The 1969 European Cup final was a football match played at the Santiago Bernabéu Stadium in Madrid on 28 May 1969 between Ajax of the Netherlands and AC Milan of Italy, to determine the champions of the 1968–69 European Cup. Ajax made history by becoming the first Dutch side to reach the final, but they were beaten by their Italian opponents 4–1.
As of 2025, Milan's Pierino Prati remains the most recent player to score a hat-trick in a European Cup or Champions League final.
Route to the final
In the quarter-finals, Ajax were deadlocked 4–4 on aggregate against Portuguese side Benfica after two legs, forcing a replay. The Dutch champions won 3–0 in the replay, but it took extra time to do so.
Milan had a bye in the second round due to the withdrawal of a number of Eastern European clubs from the competition. In their semi-final, they knocked out defending European champions Manchester United.
AjaxRoundMilanOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd legPlay-offOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd leg Nürnberg5–11–1 (A)4–0 (H)First round Malmö FF5–31–2 (A)4–1 (H) Fenerbahçe4–02–0 (H)2–0 (A)Second roundBye Benfica4–4 (r)3–1 (A)1–3 (H)3–0 Quarter-finals Celtic1–00–0 (H)1–0 (A) Spartak Trnava3–23–0 (H)0–2 (A)Semi-finals Manchester United2–12–0 (H)0–1 (A)
Match Details
GK 1 Gert Bals RB 2 Wim Suurbier CB 3 Barry HulshoffCB 4 Velibor Vasović (c)LB 5 Theo van DuivenbodeRH 6 Henk Groot LH 7 Ton PronkRW 8 Sjaak SwartCF 9 Inge DanielssonCF 10 Johan CruyffLW 11 Piet KeizerSubstitutes:FW 12 Klaas Nuninga MF 14 Bennie Muller GK 13 Heinz StuyMF Gerrie MührenMF Ruud SuurendonkManager: Rinus Michels GK 1 Fabio CudiciniRB 2 Angelo AnquillettiLB 3 Karl-Heinz SchnellingerRH 4 Roberto RosatoCH 5 Saul MalatrasiLH 6 Giovanni TrapattoniOR 7 Kurt HamrinIR 8 Giovanni LodettiCF 9 Angelo SormaniIL 10 Gianni Rivera (c)OL 11 Pierino PratiManager: Nereo Rocco
See also 1968–69 AC Milan season 1969 European Cup Winners' Cup final 1969 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final 1969 Intercontinental Cup 1995 UEFA Champions League final – contested by the same teams AFC Ajax in international football AC Milan in international football
References
External links 1968–69 season at UEFA.com European Cups Archive at the Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation at European Cup History