1968–69 European Cup


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.
Substitutions of two players at any game time were allowed; obligatory match dates were introduced 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

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

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

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

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:
RankNameTeamGoals
1 Denis Law Manchester United9
2 Johan Cruyff Ajax6
2 Pierino Prati Milan6
4 Jozef Adamec Spartak Trnava5
4 Valér Švec Spartak Trnava5
4 José Augusto Torres Benfica4
7 Gerard Bergholtz Anderlecht4
7 Inge Danielsson Ajax4
7 Odd Iversen Rosenborg4
7 Ladislav Kuna Spartak Trnava4
7 Pirri Real Madrid4