The 1987–88 season of the European Cup Winners' Cup finished with a shock victory by Mechelen in the final against defending champions Ajax. This led to their 1988 European Super Cup title in the club's first ever European campaign. As the next season's Belgian league victor it defended its title in a semifinal of the 1988–89 European Cup Winners' Cup. Financial problems have been keeping this last Belgian holder of any European cup away from a position to be as successful again.
1–1 on aggregate. RoPS won on away goals ---- Vllaznia won 6–0 on aggregate. ---- Mechelen won 3–0 on aggregate. ---- St Mirren won 1–0 on aggregate. ---- Real Sociedad won 2–0 on aggregate. ---- Dinamo Minsk won 4–1 on aggregate. ---- OFI Crete won 3–2 on aggregate. ---- Atalanta won 3–2 on aggregate. ---- Kalmar FF won 1–0 on aggregate. ---- Sporting CP won 6–4 on aggregate. ---- Marseille won 1–0 on aggregate. ---- 1–1 on aggregate. Hajduk Split won 4–2 on penalties. ---- Den Haag won 3–2 on aggregate. ---- Young Boys won 4–3 on aggregate. ---- Hamburg won 8–0 on aggregate. ---- Ajax won 6–0 on aggregate.
Second round
First leg
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Second leg
Mechelen won 2–0 on aggregate. ---- Sporting CP won 5–1 on aggregate. ---- RoPS won 2–0 on aggregate. ---- 2–2 on aggregate. Young Boys won on away goals. ---- Ajax won 3–0 on aggregate. ---- 1–1 on aggregate. Dinamo Minsk won on away goals. ---- Atalanta won 2–1 on aggregate. ---- The match was interrupted in the 10th minute with the score 0-0 due to tear gas being thrown in the stands by Hajduk fans. The resulting commotion was accompanied with flares being thrown onto the pitch followed by a pitch invasion by Hajduk fans. The match was resumed some 15 minutes later. UEFA voided the match and awarded a 0–3 win to Marseille due to the crowd trouble. Hajduk was banned from European competition for the two subsequent seasons. Marseille won 7–0 on aggregate.
Quarter-finals
First leg
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Second leg
Mechelen won 2–1 on aggregate. ---- Atalanta won 3–1 on aggregate. ---- Marseille won 4–0 on aggregate. ---- Ajax won 2–0 on aggregate.
Semi-finals
First leg
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Second leg
Mechelen won 4–2 on aggregate. ---- Ajax won 4–2 on aggregate.
Paulinho Cascavel
Sporting CP
Klaus Allofs
Olympique Marseille
Piet den Boer
KV Mechelen
Eli Ohana
Tony Sealy
Aldo Cantarutti
Juraj Majoroš
Dario Zuffi