slovan Bratislava andAEL Limassol.-References:...	Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava is a Slovak football club based in Trnava, Slovakia. Historically it is one of the most successful clubs in Slovakia, having won the Czechoslovak First League and the Czechoslovak Cup five times, and reaching semifinal of European Cup once and quarterfinal twice. The club plays...	5
	José Augusto Torres José Augusto Torres José Augusto da Costa Séneca Torres was a Portuguese football centre forward and coach.Nicknamed O Bom Gigante , most of his 21-year senior career was spent at Benfica, with great individual and team success...	Benfica	4
7	Gerard Bergholtz	Anderlecht	4
	Inge Danielsson Inge Danielsson Inge Danielsson, born 14 June 1941, is a Swedish former footballer . He has played in Ifö/Bromölla IF, Helsingborgs IF and AFC Ajax. Danielsson also played 17 international games for Sweden....	Ajax	4
	Odd Iversen Odd Iversen Odd "Ivers" Iversen is a former Norwegian soccer player.Iversen is one of the greatest Norwegian footballers ever. He was the top goalscorer four times in the Norwegian top division . He also holds the record of most goals scored in one season...	Rosenborg Rosenborg B.K. Rosenborg Ballklub is a Norwegian football club from the city of Trondheim, currently playing in the Norwegian Premier League. With 22 league titles and nine Norwegian Cup titles, the club is the most successful in Norway and has dominated Norwegian football since the start of the 1990s...	4
	Ladislav Kuna Ladislav Kuna Ladislav Kuna is a former Slovak football player and manager.In Czechoslovak league he played 424 matches and scored 86 goals. He was capped 47 times for Czechoslovakia, scored 9 goals...	Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava is a Slovak football club based in Trnava, Slovakia. Historically it is one of the most successful clubs in Slovakia, having won the Czechoslovak First League and the Czechoslovak Cup five times, and reaching semifinal of European Cup once and quarterfinal twice. The club plays...	4
	Pirri	Real Madrid Real Madrid C.F. Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...	4
12	Karol Dobiaš Karol Dobiáš Karol Dobiaš is a former Slovak football player and coach. During his career, he was a versatile player, mostly playing as defender or midfielder.-Player career:...	Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava is a Slovak football club based in Trnava, Slovakia. Historically it is one of the most successful clubs in Slovakia, having won the Czechoslovak First League and the Czechoslovak Cup five times, and reaching semifinal of European Cup once and quarterfinal twice. The club plays...	3
	Dušan Kabát Dušan Kabát Dušan Kabát is a former Czechoslovakia international football player.-Career:Born in Sereď, Kabát began playing football with TJ Leopoldov. In a career that spanned 1961 to 1976, he played for Slovan Piešťany, FC Spartak Trnava, FC Dukla Prague and Slovan Hlohovec...	Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava FC Spartak Trnava is a Slovak football club based in Trnava, Slovakia. Historically it is one of the most successful clubs in Slovakia, having won the Czechoslovak First League and the Czechoslovak Cup five times, and reaching semifinal of European Cup once and quarterfinal twice. The club plays...	3
	Günter Kaltenbrunner Günter Kaltenbrunner Günter Kaltenbrunner is a former Austrian soccer player.- Career :During his career as football player, he played for the following clubs:* Admira Wien 1961 - 1966 und 1972 - 1974* SW Bregenz 1966 - 1967* Rapid Wien 1967 - 1969...	Rapid Vienna SK Rapid Wien The Sportklub Rapid Wien is an Austrian football club playing in the country's capital city of Vienna. Rapid is the most popular club in Austria and also record title holder having won the Austrian national football title 32 times...	3
	Mimis Papaioannou Mimis Papaioannou Dimitris "Mimis" Papaioannou was one of the star football players of AEK Athens FC. He was born in 1942 and began his career at Nea Genea in the town of Nea Nikomedia , Imathia Prefecture. He joined AEK in time for the 1963 season for the paltry sum of 140,000 drachmas...	AEK Athens	3
	Angelo Sormani Angelo Sormani Ángelo Benedicto Miguel Sormani is a former Italian Brazilian footballer.During his club career, he played for Santos Futebol Clube of Brazil, and A.C. Mantova, A.S. Roma, U.C. Sampdoria, A.C. Milan, S.S.C...	Milan A.C. Milan Associazione Calcio Milan, commonly referred to as A.C. Milan or simply Milan , is a professional Italian football club based in Milan, Lombardy, that plays in the Serie A. Milan was founded in 1899 by English lace-maker Herbert Kilpin and businessman Alfred Edwards among others...	3
	Sjaak Swart Sjaak Swart Jesaia Swart is a former Dutch footballer who played for Ajax Amsterdam a total of more than 600 matches, a record for the club. Nicknamed Mr. Ajax, he was part of their European Cup victories in 1971, 1972, 1973...	Ajax	3
	Manuel Velázquez Manuel Velazquez Manuel Velazquez was a 20th-century anti-boxing activist who kept meticulous files on boxing-related deaths.-Early life:...	Real Madrid Real Madrid C.F. Real Madrid Club de Fútbol , commonly known as Real Madrid, is a professional football club based in Madrid, Spain. The club have won a record 31 La Liga titles, the Primera División of the Liga de Fútbol Profesional , 18 Copas del Rey, 8 Spanish Super Cups, 1 Copa Eva Duarte and 1 Copa de la...	3

External links

• 1968-69 season at UEFA website
• European Cup results at Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation