The 1971 European Cup final was an association football match played between Ajax of the Netherlands and Panathinaikos of Greece on 2 June 1971 at Wembley Stadium, London, England. The showpiece event was the final match of the 1970–71 season of Europe's premier cup competition, the European Cup. Ajax were appearing in their second final, after losing it in 1969, while Panathinaikos were appearing in their first final.
Both teams progressed through four rounds to reach the final. Ajax comfortably won all of their ties by two goals, except for their 5–1 aggregate victory against Swiss team Basel in the second round. Panathinaikos' matches were close affairs, with the exception of their 7–1 aggregate victory against Jeunesse Esch of Luxembourg in the first round. Their quarter-final and semi-final victories were both won via the away goals rule.
Watched by a crowd of 83,179, Ajax took the lead in the 5th minute when Dick van Dijk scored. Ajax extended their lead in the 87th minute when a shot by Arie Haan deflected off defender Anthimos Kapsis and went into the Panathinaikos goal, giving Ajax its first European Cup victory by a score of 2–0.
This remains the only time a Greek team has reached a European Cup/Champions League final.
Route to the final
AjaxRoundPanathinaikosOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd legOpponentAgg.1st leg2nd leg 17 Nëntori Tirana4–22–2 (A)2–0 (H)First round Jeunesse Esch7–12–1 (A)5–0 (H) Basel5–13–0 (H)2–1 (A)Second round Slovan Bratislava4–23–0 (H)1–2 (A) Celtic3–13–0 (H)0–1 (A)Quarter-finals Everton1–1 (a)1–1 (A)0–0 (H) Atlético Madrid3–10–1 (A)3–0 (H)Semi-finals Crvena zvezda4–4 (a)1–4 (A)3–0 (H)
Match Details
GK 1 Heinz StuySW 2 Velibor Vasović (c)DF 3 Wim SuurbierDF 4 Barry HulshoffMF 6 Nico Rijnders MF 7 Johan NeeskensFW 8 Sjaak Swart MF 9 Gerrie MührenFW 10 Dick van DijkFW 11 Piet KeizerMF 14 Johan CruyffSubstitutes:DF 12 Horst Blankenburg MF 15 Arie Haan GK 13 MF 5 Manager: Rinus Michels GK 1 Takis IkonomopoulosDF 2 Yiannis TomarasDF 3 MF 4 Kostas EleftherakisMF 5 Aristidis KamarasDF 6 Frangiskos SourpisMF 7 Charis GrammosFW 8 Totis FilakourisFW 9 Antonis AntoniadisFW 10 Mimis Domazos (c)DF 11 Anthimos KapsisSubstitutes:GK Vasilis KonstantinouDF Victor MitropoulosDF DF Mitsos DimitriouMF Dimitris KaligerisManager: Ferenc Puskás
See also 1970–71 Panathinaikos F.C. season 1971 European Cup Winners' Cup final 1971 Inter-Cities Fairs Cup final 1971 Intercontinental Cup AFC Ajax in international football Panathinaikos F.C. in European football
References
External links 1970-71 season at UEFA website